Short Story: ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’ by O. Henry

21 January 2011

FAITH LAPIDUS: Now, the VOA Special English program, AMERICAN STORIES.

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We present the short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry. Here is Shep O’Neal with the story.

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SHEP O’NEAL: It looked like a good thing. But wait till I tell you. We were down south, in Alabama – Bill Driscoll and myself – when this kidnapping idea struck us. There was a town down there, as flat as a pancake, and called Summit. Bill and I had about six hundred dollars. We needed just two thousand dollars more for an illegal land deal in Illinois.

We chose for our victim -- the only child of an influential citizen named Ebenezer Dorset. He was a boy of ten, with red hair. Bill and I thought that Ebenezer would pay a ransom of two thousand dollars to get his boy back. But wait till I tell you.

About two miles from Summit was a little mountain, covered with cedar trees. There was an opening on the back of the mountain. We stored our supplies in that cave.

One night, we drove a horse and carriage past old Dorset’s house. The boy was in the street, throwing rocks at a cat on the opposite fence.

“Hey little boy!” says Bill, “would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride?”

The boy hits Bill directly in the eye with a piece of rock.

That boy put up a fight like a wild animal. But, at last, we got him down in the bottom of the carriage and drove away.