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 CONTENTS

STORY INTRODUCTION 1

The Ransom of Red Chief 1

GLOSSARY 25
activities: Before Reading 29
activities: While Reading 30
activities: After Reading 32
ab o u t th e a u th o r 34
ABOUT THE BOOKW ORMS LIBRARY 35
THE R A N S O M
OF R E D C H I E F
2 The Ransom o f Red C hief

How much money Only two

have we got? hundred
dollars.

im:it,nr itn
But I’ve got an id e a ... Who? There’s
Kidnap! We can kidnap nobody rich in
someone here. this town.

You’re wrong, Bill I Excuse me, Miss. Who

Look around I is Ebenezer Dorset?
The richest man
DORSET in town, of course
BANK
 The Ransom o f Red C hief 3

And do Mr and Well

Mrs Dorset he
have
any children?
One boy.
His name’s Johnny.
He’s a lot of trouble.

Good! They’ve
Look at that house J got lots o f money.

Ha. ha. ha!

There he is! He’s !) W hat’s he doing?
a nice little boy. I
4 The Ransom o f Red C hief

Oh, good! Someone

^ w ants a fight! yj

Come on, Bill

But he’s
STRONG

Ouch! My head! | Think about all

that money, Bill

I feel better.
 The R ansom o f Red C hief 5

Don’t be afraid,
Johnny. You can
go home soon. W ho’s afraid? You make a fire
I’m not afraid! I d o n’t and give the boy
w ant to go home. dinner, Bill. I’m
taking the horse
back to town.

OK, Sam.
Johnny
and I can
be friends.
6 The Ransom o f Red C hief
 The Ransom of Red C hief 7

Very funny.

O f course it’s
me! W hat’s
w rong with
you, Bill?

I like this forest.

I like camping too

My best friend can
walk on his hands.
The R ansom o f Red C hief 9
10 The Ransom o f R ed C hief
 The Ransom o f Red C hief 11

Mr Ekenezer Dorset-. W hat names

can we put?

We have your son. Do you

want to see Kim again?
—pj t
I hen you must give, us
a ransom of 1, 500 .
Give us the money tonight
There are three big trees
hear the Summit Hiver,
p u t your answer in the
taWest tree.

Do not tell the

about this.

T w o

desperate
men
12 The Ransom o f Red C hief

Wait a minute!
Where’s the boy? Johnny!

Where are you?

Look! There's something over there!

Where?
The R ansom o f Red C hief 13

I
The R ansom o f Red C hief 15
16 The Ransom o f Red C hief
 T he R an so m o f R ed C h ie f 17

Sam walks back to the Hello, Sam

camp. He is thinking
about the ransom money Where s the boy?

I want a big house

and a car and the
best clothes a n d ..

He isn't a boy, Sam. Bill, is your

He's a monster. headstrong?
Where is he? I don't
want to know.

Look behind you

18 The Ransom o f Red C hief

Sam watches Bill watches

the time. the boy.

Where are you No! Not again! You can’t f "

going, Sam? leave me with HIM again! , ls 'f e
= , m i last time.
To get our Bill. And then we can take the
money. money and the boy can go home.

The boy can go home

the boy can go home,
the boy , J | I
The Ransom o f Red C hief 19
20 The Ransom o f Red C hief
 The Ransom o f R ed C hief 21

To Two Desperate Men:

Thank you fo r your le tte r.
My answer is no.
The ransom is ^ ^
very High. v
Very hicjh 1 \ I )

I have another idea fo r you.

You bring ]ohnny home
and you give me $ 200.
When Johnny is with me
at home, you can escape.
Ebenezer D o rset
22 The R ansom o f Red C hief

WHAT? We give | ^ ; rJ That’s stupid! We're

money to HIM? the kidnappers!

Look at this!
Let’s play.

How much have we got 5

Two hundred
dollars.

OK, Bill. Let’s give V

him the money. \
 The Ransom o f Red C hief 23

One hour la te r...

Come on. Johnny

Where are we going?

surprise
'■u V Wait a minute! This is
MY house. I don't
nice one want to go hom e!

Now you're in
BIG trouble. Quick. Sam! Knock
on the door!
 w
!

24 The Ransom o f Red C hief

\ r .'i r.i (•') ; fO W • (•) : r

Good I J A : / ; Mr and Mrs Dorset?
Here’s your money!
even my. )J f= x ^ A \ f l

I can hold him for

about ten minutes.

We are NOT having a

I Yo v Are- kjoWLFaVINS nice day!

