The Green Door by O. Henry. Short summary

5 seconds

Rudolph receives an unusual sheet from a Negro with «Green Door» written on it. He runs into the building, finds the door, knocks on it, and meets the girl. He later learns that the sheet was just an advertisement for a production.

1 minute

Near the dentist’s sign, Rudolph sees a Negro handing out a leaflet. He handed one of them to the hero. One side of the sheet was blank, and on the back was written, «Green Door.»

One of the passersby throws away the sheet he received. Rudolph picks it up and sees that it is an advertisement for a dentist. The hero walks near the negro once more, and the negro gives him the leaf with the words «Green Door» on it again. The man considers himself chosen and hurries to the building with the secret green door.

He went up to the third floor, noticed the green door and knocked. A pale stranger emerged from it and collapsed without feeling. The hero laid her on the bed. When the girl woke up, she said that she had not eaten for three days. Rudolph ran to a restaurant and brought her food.

The girl said that she worked as a saleswoman. One day she fell ill and was fired. The hero promised to visit her. When he went out to the stairwell, he noticed that all the doors in the house were green. On the street he asked the negro why he had given him the flyer, and the negro told him that it was an advertisement for a production: «The Green Door.»