A very brief summary for a reader's diary
Two scammers were going to speculate in land plots, and for this they lacked two thousand dollars. They decided to get them by kidnapping the only son of an important townsman and receiving a ransom for his release. They succeeded, but the boy turned out to be not a timid one, with hooligan tendencies. He completely intimidated one of the kidnappers, intending to scalp him and forcing him to play Indians and scouts, and the other kidnapper began to fear him. The boy did not want to return home, because it was boring there and he was tired of going to school.
The swindlers wrote a letter to his father with an offer to ransom his son. The answer contained a counteroffer - they would pay the boy's father $250 to take him home.
The scammers had to agree to this, since one of them was already on the verge of madness from the captive’s tricks.
"Leader of the Redskins" plot
«The leader of the Redskins
"(eng.
The Ransom of Red Chief
) is a short story by the American writer O. Henry, included in the collection Whirligigs
,
published in 1910 by Doubleday, Page & Company.
"Leader of the Redskins" plot
The action of the novel takes place in one of the towns in the American state of Alabama. Two crooks, Sam and Bill Driscoll, are in dire need of money. In order to get them, they kidnap a teenager, the son of an influential provincial townsman, Ebenezer Dorset, hide the young man in a cave in the forest, and intend to send a letter to his father demanding a ransom of $2,000. However, the boy, who calls himself the Chief of the Redskins, takes all this for a game and believes that he is on an exciting trip - he does not at all strive to return home. Moreover, he involves Bill and Sam in his game of Indians - so much so that he simply imposes his own rules on them. The comedy of the situation increases even more from the fact that the villains turn out to be completely helpless in the face of childish spontaneity. Driven almost to despair, Bill no longer knows how to get rid of this Leader and simply drives the boy home.
| “Sam,” says Bill, “you might think I’m a traitor, but I just couldn’t stand it.” I am an adult, capable of self-defense, and my habits are courageous, but there are times when everything goes to waste - both self-esteem and self-control. The boy left. I sent him home. Everything is over. There were martyrs in the old days who were ready to accept death rather than give up their beloved profession. But none of them were subjected to such supernatural torture as I was. I wanted to remain faithful to our predatory charter, but I didn’t have the strength. |
However, the boy does not even think about leaving and returns to Sam and Bill. Then they decide to reduce the ransom amount to $1,500 and hastily send a threatening letter, confident that the boy’s parents will pay them the money and take the boy away. But the impossible happens: Mr. Dorset not only refuses to pay the ransom, but invites the “two villains” to pay him $250 for taking Johnny back. To top it all off, it turns out that it is necessary to hand over the child only at night, so that the neighbors do not interfere with this. Sam and Bill agree.
| When the boy discovered that we were going to leave him at home, he started howling like a steamship siren and clung to Bill's leg like a leech. His father tore it off his leg like a sticky plaster. “How long can you hold it?” asks Bill. “My strength is not what it used to be,” says old Dorset, “but I think I can guarantee you in ten minutes.” “That’s enough,” says Bill. “In ten minutes I’ll cross the Central, Southern and Midwestern states and have time to freely reach the Canadian border.” Although the night was very dark, and Bill was very fat, and I could run very fast, I only overtook him a mile and a half from the city. |
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Brief summary (more detailed than summary)
Two scammers, Sam and Bill, came up with the idea to kidnap a child for ransom. They believed that the love of children was highly developed in the town of Vershina, and that this town could only send a few constables in pursuit. They decided to kidnap the only son of a prominent townsman, Ebenezer Dorset, because they thought that he would pay at least two thousand dollars for his child. Not far from the city, in a cave, the swindlers stored provisions and in the evening rode in a charabanc past Dorset's house. His son, a freckled boy of about ten years old, was throwing stones at the kitten who was sitting on the fence.
Bill offered him a ride and a bag of candy, but in response he received a piece of brick in the eye. The scammers grabbed the boy, although he fought hard, shoved him into a charabanc and arrived at the cave. When it got dark, Sam drove the charabanc to the village where he was hired.
When he returned, he saw that Bill was covering the abrasions and scratches on his face with a plaster. The boy aimed a stick at Sam and asked how he dared to come to the Redskin Chief's camp.
Bill explained that they were playing Indians, that he was the old hunter Henk, captured by the Redskin Chief, and at dawn he would be scalped.
The boy really liked life in the cave. He forgot that he was a prisoner. He called Sam Snake Eyes and the Spy and promised to roast him at the stake when the sun rose. Bill was intimidated by the warlike Chief, who let out an eerie war cry from time to time.
The boy said that he had fun here, but was not interested at home, and he didn’t want to go to school. At night, Sam woke up from a terrible squeal - it was Bill squealing desperately, on whose chest the Redskin Leader was sitting, clutching his hair with one hand. He tried to scalp the prisoner with a knife. Sam took the knife from the boy and put him to bed. But from then on, Bill did not sleep a wink while the boy was with them. Sam dozed off, but remembered that the Chief of the Redskins intended to burn him at the stake at sunrise. Bill realized that Sam was afraid and told him so, although he did not admit it. Bill did not believe that money would be paid for such a little devil, and Sam believed that parents adore such hooligans.
Sam climbed the mountain and looked around, expecting to see farmers looking for kidnappers, but the landscape was peaceful. When Sam returned, he saw that Bill was pressed against the wall, and the boy wanted to hit him with a large stone. Bill complained that the prisoner put a hot potato down his collar and they had to pull his ears. Sam settled this misunderstanding, but the boy threatened to take revenge on Bill.
Soon the crooks heard a war cry, and Sam barely dodged the sling that the boy was spinning. Bill couldn't dodge and was hit in the head with a stone. Sam told the boy that if he didn't behave, he would send him home. He said that he would obey.
Sam went to the village to find out what they were saying about the kidnapping. But first he suggested writing a letter to old Dorset. Bill tearfully asked for a ransom of one and a half thousand instead of two thousand dollars, because he believed that a large ransom would not be paid for such a child. Sam agreed.
In the village, he talked with farmers, one of whom said that Ebenezer Dorset's son had been stolen in the city. Sam put the letter in the mailbox and returned to the cave. There was no one there. Half an hour later Bill arrived, followed by a grinning boy.
Bill said that he sent the boy home because he could no longer play with him: he was a horse, and the boy rode him and fed him sand instead of oats. He also said that it was a pity for the ransom, but otherwise he would go crazy.
Sam asked if he had heart disease in his family and, receiving a negative answer, told Bill to turn around. When he saw the boy, he turned pale and fell. Only an hour later Sam stopped fearing for his sanity and said that he would receive the ransom today.
He hid in a tree. At the appointed time, a teenager rode up on a bicycle, found a box under a pole, put a piece of paper in it and left. The note outlined a counter-offer from Dorset, who agreed to take Johnny back if they paid $250. Moreover, he advised him to come at night so as not to get hurt by the neighbors, who would be upset that Johnny was brought home.
Sam began to be indignant, but Bill said that he would be taken to an insane asylum if the boy stayed with them one more night, and that Dorset had made them a generous offer. Sam said that the boy got on his nerves too.
At night they took Johnny home, telling him that his father had bought him moccasins and a rifle and that tomorrow they would go bear hunting with him.
Bill counted out the money to Dorset, and the boy, realizing that he had been tricked, grabbed Bill's leg. His father barely pulled him off his leg. Bill asked how long he could hold his son, to which the old man said about ten minutes. Bill was satisfied with this. Sam caught up with him only a mile and a half from the city.
Summary
When two adventurers, Sam and Bill Driscoll, found themselves in the southern state of Alabama, they “had a brilliant idea about kidnapping.” They lacked two thousand dollars “to carry out a fraudulent speculation,” and kidnapping for ransom seemed to them an easy solution to the problem.
As their future victim, Sam and Bill chose the only son of one of the most prosperous residents of a small town called Peaks. They had no doubt that the “honest and incorruptible church collector” Ebenezer Dorset would immediately shell out the required amount to rescue his child from the hands of criminals. A couple of miles from the town they found a cave in which they prepared everything for the upcoming abduction.
Seizing the right moment, the friends attacked the ten-year-old boy, who turned out to be strong and agile beyond his years. To their surprise, he was not at all afraid; on the contrary, he perceived everything that was happening as an exciting adventure.
Attaching two hawk feathers to his red hair, he christened himself the leader of the redskins, Sam - Snake Eyes, and Bill - the old hunter Hank. He chatted constantly, periodically tracked down imaginary pale-faced spies, and “let out a war cry that made the old hunter Henk tremble.”
At dawn, Sam woke up from a piercing squeal: the boy, in the most natural way, “tried to scalp Bill” with a sharp knife. Sam pulled the little imp off his friend and put him to bed, but he didn’t sleep a wink again: he remembered how the boy threatened to burn him at the stake as soon as the sun rose. Bill expressed doubt that “anyone would pay money” for the return of such a prankster.
Sam went into the city to investigate, but was surprised to find that there was no panic and no attempts to find the boy. Returning to the cave, he barely managed to save Bill from a boy who was about to smash his head with a stone “almost the size of a coconut.” However, the leader of the Redskins still managed to take revenge on old man Henk for hitting him. With great difficulty, Sam reconciled them and again went to the city to send a letter to Dorset demanding a ransom.
Meanwhile, the restless boy decided to play scout, assigning Bill the role of a faithful horse. When he learned of his fate, the man had “an expression like a rabbit caught in a trap.” He was ready to reduce the ransom amount to a thousand dollars, but Sam was already far away.
When Sam returned to the cave, “neither Bill nor the boy were anywhere to be seen.” Soon Bill returned and told about all the torment that he had to endure thanks to the little captive. He admitted that he sent the obnoxious boy home because “there is a limit to human patience.” However, Bill had to endure considerable disappointment when, turning around, he saw the leader of the Redskins, who had no intention of returning to his parents.
Soon the friends received a letter from Mr. Dorset, in which he made them a “counteroffer”: for two hundred and fifty dollars he was ready to take his son back. At the same time, Dorset asked to return Johnny at night, otherwise he could not vouch for the behavior of the neighbors, who were sure that the tomboy had gone missing.
Bill began to beg Sam to agree to “such a generous offer.” They cunningly lured Johnny to his parents' house. Mr. Dorset said he could hold his son for no more than ten minutes, but during that time the friends were ready to cross “the central, southern and midwestern states” and reach the Canadian border.
Main characters
Sam
One of the swindlers who decided to kidnap the son of a rich townsman in order to receive a ransom for him. He is the brains of this adventurous enterprise. Leaving the boy with Bill, he goes about his business to find out how the townspeople reacted to the kidnapping of the child. Sam writes a letter to Ebenezer Dorset, takes it to the town and throws it in the mailbox, finds out the news. In the end, Sam and Bill give their money to Dorset in order for him to take his son.
Bill
Sam's partner, the boy who suffered the most in this adventure. He was sure that Dorset would shell out the money as soon as he learned about the kidnapping. But the boy turned out to be a real robber. Bill carried him on himself instead of a horse, played Indians with him, and was almost scalped. The boy tormented Bill so much that he refused the ransom and sent him home. The boy did not go home, and Bill was willing to pay Dorset if only he would get rid of the boy.
Boy
An energetic and inquisitive kid who makes the whole neighborhood suffer. For the first time he found himself outside the house, in the forest, which he really liked. This is a very active boy, and he bullies Bill in every possible way, forcing him to play various games with him. He believes that everything in games should be real, and Bill has a very hard time. The boy liked the free and free life, and he never wants to return home. To give it to his father, two scammers had to use a trick.
