So, making some intrigue and learning about O'Henry, I think it's time to tell you something about the plot of the story.

"The Cactus"

“The Cactus” is a part of a collection of short stories “Waifs and Strays”. It was written in 1917 and contains 12 stories.

            Trysdale was removing his gloves and was recalling the last few hours of his life. Some time before he was a whiteness of Her marriage. “…most insistently recurring, the drawling words of the minister irrevocably binding her to another”. Thinking of it, he wanted to know what went wrong, why did he lose her?

“For the thousandth time he remarshalled in his mind the events of those last few days before the tide had so suddenly turned”

            He meant more than all for her. She put him on pedestal. When he asked her to stand on the pedestal with him, in other words - proposed her, as a lady, she couldn’t say at once that she wanted to say “Yes” without waiting for a minute. He heard only: "I will send you my answer to-morrow". She did. She sent him a cactus. There was a card with writing in Spanish “Ventomarme”, but he didn’t understand her message as he didn’t know this language (though she thought that he did).

           In two days they met. They waited for explanations, answers from each other, but there were no words, only their suppositions. Unfortunately, their silence brought nothing good.

          Trysdale’s friend helped him to understand how blind and dull-witted he was. The friend said that the cactus’ name in English meant 'Come and take me.' 

To  my mind, the moral of O. Henry's 'The Cactus' is that love can only flourish when people are honest and truthful with one another; pride and insincerity are the downfall of love.