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.52 In terms of the number of tokens, the corpus for the present study seems rather small compared with that of Brown. However, the observed standardized type-token ratio (TTR) in the minor working corpus is higher than that of Brown. The higher the ratio is, the more lexical variation it reflects. The result is not quite surprising, for the fact that O.Henry was notable for writing stories with a diversity of expressions. The mean sentence length shows that O.Henry wrote shorter sentences than those in general written texts. In each of his short stories, several incidents and clues are condensed into merely 750 words or so. Naturally, sentences in shorter length can deliver new information in a flash of time. It takes less time for readers to follow up the development of the dramatic plot. Fundamentally a product of his time, O. Henry's work provides one of the best English examples of catching the entire flavor of an age. Whether roaming the cattle-lands of Texas, exploring the art of the ‘gentle grafter’, or investigating the tensions of class and wealth in turn-of-the-century New York, O. Henry had an inimitable hand for isolating some element of society and describing it with an incredible economy and grace of language. 4.Keyword Analysis for Settings Setting is an indispensable constituent for story telling. Setting basically includes several closely related aspects – the time in which the event or action takes place, the place where the event or action takes place and social environment of the characters: the manners, customs, moral values that govern the characters’ society. In the present study, the information of the first two aspects can be provided by sorting out the keywords of the texts as Table 4.1 shows. Table 4.1 Keywords Denoting Places and Time Indoor places Outdoor places room, restaurant, Bogle’s, Cypher’s, store, flat, door, window, dresser, table, skylight, floor, desk, bench, street, corner, sidewalk, Broadway, avenue, park, Denoting time evening, night, o’clock, It is strikingly interesting that two out of three keywords explicitly refer to the time at or after sunset, including ‘evening’, and ‘night’. More interestingly, almost all the collocations of ‘o’clock’ indicate the right time from the late afternoon till the late night. The following concordance lines provide evidence. 1.s were few. The time was barely 10 o'clock at night, but chilly gusts of wind 2.ey Donovan's paper-box girl. At 10 o'clock the jolly round face of "Big Mike" 3.heatres are stupid, anyway." At 11 o'clock that night somebody tapped lightly 4.ant to overshadow her friend. At 4 o'clock on the afternoon of the third day M 5.upper windows lighted? Well, at 6 o'clock I stood in that house with the youn 6.a strike-breaker's motor car. At 6 o'clock the waiter brought her dinner and c 7.e to thinking. One evening about 6 o'clock my mistress ordered him to get busy 8.lar and eighty- seven cents?" At 7 o'clock the coffee was made and the frying- 9.ging mistress. It was most times 7 o'clock when he returned in the evening. At 10.coddled, praised and kissed at 7 o'clock. Art is an engaging mistress. It wa 11.We were married last evening at 8 o'clock in the Little Church Around the Cor 12.ew samples this morning. It's 9.45 o'clock, and not a single picture hat or pi 13.g happiness to your son." At eight o'clock the next evening Aunt Ellen took a 14.by we moved out, for 'twas eleven o'clock, and stands a bit upon the