sufficiently while in the house to keep the dishes from
being broken. When Ben got to be king she would sit on the gallery of
Espinosa Ranch and weave rush mats. When wealth became so irresistible
and oppressive that upholstered chairs and a centre table were brought
down from San Antone in the wagons, she bowed her smooth, dark head,
and shared the fate of the Danae [97].

[FOOTNOTE 96: Colorado-claro--light brown (taken from the
nomenclature of cigar wrappers)]

[FOOTNOTE 97: Danae--(Greek mythology) Danae was the daughter of
King Acrisius of Argos. Because of a prophecy that
Danae's child would kill him, Acrisius had Danae,
who was childless, shut up in a bronze tower to
prevent her from ever becoming pregnant. Zeus became
enamored of Danae and appeared to her as a shower
of gold through the ceiling, impregnating her. When
she gave birth to a son, Perseus, Acrisius had
Danae and Perseus locked in a wooden chest and set
adrift in the ocean. They reached land and safety.
Perseus grew up to be one of the great heroes of
Greek mythology; slaying the gorgon Medusa was one
of his many adventures. At an athletic contest he
threw the discus, which by accident flew into the
crowd, striking and killing Acrisius, who happened
to be a spectator at the games.

Presumably O. Henry's metaphor refers to a shower
of gold.]

To avoid _lese-majeste_ [98] you have been presented first to the king
and queen. They do not enter the story, which might be called "The
Chronicle of the Princess, the Happy Thought, and the Lion that
Bungled his Job."

[FOOTNOTE 98: lese-majeste--(French) an affront to royalty]

Josefa O'Donnell was the surviving daughter, the princess. From her
mother she inherited warmth of nature and a dusky, semi-tropic beauty.
From Ben O'Donnell the royal she acquired a store of intrepidity,
common sense, and the faculty of ruling. The combination was one worth
going miles to see. Josefa while riding her pony at a gallop could
put five out of six bullets through a tomato-can swinging at the end
of a string. She could play for hours with a white kitten she owned,
dre