"It's Miss Fairchild," he said, with a smile. "I'll ask you to excuse the other hand; "it's otherwise engaged just at present."

He slightly raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining "bracelet" to the left one of his companion. The glad look in the girl's eyes slowly changed to a bewildered horror. The glow faded from her cheeks. Her lips parted in a vague, relaxing distress.

"Hearts and Hands" is a short story which centers on a chance encounter on a train between a young woman, Miss Fairchild, and an old acquaintance, Mr. Easton.

O. Henry's stories are known for their irony and compassion, and "Hearts and Hands" is no exception.