Two small-time criminals, Bill and Sam, kidnap Johnny (10 years old), the red-haired son of an important citizen named Ebenezer Dorset, and hold him for ransom. But the moment they arrive at their hideout with the boy, the plan begins to unravel. Calling himself Red Chief, the brat proceeds to drive his captors to distraction with his unrelenting chatter, malicious pranks, and demands that they play wearying games with him. Desperate to get rid of the little terror, the kidnappers lower the ransom. The father, who knows his son well and realizes how intolerable he will be to his captors and how desirous they will soon be to rid themselves of the delinquent child, rejects their demand and offers to take the boy off their hands only if they pay him. Knowing a good deal when they see it, the men hand over the money and the howling boy—who had actually been happier being away from his stricter father and thus does not want to be "rescued" from his more-lenient captors—and flee after the father threatens to turn his son loose on them.