An American short story writer William Sydney Porter, better known by his pen name O. Henry, was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Porter used a number of pen names in the early part of his writing career. Nevertheless, the name "O. Henry" seemed to garner the most attention from editors and the public, and was used exclusively by Porter for his writing by about 1902. The Ransom of Red Chief is a 1910 short story first published in The Saturday Evening Post. It follows two men who kidnap and attempt to ransom a wealthy Alabamian's son. Two small-time criminals, Bill and Sam, kidnap Johnny, the 10-year-old red-haired son of an important citizen named Ebenezer Dorset, and hold him for ransom. It seemed like a good idea at the time! But the moment they arrive at their hideout with the boy, the plan begins to unravel. Calling himself "Red Chief", the boy proceeds to drive his captors to distraction with his unrelenting chatter, malicious pranks, and demands that they play wearying games with him. The criminals write a ransom letter to the boy's father, lowering the ransom from two thousand dollars to fifteen hundred at Bill's suggestion. The father, who knows his son well and realizes how intolerable he will be to his captors and how desirous they will soon be to rid themselves of the delinquent child, rejects their demand and offers to take the boy off their hands if they pay him. Listen online to free English audiobook "The Ransom Of Red Chief” on our website.
