Question

In what ways are Sam and Bill challenged by their interactions with Ebenezer Dorset and his son?

Answer 1

Dorset knows just what a little horror his son can be, and so he understands how keen Sam and Bill are to get him off their hands. And irony of ironies, his ransom demand succeeds where Sam and Bill's did not. When Ebenezer Dorset receives the ransom note demanding $1500 for the return of his son, Mr. Dorset writes back.