Sentence:  "On the three-thousand-dollar reward John Bain is offerin' for the return of his sister," said Ace. "Now listen--I know a certain big Chinee had her kidnapped outa her 'rickshaw out at the edge of the city one evenin'. He's been keepin' her prisoner in his house, waitin' a chance to send her up-country to some bandit friends of his'n; then they'll be in position to <WSD>twist</WSD> a big ransome outa John Bain, see? [...]" 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To coax.