Sixth Outside Reading

This week I read another O. Henry story titled "The Ransom of Red Chief". This is a story I've been meaning to read for a while, since it's one of his more well known story (other than "The Gift of the Magi" of course, which is another favorite story of mine.) "The Ransom of Red Chief" is the story of two criminals who decide to kidnap the son of a wealthy man and ask for a ransom for his return. At first, keeping the boy hidden is easier than you'd think: he can't wait to sleep overnight in a cave, not go to school, and play games in the forest all day. The kidnappers are quickly mistaken when they discover his games involve violently realistic scalpings, threats, and constant annoyences. When the men finally send out the letter for the ransom, they're horrified to recieve instead of money, a letter back saying that for the boy's return, his father is asking for two hundred and fifty dollars. The men are shocked, but cannot stand the boy any longer and return him for his father's demanded price.

Of course this story's very funny and entertaining, but the ending really struck me as interesting. The father didn't seem the least bit worried about his son's wherabouts. Does he really know the boy well enough to know he'd be safe among two strange kidnappers? Does anyone know their children that well? The only way any father would ever agree to this is if he knew exactly where his son was and was able to keep an eye on him during this endeavor. Perhaps he did? The kidnappers didn't seem especially skilled at their trade.

Now I'm curious as to how the story would have been different if the reader was told that the father knew where his son was being kept, but the kidnappers did not. But maybe that's a different story for a different time.