S U M M IT *-/
 25

GLOSSARY

cam p in g sleeping and co o k in g ou tsid e or in a tent

catch run after an d take hold of
desperate (ad j) h avin g no hope
dinner a m eal in the early evening
dream the th o u gh ts or pictures you have w hen you sleep
fight (n) w hen tw o or m ore peop le try to w in by punch ing
or kicking each other, they are h avin g a fight
heart the thing th at p ush es b lo o d aro u n d the body
high (a d j) expen sive
h old (vb) keep som eth in g in the h an d or hands
kid n ap take so m eb o d y and only return them to their
friends or fam ily fo r m oney
k n ock hit w ith the hand
m on ster a very b ad person
n ose the p a rt o f the face abo ve the m outh
ouch w h at you say w hen you are in pain
ran so m the m oney th at k id n ap p e rs ask for
rich (ad j) h avin g a lot o f m oney
stron g h avin g a p ow erfu l body
troub le (n) a lot o f p ro b lem s, or som eth in g that m ak es a lot
o f p rob lem s
The Ransom of Red Chief

ACTIVITIES
 29

ACTIVITIES

Before Reading

1 L o o k at the fro n t an d b a ck cover o f the b o o k an d guess the

an sw ers to these q uestion s.

1 W ho is Red Chief ?
a EH Sam .
b □ Bill.
c EH T h e boy on the fro n t cover.
2 When does the story happen?
a n 100 years ago.
b D in the year 2000.
c LH 500 y ears ago .

3 Imagine you are the boy on the fro n t cover. H ow do you feel?
a m H ap p y .
b m A ngry,
c m A fraid.

2 R e a d the story in trod u ctio n on the first p age o f the b o o k .

H o w do S am an d Bill try to m ak e a lot o f m oney?

YES NO

a They take money from a shop. O EH

b They kidnap a boy. EH EH
c They take horses and sell them. EH EH
 30

ACTIVITIES

W hile Reading

1 R e a d p ages 1-6 .
A re these sentences true (T) or false (F)?
T F

1 Sam and Bill have no money. □ □

2 They look for jobs in Summit. □ □
3 Ebenezer D orset is the richest m an in town. □ □
4 They decide to kidnap Ebenezer D orset. □ □
5 Johnny is afraid. □ n
6 Bill stays with Johnny. □ □
7 Johnny says he is called R ed Chief now. □ □

2 R ead p ages 7—12. C o m p lete the sentences.

It’s a little
, Bill.
D o you w ant
to hold it?

I’m L et’s sleep.

We m u s t..... W ait a !
a letter now. W here’s the boy?
 a c t iv it ie s : While Reading 31

3 R e a d p ages 1 3 -1 8 , an d m atch the fo llo w in g sentence h alves to

m ak e five com p lete sentences.

1 Bill is afraid . . .
2 Johnny la u g h s . . .
3 Johnny runs aw ay . . .
4 The old man takes the letter . ..
5 Johnny com es back . . .

a when Bill tries to catch him.

b when he can play gam es with Bill,
c when Sam goes to the shop in town,
d when Sam leaves,
e when Sam is back.

4 R e a d p ages 1 9 -2 4 an d an sw er these qu estion s.

1 W ho brings D o rset’s answ er to the tree?

2 W hat does D orset ask for in his letter?
3 W hat do Sam and Bill w ant to do?
4 H ow does John n y feel when he sees his house?
5 H ow long can M r D orset hold his son?
6 W hat do Sam and Bill do when D orset is holding Johnny?
 32

ACTIVITIES

A fter Reading

1 Put these sentences in the correct order.

a LI S am and Bill w rite a ran so m letter,

b n M r D o rset does not p ay the ran som .
c I 1T h ey run ou t o f tow n,
d Sam and Bill tak e Jo h n n y hom e,
e I ~\ Jo h n n y says th at he is called R ed C hief,
f - J S am takes the letter to tow n.
g i They kid n ap Jo h n n y D orset,
i I I Sam and Bill arrive in Sum m it,
h I 1T hey p ay m oney to M r D o rset.

2 M atch the n am es an d pictures w ith the w ord s.

Sam Bill Johnny M r D orset

II
I can hold him for
about ten minutes.

He’s only a little boy.

Play with him.
B My name is
^ Red C hief.
LL

□ Come here,
you little monster!
 a c t iv it ie s : A fter Reading 33

3 Com plete this sum m ary o f the story. Use these w ords:
a fra id arrive boy escap e figh t give hits m oney
nam e sp id er stay s ran som

Sam and Bill only have $200 when th e y in the sm all

town of Sum m it. They w ant to kidnap the son of the richest
man in town. Johnny D orset is a s m a ll but he gives Sam
and Bill a good ...............They take him into the w oods. Bill
with Johnn y, while Sam takes the horses back to town.
Johnny says that h is is Red C hief now. H e plays and
plays with Bill! He puts a in his bed; h e him on
the head. Soon Bill is v e ry o f the little boy!
Bill and Sam write a letter to Jo h n n y’s father. They ask for a
b i g ...............But when M r D orset answ ers, he says no. He tells
Sam and Bill to give h im ............. Then they c a n from
Johnny! Sam and Bill say yes. T h e y the money and then
run out of Sum mit.

