Henry’s short story, “The Furnished Room,” tells of an unnamed man’s search for a young girl, Eloise Vashner. As the story opens, we do not know exactly who or what he is looking for or what their connection is, so we follow the journey with him as he visits numerous houses that rent out rooms on the west side of New York City searching. O. Henry’s action picks up as the man reaches the twelfth house, Mrs. Purdy’s house, and we learn that he has come to New York to find her.

As is often characteristic of O. Henry’s short stories, the story slowly unravels. As the man enters the house, he instantly notices the strange smell, “The air was bad; no flowers could have lived in it for long.” Though he consistently asks Mrs. Purdy about the previous tenants, she insists that no one named Eloise rented a room from her. At night, he believes he hears her calling and believes that he catches her scent, but again, there is no confirmation that Eloise was ever in the house.

A few pages in, the narrator lets us know that the young man loved Eloise, and because he loved her so much, he knew her better than anyone else. The young man’s knowledge of his love led him to believe that she had run off to the bustling big city. The fact that his search surrounds theaters and those close to the theater lead us to believe that he knew Eloise had dreams of making it as an actress.

Every evening he went to the theaters. He went to good theaters and to bad ones. Some were so bad that he was afraid to find her there. Yet he went to them, hoping ...

He who had loved her best had tried to find her. She had suddenly gone from her home. He was sure that this great city, this island, held her.

Giving up, the young man commits suicide by leaving the gas on as he goes to sleep. Downstairs, Mrs. Purdy speaks to a coworker about the room and lets us know that a young woman, whom we believe to be Eloise, committed suicide by gas “only one week ago”. The young man did find where his love was, he just didn’t know it.