1. Was the boy troubled by the kidnapping? How do you
know?
Answers
Answer:
No, Red Chief definitely was not troubled by the kidnapping. He thought it was great fun to be out camping with Sam and Bill. Likely, the boy exhausted and infuriated everybody from his home and neighborhood, so nobody wanted anything to do with him. Even his father knew how much trouble the boy is, which is why he told the kidnappers that he would take little Johnny back, if the kidnappers paid him to take Johnny back. Here is the letter that Ebenezer wrote back to Sam and Bill about the return of Johnny.
"Gentlemen: I received your letter to-day by post, in regard to the ransom you ask for the return of my son. I think you are a little high in your demands, and I hereby make you a counter-proposition, which I am inclined to believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and I agree to take him off your hands. You had better come at night, for the neighbours believe he is lost, and I couldn't be responsible for what they would do to anybody they saw bringing him back."
As for Johnny, he had the full attention of Bill for most of the time. He got Bill to play all kinds of cops and robbers and cowboys and Indians. He got to sleep out in the wilderness and wasn't cooped up in a house with all kinds of rules. Probably my favorite Johnny Dorset sequence is his rapid fire statement/question speech right after dinner. It's exhausting and hilarious to read at the same time.
'I like this fine. I never camped out before; but I had a pet 'possum once, and I was nine last birthday. I hate to go to school. Rats ate up sixteen of Jimmy Talbot's aunt's speckled hen's eggs. Are there any real Indians in these woods? I want some more gravy. Does the trees moving make the wind blow? We had five puppies. What makes your nose so red, Hank? My father has lots of money. Are the stars hot? I whipped Ed Walker twice, Saturday. I don't like girls. You dassent catch toads unless with a string. Do oxen make any noise? Why are oranges round? Have you got beds to sleep on in this cave? Amos Murray has got six toes. A parrot can talk, but a monkey or a fish can't. How many does it take to make twelve?'
No, I don't think he's troubled at all about being kidnapped.