Daily puzzle

Put The Ransom of Red Chief back in order

Seven beats from our edition of The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry, shuffled. Drag them, or use the arrows, until the story runs straight. No account, no streak to lose.

  1. The Scheme Sam and Bill, short on capital for a fraudulent town-lot operation, decide that kidnapping a child in sleepy Summit is the safest way to raise quick money.
  2. The Abduction They lure Ebenezer Dorset’s ten-year-old son into their buggy with candy and carry him to a hidden cave on Cedar Mountain.
  3. Red Chief Reigns The boy delightedly adopts the name Red Chief and turns captivity into a violent game, scalping Bill in his imagination and pelting the men with rocks.
  4. No Alarm Sam scouts the town and finds it eerily calm; nobody seems to be searching for the missing child, which unsettles the kidnappers.
  5. Lowering the Price Bill, battered and sleepless, can barely endure another hour, so the men cut their ransom demand sharply and send a note to the father.
  6. The Counteroffer Ebenezer Dorset replies that the men must pay HIM two hundred and fifty dollars to take the boy back, a complete reversal of the ransom.
  7. Paying to Escape The exhausted kidnappers hand over the money, peel Red Chief off Bill, and run for the hills as fast as they can.