the ransom of red chief and other stories

Johnny confesses to the killing but caustically reminds Barney that he owes him $1,000, which Johnny leant to him when Barney sustained heavy gambling debts years earlier. Barney reveals that he is a policeman and that the pencil holder, which was a prize won by them in a singing contest, links Johnny to the murder. Johnny, who was Barney's boyhood friend, is delighted when Barney finds him, and states that he is on his way to Chicago. Casually asking if he can borrow the evidence, Barney does not reveal that he recognizes it, then goes in search of its owner, hardened criminal Johnny Kernan. Leavenworth, and in the police station notices that the only piece of evidence to the brutal murder of a man named Norcross is a gold pencil holder, engraved 'Camptown Races 4 July 1901,' which was left at the scene of the crime. Henry, who learned about jail 'the hard way,' never felt superior to the people about whom he wrote, and that 'The Clarion Call' is a good example of his fairness: Policeman Barney Woods returns to New York City after escorting a counterfeiter to Ft. Although Soapy pleads with the judge, assuring him that he is a changed man, the judge sentences him to ninety days in jail.īack in his study, Steinbeck explains that O. Determined to reform, Soapy leaves, but is arrested for loitering outside the church. Frustrated, Soapy and Horace seek shelter in a church, and the peaceful surroundings remind Soapy that he grew up privileged and pampered, with dreams of living a fine life. He then approaches a young woman on the street while a policeman stands nearby, hoping to get arrested for annoying her, but when the woman turns out to be a prostitute, Soapy quickly covers his actions so that she will not get in trouble.

Soapy then begins a campaign to get himself arrested, but despite taking a passerby's umbrella, eating a lavish meal and not paying for it and throwing a horseshoe through a window, Soapy is not arrested. Steinbeck then notes that one of the best is 'The Cop and the Anthem,' in which a homeless bum, Soapy Throckmorton, prepares for the rigors of winter: The well-educated but lazy Soapy discusses his situation with his friend, Horace Truesdale, who does not share Soapy's view that three months in the city jail is a fine way to spend the season. Henry, created many lively characters and noteworthy stories, which were often set in turn-of-the-century New York City.

While standing in his study, author John Steinbeck states that writer William Sidney Porter, who was known as O.

The ransom of red chief and other stories