Short Fiction · Chapter
Hygeia at the Solito explained
Cricket McGuire, a down-on-his-luck prizefighter and sport, loses his last money betting on a fixed fight and is found coughing on a San Antonio depot platform by cattleman Curtis Raidler.
What happens
Cricket McGuire, a down-on-his-luck prizefighter and sport, loses his last money betting on a fixed fight and is found coughing on a San Antonio depot platform by cattleman Curtis Raidler. Raidler takes him to his ranch, the Solito, to recover. McGuire initially resents the rustic setting and tries to play the invalid, but a doctor later declares him perfectly healthy. Raidler, discovering the deception, forces McGuire to work with the cowpunchers. The chapter ends with McGuire beginning to adapt to ranch life, though still complaining.
Themes in this chapter
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
McGuire feigns serious illness to gain sympathy and free lodging, but a doctor reveals he is perfectly healthy, exposing the lie.
Social Class and Wealth
The contrast between McGuire's urban, sport-oriented world and the rugged, self-sufficient life of the cattle ranch highlights class differences.
Humor and Irony
The irony of a supposedly dying man being forced into physical labor and the humorous depiction of McGuire's complaints and antics on the ranch.
Characters to notice
- Cricket McGuire
Ex-featherweight prizefighter and sport, broke and sick after losing his money on a fixed fight; taken to the Solito Ranch by Raidler.
- Curtis Raidler
Nueces County cattleman who finds McGuire on the platform and brings him to his ranch to recover; later discovers McGuire's illness is feigned.
- Chad Murchison
Cowpuncher from the Circle Bar outfit who first suspects McGuire's illness is fraudulent and reports it to Raidler.
- Ross Hargis
Foreman of Raidler's outfit, musters the cowpunchers for the branding season.
- Ylario
Mexican youth assigned by Raidler to attend to McGuire's needs; promised a promotion to mayordomo if he cares for McGuire well.
Key passages
“The champion merely smote his victim, turned his back upon him, remarking, 'I know what I done to dat stiff,' and extended an arm like a ship's mast for his glove to be removed.”
The champion hit his opponent once, turned away, said he knew what he had done, and held out his arm to have his glove taken off.
Describes the quick, anticlimactic end of the boxing match that ruined McGuire's bet.
“Five to one dat de boy from Cork wouldn't stay t'ree rounds is what I invested in. Put my last cent on, and could already smell the sawdust in dat all-night joint of Jimmy Delaney's on T'irty-seventh Street I was goin' to buy.”
I bet five-to-one that the Irish fighter wouldn't last three rounds, staking all my money, and I was already imagining the sawdust floor of the all-night bar I planned to buy on 37th Street.
McGuire explains his failed bet and his dream of buying a bar.
“Your man is as sound as a new dollar. His lungs are better than mine. Respiration, temperature, and pulse normal. Chest expansion four inches. Not a sign of weakness anywhere.”
The man is perfectly healthy. His lungs are stronger than mine. All his vital signs are normal, and there is no evidence of illness.
The doctor's diagnosis reveals McGuire's deception.