Answer: When the narrator and Bill Driscoll select their kidnapping victim they anticipate some quick, easy money from their ransom demand of two thousand dollars. After spending some time with the boy, these criminals reduce the ransom to fifteen hundred dollars because they figure it isn't fair to ask for so much for a "forty-pound chunk of freckled wildcat." To reduce the ransom based on the boy's behavior is both ironic and humorous, as is the fact that Johnny is both enjoying his captivity and mistreating his kidnappers.
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