He had the most appealing look in his eyes I ever saw on the face of a talking brute.Who is the speaker?Who is he talking about?
Answers
Answer:
Short Story: ‘The Ransom of Red Chief’ by O. Henry
June 12, 2009
Two kidnappers get more than they expected from their young hostage. Transcript of radio broadcast:
Now, the VOA Special English program, AMERICAN STORIES.
(MUSIC)
We present the short story "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry. Here is Shep O'Neal with the story.
(MUSIC)
STORYTELLER:
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.
We took him up to the cave. The boy had two large bird feathers stuck in his hair. He points a stick at me and says:
"Ha! Paleface, do you dare to enter the camp of Red Chief, the terror of the plains?"