THE RANSOM OF RED CHIEF
BY
O. HENRY
This is a plot-story of the kind in which the American public delights. The reader enjoys the humor due to situation, hyperbole, satire, and astounding verbal liberties to which the writer is given; but he enjoys even more the sharp surprise that awaits him in the plot. He has prepared himself for a certain conclusion and finds himself entirely in the wrong. Nevertheless, he admits that the ending is not illogical nor out of harmony with the general tone. Bill and Sam subscribe themselves "Two Desperate Men," but they are so characterized as to prepare us for their surrender of the boy on the father's own terms.
It is interesting to know that O. Henry himself put slight value upon local color. "People say that I know New York well!" he says. "But change Twenty-third Street to Main Street, rub out the Flatiron Building and put in the Town Hall. Then the story will fit just as truly elsewhere. At least, I hope that is the case with what I write. So long as your story is true to life, the mere change of local color will set it in the East, West, South, or North. The characters in 'The Arabian Nights' parade up and down Broadway at midday, or Main Street in Dallas, Texas."