O. Henry's story of two friends who promised to meet again — twenty years later.
Want the fuller version? Read this story at B2/C1 level →
Ten words open the story. Do the four short activities. Say your answer out loud first, then click Reveal.
Three words: arrest · police officer · promise. Say the right word, then reveal.
Read each part. Then answer the questions from memory, and talk about one question.
It was ten o'clock at night. The wind was cold and the streets were empty. A police officer walked slowly down the road. He checked the doors of the closed shops.
In a dark doorway there was a man with a cigar. "It's all right, officer," the man said quickly. "I'm waiting for a friend. We made an appointment twenty years ago. It sounds strange, I know. I can explain."
"Twenty years ago there was a restaurant here," the man said. "My best friend Jimmy Wells and I had dinner here. The next day I went to the West. We promised to meet again in this same place, at this same time, after exactly twenty years." He took a match and lit his cigar. For one second the officer saw his face: a white face, with sharp eyes and a small white mark near his eye. Then it was dark again.
1. What is the man doing in the doorway?
2. What promise did the two friends make?
1. He is waiting for his old friend Jimmy Wells. They made an appointment twenty years ago.
2. To meet in the same place, at the same time, exactly twenty years later.
"Did you write to your friend?" the officer asked. "For one or two years, yes," the man said. "Then we stopped. But Jimmy will come, I am sure. He is the best man in the world. He never forgets."
"The West was good to me," he continued. "I arrived with nothing. I worked very hard, and now I am rich." He showed the officer a beautiful gold watch with small diamonds. "Jimmy stayed here in New York. He is a good man, but he is slow. In the West you must be quick and strong."
"I hope your friend comes," said the officer. "Good night." He walked away and continued to check the shop doors. It began to rain. The man in the doorway waited: ten minutes, twenty minutes.
1. What happened to the man in the West?
2. What does he say about Jimmy?
1. He arrived with nothing, worked hard and became rich. He has an expensive gold watch.
2. That Jimmy is the best man in the world and will certainly come — but also that he is slow and stayed in the same place.
Finally a tall man in a long coat came across the street. "Is that you, Bob?" he asked. "Jimmy!" said the man in the doorway. They took each other's arms and walked up the street together, talking about the twenty years.
At the corner there was a bright light in a shop window. Bob looked at his friend's face — and stopped. "You are not Jimmy Wells," he said. "Twenty years is a long time, but it does not change a man's nose."
"Sometimes twenty years changes a good man into a bad man," said the tall man. "You are under arrest, Bob. The police in Chicago want to talk to you. But first, read this. A man asked me to give it to you." Bob opened the small piece of paper. His hand began to shake. The note said: Bob: I was at the place at the right time. When you lit your cigar, I saw the face of a man the police want in Chicago. I could not arrest you myself, so I asked another officer to do it. JIMMY.
1. How does Bob know that the tall man is not Jimmy?
2. Who was the first police officer — and what did he do?
1. He sees his face in the bright light and the nose is different.
2. He was Jimmy. He came to the meeting, recognised Bob's face when he lit the cigar, and then asked another officer to arrest him because he could not do it himself.
This story covers twenty years. To talk about it you need three small words that students mix up all the time.
Write one word in each gap.
1. The two friends said goodbye twenty years .
2. Bob stood in the doorway half an hour.
3. They have not seen each other that night in the restaurant.
1. ago 2. for 3. since
Remember: ago → past simple. for / since with "up to now" → present perfect (have / has + past participle).
1. Bob (go) to the West twenty years ago.
2. Jimmy (live) in New York since he was a boy.
3. The two men (not / write) to each other for eighteen years.
1. went 2. has lived 3. haven't written
"Twenty years ago" is finished time → past simple. "Since he was a boy" and "for eighteen years" continue until now → present perfect.
Write ago, for, since, or the correct verb form, in each gap. Then read the paragraph aloud.
Bob and Jimmy were best friends. They had dinner together twenty years , and the next day Bob (travel) to the West. They wrote letters one or two years, and then they stopped. They (not / meet) that night. Tonight Bob (wait) in the doorway thirty minutes. He does not know that Jimmy (be) a police officer many years.
ago · travelled · for · haven't met (or: didn't meet) · since · waited (or: has waited) · for · has been · for
Look at each gap and ask: is this a length of time (for), a starting point (since), or how long before now (ago)?
Keep these three words ready — in the Speak tab you will talk about your own long friendships.
O. Henry wrote this story in 1906. He wrote hundreds of short stories about New York, and almost all of them have a surprise at the end. He also knew about crime and prison: he spent three years in prison himself, and he started writing there.
This is the most important part of the lesson. Do everything out loud. Use the timer and try to speak for the whole time.
Tell After Twenty Years in your own words. Follow the steps: the empty street and the police officer → the man in the doorway → the promise → the match and his face → the story of the West → the tall man → the light → the note.
Use ago, for and since at least once each, and at least five key words (empty, doorway, grow up, police officer, promise, arrest, rich, shocked, friendship, keep a promise).
Say what you think and give three reasons. Jimmy was a police officer, and Bob was his best friend. Should he arrest him? Should he let him go? Should he say nothing at all?
Then change sides! Speak for one minute for the other opinion.
Talk about friendship and about how people change.
No idea? Choose one of these: