Bill and Sam, two outlaws, are seeking for an effortless two grand, “to pull of a fraudulent town-lot scheme in Western Illinois with.” The two conceive a plan to kidnap and ransom Johnny, a 10 year old son of Ebenezer Dorset, a rather wealthy figure. They kidnap the youngling and take him to a cave hideout, however Johnny begins to abuse the men. In his fantasy game of Cowboys and Indians, calling himself “Red Chief” the boy drives both men crazy, notably Bill. With ridiculous foolishness, childish demands and mild physical abuse, the boy demands they entertain him, refusing to return to his home even when they release him from his captivity out of desperation to be rid of his outrageous behavior. The criminals write a ransom letter to “Red Chief’s ” father, decreasing the previous ransom form two thousand to one thousand five hundred. Unfortunately Dorset, knows the boy is a terror and rejects his offer. Dorset decides to propose that he will take the boy from them if they pay him two hundred fifty dollars. Bruised, disheartened, and their hopes reduced by the trials of parenting, Bill and Sam hand over the cash and trick the despondent boy into returning to his wealthy family. Dorset restrains Johnny long enough for the outlaws to depart from town and run away.
I think the theme is , the danger of trying to take the simple way out. Bill and Sam, ”needed just two thousand dollars more to pull off a fraudulent town-lot scheme in Western Illinois with.” Working hard instead of running scams probably never occurred to these two, but as it turns out, kidnapping is not as easy as they imagined it to be. The barbarian child that they decide to take ends up being hard, if not impossible, to handle. In the end, they must pay the boy’s father to take him off their hands. After a few days of babysitting Johnny, Bill and Sam end up backwards financially. Perhaps there is no easy way to financial success .