How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
It was, as Bill afterward expressed it, "during a moment of temporary mental apparition"; but we didn't find that out till later. (1)
The Oxford dictionary defines an apparition as "the appearance of something remarkable or unexpected." Bill is right that this tale is both those things.
Quote #2
We weren't afraid he'd run away. He kept us awake for three hours, jumping up and reaching for his rifle and screeching, "Hist! pard," in mine and Bill's ears, as he fancied the crackle of a twig or the rustle of a leaf revealed to his young imagination the stealthy approach of the outlaw band. (23)
You would think that kidnappers would be terrified that their captive would escape, but Sam and Bill both realize that this is not a concern for them. Johnny seems to consider himself a part of their posse, guarding them with his keen senses while they sleep. Their plan already seems to be unraveling at the seams.
Quote #3
I fell into a troubled sleep, and dreamed that I had been kidnapped and chained to a tree by a ferocious pirate with red hair. (23)
Sam's finally starting to feel the pressure that poor Bill has been saddled with. Johnny is beginning to haunt his nightmares, and we begin to see that the boys really do not have anything under control.
Quote #4
I got the knife away from the kid and made him lie down again. But, from that moment, Bill's spirit was broken. He lay down on his side of the bed, but he never closed and eye again in sleep as long as that boy was with us. (26)
Johnny has Bill trapped in a world of suffering and terror. The tides have turned and it's becoming clear in a serious way who has the upper hand in this case. Johnny is steadily transforming himself into a monster to these pathetic criminals.
Quote #5
"You're a liar!" says Bill. "You're afraid. You was to be burned at sunrise, and you was afraid he'd do it. And he would, too, if he could find a match. Ain't it awful, Sam? Do you think anybody will pay our money to get a little imp like that back home?"
"Sure," said I. "A rowdy kid like that is 'just the kind that parents dote on." (29-30)
Sam and Bill are up a stream without a paddle. Bill is the one spending the bulk of the time with Johnny, and he is closer to the reality of the situation. Sam still thinks that this is a good old-fashioned kidnapping, pure and simple.
Quote #6
I expected to see the sturdy peasants of the village armed with scythes and pitchforks beating the countryside for the dastardly kidnapers. But what I saw was a peaceful landscape dotted with one man plowing with a mule. Nobody was dragging the creek; no couriers dashed hither and yon, bringing tidings of no news to the distracted parents. There was a sylvan attitude of sleepiness pervading that section of the external outward surface of Alabama that lay exposed to view. (31)
Even the countryside is unaffected by Sam and Bill's dastardly plan. Nobody is really bothered by Johnny's disappearance. Sam is firmly and doggedly committed to his denial, and assumes that no one is aware of Johnny's kidnapping yet. His ransom note will certainly set things right.
Quote #7
By and by, Bill sits up and feels behind his ear and says, "Sam, do you know who my favorite Biblical character is?"
"Take it easy," says I. "You'll come to your senses presently."
"King Herod," says he. "You won't go away and leave me here alone, will you, Sam?"
Bill is not referring to King Herod's architectural achievements here. It is safe to assume that Bill is making a fairly incoherent reference to the Massacre of the Innocents, and his possible desire to put Johnny out of their misery.
Quote #8
"If you don't behave," says I, "I'll take you straight home. Now, are you going to be good, or not?" (44)
Not exactly a phrase you expect to be uttered by a kidnapper. Sam figures that if he threatens Johnny, there is some hope that Bill will survive the day while he goes to town again. This is the first indication that Sam is admitting Johnny has the upper hand in the situation.
Quote #9
"You know, Sam," says Bill, "I've stood by you without batting an eye in earthquakes, fire, and flood—in poker games, dynamite outrages, police raids, train robberies, and cyclones. I never lost my nerve yet till we kidnapped that two-legged skyrocket of a kid. He's got me going. You won't leave me long with him, will you, Sam?" (48)
Poor Bill is reminding Sam of his loyalty and steadfastness. Johnny is more dangerous to Bill than any of the ill-begotten adventures the two had previously encountered. This is both funny and a bit sad.
Quote #10
Bill begged me tearfully to make the ransom fifteen hundred dollars instead of two thousand. "I ain't attempting," says he, "to decry the celebrated moral aspect of parental affection, but we're dealing with humans, and it ain't human for anybody to give up two thousand dollars for that forty-pound chunk of freckled wild cat. I'm willing to take a chance at fifteen hundred dollars. You can charge the difference to me." (50)
Bill understands the facts here better than Sam does. After all, he has spent the bulk of the time with Johnny. Bill takes great care in his choice of words, and is truly hoping for a sensible renegotiation of their original plan.
Quote #11
"Sam," says Bill, "I suppose you'll think I'm a renegade, but I couldn't help it. I'm a grown person with masculine habits of self-defense, but there is a time when all systems of egotism fail. The boy is gone. I sent him home. All is off. There was martyrs in old times," goes on Bill, "that suffered death rather than give up the particular graft they enjoyed. None of 'em ever was subjugated to such supernatural tortures as I have been. I tried to be faithful to our plan, but there came a limit." (74)
Bill is sure that he has finally ditched Johnny. His limits have been tested, and his limits have been reached. Bill is unapologetic when explaining the unfortunate turn of events that forced him to abandon their plan. Sam already sees Johnny sneaking up behind Bill, but he says nothing as Bill recounts his tale of woe.
Quote #12
"Sam," says he, "what's two hundred and fifty dollars, after all? We've got the money. One more night of this kid will send me to a bed in Bedlam. Besides being a thorough gentleman, I think Mr. Dorset is a spendthrift for making us such a liberal offer. You ain't going to let the chance go, are you?" (88)
Again, Bill serves as the voice of reason—or the voice of pure panic. Bill is practically begging to get Johnny off his hands at this point; he needs this failed endeavor to be placed behind him. He fears for both his sanity and his life.
Quote #13
We took him home that night. We got him to go by telling him that his father had bought a silver-mounted rifle and a pair of moccasins for him, and we were to hunt bears the next day. (90)
They can't even take Johnny home by normal means. Who is the victim here? Sam and Bill need to bribe Johnny to get him to go home at all.