Question

"Bill and I had joint capital of about six hundred dollars, and we needed just $2,000 more to pull off a fraudulent town-lot scheme in Western Illinois with."

What does this quote mean From “The Ransom of Red Chief”

Answer 1

This quote means that the two men planned to get easy money to get their 'nefarious' plan working.

Step-by-step explanation:

The given quote is from the short story "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry. The story revolves around two petty thieves and their attempt to kidnap a young boy for a large sum of money. But their plan backfired when the boy was more than happy to spend time with them than go home.

The given quote is said by the narrator Sam who is one of the two thieves who had a plan to get rich easily. Their plan was to get enough "capital" to start a fraudulent scheme and dupe the people of the small town of Summit by 'selling' land or doing real estate work. Between him and his partner Bill Driscoll, they had just $600 and they needed to get another $2,000 to get their plan of a "town-lot scheme" working.

This quote means that the two men planned to get easy money to get their 'nefarious' plan working.