4 Write or draw a new ending for the story. Johnny escapes

from his father and runs after Sam and Bill. What happens
when he catches them?
34

ABOUT THE AU TH OR

William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) was born in North Carolina,

USA, in 1862. When he was twenty, he went to Texas where he
worked in different offices and then in a bank. In 1887 he married a
young woman called Athol Estes. He and Athol were very happy
together, and at this time he began writing short stories. His most
famous story is The Gift o f the M agi, and many people think that
Della in this story is based on his wife Athol. You can read this story
in New Yorkers —Short Stories (Oxford Bookworms Stage 2); here
it is called The Christmas Presents.
In 1896 Porter ran away to Honduras because people said he stole
money from the bank when he was working there in 1894. A year
later he came back to Texas to see Athol, who was dying, and in 1898
he was sent to prison. During his time there he published many short
stories, using the name ‘O. Henry’, and when he left prison in 1901,
he was already a famous writer. He then lived in New York until his
death in 1910.
 35

O X F O R D B O O K W O R M S LIBRARY

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36

TH E O X F O R D B O O K W O R M S LIBRARY
G R A D I N G AND SAMPLE E X T R A C T S

STARTER • 2 5 0 HEADWORDS

present simple - present continuous - imperative -

can ! cannot, m u s t - g o in g to (future) - simple gerunds ...

H er phone is ringing - but where is it?

Sally gets out o f bed and looks in her b ag. N o phone. She
look s under the bed. N o phone. T hen she lo ok s behind the
door. T here is her phone. Sally picks up her phone and
answ ers it. Sally’s Phone

STAGE I • 4OO HEADWORDS

... past sim p le-coord in ation with an d, but, o r -
subordination with before, after, when, because, so ...

I knew him in Persia. H e w as a fam o u s builder an d I

w orked with him there. F or a tim e I w as his friend, but
not fo r long. When he cam e to P aris, I cam e after him -
I w an ted to w atch him . H e w a s a very clever, very
dan gero u s m an. The Phantom o f the Opera

STAGE 2 • 70 0 HEADWORDS

... present perfect — will (future) —(d o n ’t) have to, m ust not, could
comparison o f adjectives — simpler/clauses — past continuous —
tag questions — ask !tell + infinitive ...

W hile I w as w ritin g these w ords in my diary, I decided w hat

to do. I m ust try to escape. I shall try to get dow n the wall
outside. T h e w indow is high above the groun d, but I have
to try. I shall take som e o f the gold with me - if I escape,
perh aps it will be helpful later. Dracula
 37

STAGE 3 • IOOO HEADWORDS

... should, m ay - present perfect continuous - used to - past perfect -

causative - relative clauses - indirect statements ...

O f course, it w as m ost im p o rtan t th at no one sh ould see

C o lin , M ary , or D icko n entering the secret garden . So C olin
gave orders to the garden ers th at they m ust all keep aw ay
fro m th at p a rt o f the garden in future. The Secret Garden

STAGE 4 • I400 HEADWORDS

... past perfect continuous - passive (simple forms) -

w ould conditional clauses - indirect questions —
relatives with where/when - gerunds after prepositions/phrases ...

I w as glad. N o w H yde could not show his face to the w orld

again . If he d id , every honest m an in L o n d o n w ould be prou d
to report him to the police. D rJeky lla n d M rH yd e

STAGE 5 • 1800 HEADWORDS

... future continuous - future perfect -

passive (modals, continuous forms) -
w ould have conditional clauses - modals + perfect infinitive ...

If he had spoken E stella’s name, I w ould have hit him. I w as so

angry with him, and so depressed about my future, that I could
not eat the breakfast. Instead I went straight to the old house.
Great Expectations

STAGE 6 • 2 5 0 0 HEADWORDS

... passive (infinitives, gerunds) - advanced modal meanings -

clauses o f concession, condition

When I stepped up to the piano, I w as confident. It w as as if I

knew that the prodigy side of me really did exist. And when I
started to play, I w as so caught up in how lovely I looked that
I didn’t worry how I w ould sound. The Joy Luck Club
The Ransom of Red Chief
Bill and Sam arrive in the sm all American
town of Summit with only two hundred
doLlars; but they need more, and Sam has
an idea for making a lot of money. When
things start to go very wrong, both men
soon regret their visit - and their idea.
(Word count 890)

O STAGE & H CLASSICS

STAGE 5
STAGE U T e xt adaptation by Paut Shipton
Cover image by Dynamic Graphics IUK] Lid
STAGE 3 courtesy of photolibrary.com
STAGE 2 STARTER ?50 Headrtorrir.
STAGE 1

W 4 STARTER
BOO KW ORM S

q
2