gehenna—(Biblical) a place of abomination; Hell
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The Guadalupe River arises in the Hill Country of Central Texas northwest of San Antonio and flows southeast to the Gulf of Mexico.
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Another of O. Henry's lapses from geographical accuracy. The Guadalupe is much farther than twenty miles to the north and east from the setting of this story.
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treinta, cuarenta—(Spanish) thirty, forty
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rangers—Texas Rangers, an elite law-enforcement organization which began in the 1830's, even before Texas became an independent republic. One of O. Henry's hosts during his stay on ranches in South Texas was Leigh Hall, a man from O. Henry's home town in North Carolina, who had been one of the most famous Texas Rangers. Hall had resigned from the Rangers and was managing a ranch when O. Henry was taken to Texas by Hall's parents. Hall probably served as a model for many of O. Henry's Ranger heroes.
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