This is a Friday Favorite. Each Friday we share one of our favorite stories from our archives.

This Friday Favorite Is: A romantic western/cowboy tale by O. Henry.

Learn more: http://listen.morningshort.com

Story Genres: Romance, cowboy, western.

Famous short stories by this author: “The Gift of the Magi” “A Blackjack Bargainer” “A Newspaper Story” “A retrieved Reformation” “The Last Leaf” And many others.

About Morning Short: Morning Short is a podcast and daily newsletter featuring amazing, curated short stories, handpicked for you. They’re meant to entertain you while you commute or work out, help you improve your reading and writing skills, and generally just make you happier. Partial Story transcript - > There had to be a king and queen, of course. The king was a terrible old man who wore six-shooters and spurs, and shouted in such a tremendous voice that the rattlers on the prairie would run into their holes under the prickly pear. Before there was a royal family they called the man "Whispering Ben." When he came to own 50,000 acres of land and more cattle than he could count, they called him O'Donnell "the Cattle King." The queen had been a Mexican girl from Laredo. She made a good, mild, Coloradoclaro wife, and even succeeded in teaching Ben to modify his voice 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 Danaë.