In "The Ransom of Red Chief," Sam and his partner, Bill Driscoll, have an idea for obtaining the money they need to pull off a "fraudulent town-lot scheme in Western Illinois" without having to do any work: kidnap a child and demand a ransom. They choose the town of Summit because they believe it is the type of community where parents are especially fond of their offspring and because the police force doesn't seem too intimidating. Because they need a large sum of money, they must steal the child of a prominent citizen. An ordinary citizen wouldn't have access to $2000 to buy his child back, especially considering that $2000 in 1900 would be worth over $58,000 today.

It turns out, though, that Sam and Bill's selection of a victim was not ideal. The description of Ebenezer Dorset Sam provides indicates that he might not have been the best target, even though he was wealthy. For one thing, he was "tight," or frugal, and for another thing, he was a "stern ... forecloser." Thus he was a no-nonsense man who was willing to turn the screws as necessary to retain his profit in his business dealings. The men find out that both Johnny Dorset and his father end up being more than they bargained for, and they actually lose money on their plot that was conceived "during a moment of temporary mental apparition."