The story is already beloved by film buffs thanks to the many adaptations for the big screen, including the 1948 John Ford/John Wayne collaboration and the 2003 Japanese anime Tokyo Godfathers.
But here is the original 1913 novelette in all its warm humanity and humor.
Three bank robbers on the run in the frontier American West happen upon a birthing mother who begs the men to watch over her baby as the delivery takes her life just as another is brought into the world.
Naturally, they do, and find that their new charge brings them a new outlook on their wicked ways.
American novelist PETER B.
KYNE (1880-1957) was born in San Francisco, California.
From early on it was clear that he had a gift for writing, and his time in the army during the Spanish-American War and World War I gave him plenty to write about.
Kyne's novels include The Go-Getter (1921) and Cappy Ricks (1916).
