Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Literary
August 21, 1937
The Key West Citizen
Key West, Monroe County, Florida
What is this article about?
In the courtroom, Kay Crandon disrupts Ted Gaynor's murder trial by citing a geological survey proving the crime occurred in Montana, not Idaho, leading to adjournment. Exhausted, she faints on the street and is kidnapped by Josh Hastings, waking in a dark blacksmith cellar.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1937.
BY MARIL DE NERVAUD
SYNOPSIS: Kay Crandon of the Lazy Nine impulsively hires Ted Gaynor, a jobless puncher. He helps her fight Josh Hastings, a "friendly" neighbor who wants to buy her ranch and marry Kay. Ted pummels Scrap Johnson, a cowhand who molested Kay. They shoot it out, wounding each other. Hastings sneaks up and kills Scrap with Ted's gun. A girl named Marian finds Ted and her nursing saves his life. The sheriff arrests Ted on a tip unconsciously given by Kay. The cards are stacked against him at his trial for Scrap's murder. The sheriff is charging the jury when Kay protests this trial on a technicality.
Chapter 40
Kidnapped!
A CONFUSED hubbub broke out in the court room, and through it, Tom Runyon and Josh Hastings both tried to force their way to Kay's side. The sheriff's pounding fist proved futile to stem the uproar. Pulling out his gun, he sent a shot shattering through a window.
"Silence!" he yelled.
In the stupefied moment that followed, Josh Hastings called out, "Don't listen to her! She's been suffering with concussion of the brain, and she's not right yet. She doesn't know what she's talking about."
"I do know what I'm talking about," Kay declared, "and I've brought my proof."
"You're crazy," Sam Cutter broke in. "Scrap Johnson was murdered a half a mile this side of the line. The monument's right there by the trail, on the way up to the summit."
"I know it is." Kay brought out a pamphlet, and held it impressively aloft. "But what you evidently don't know is that the summit where Scrap Johnson was murdered is a migrating divide. Wait! I'll read it to you from the latest U. S. geological survey."
In the stunned silence that followed, Kay read in a clear voice: "The summit is known as a retreating or migrating divide. Waters tributary to the Bitter Root river in Montana are capturing by erosion those of the Clear Water river in Idaho, so that the divide is slowly being shifted westward, adding to the territory of Montana, and diminishing that of Idaho. The existing divide is six to eight miles from the irregular line representing the original divide.'"
Kay looked up at Sam Cutter's baffled and astonished face. "That monument you spoke of marks the original divide. Actually, it is six to eight miles on the Montana side, and as Scrap Johnson was murdered only half a mile west of it, there's no question but that the killing took place in Montana."
"Let me see that book!" Sam Cutter demanded hoarsely, as a flood of excited comment broke out, everybody talking at once.
The only quiet person in the courtroom was Ted Gaynor, who sat, momentarily stunned at the unexpected turn of events. Relief at the delay and change of venue of the trial mingled with amazement that it was due to Kay.
Ted reproached himself for his aloofness that morning. She evidently wanted to atone for her betrayal of him, and while he could never forget that treacherous act, he at least should have seen her.
A sudden tense silence in the room brought Ted's eye back to Sam Cutter's face. Everyone was watching him as he read the pamphlet Kay had quoted from. With an abrupt movement, Sam Cutter threw the booklet on the table and crashed his fist down.
"This trial is adjourned," he announced in acid tones. He glanced over to where Zeke Farley was seated, gazing at him in stupefaction. "I'll turn the prisoner over to you whenever you are ready."
Totally disregarding the uproar that followed his words, he wrenched open the door of his office, which gave off the back of the room, strode in and slammed it.
Collapse In The Street
KAY pushed her way out through the excited crowd, pretending not to see Tom Runyon and Josh Hastings, as they tried to fight their way to her.
A sudden exhaustion flooded her as she gained the front door and came out into the fresh air. She simply had to be alone to take stock of the situation!
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Josh Hastings appear at the door. Tom Runyon was in the background, talking excitedly to two men who had buttonholed him, and were apparently giving him some unwelcome news.
Thankful that his attention, at least, was diverted from her for the moment, Kay started to run down the street toward the hotel, her one thought being to reach her room before a threatening dizziness overcame her.
At the far end of the practically deserted street, stood the rambling two-story wooden hotel, where she had taken a room, and Kay sped toward it.
Halfway there, the buzzing in her ears increased to a deafening roar, and an enveloping blackness sent her staggering ahead a few more steps before she fell in a dead faint.
A second later, Josh Hastings was beside her. Picking her up, he carried her a few yards to where he had left his car parked. He put her hastily and none too gently on the back seat, sprang in and drove off at high speed.
Black Prison
WHEN Kay came to, her first impression was that the blackness which had overcome her was still around her. Then, as consciousness gradually came back, she realized that she really was in a totally dark place of some kind, with a dank, unpleasant odor.
A nameless terror brought Kay to her knees, on the damp floor where she had been lying. Groping about her, her hand came in contact with a cold piece of iron. She ran her hand along its surface. It felt like an old forge.
She grasped it to steady herself, and got to her feet, fighting with all her might not to give way again to the surging rumbling in her ears and the wild beating of her heart. At least, she wasn't bound and gagged!
She shouted aloud, and her voice resounded with muffled roar against the low ceiling.
As her eyes gradually became accustomed to the dark, she reached out toward the wall taking a few experimental steps away from the prop that had been supporting her. Her foot hit against a hard obstruction, and stooping down she felt some pieces of scrap iron.
She realized that she must have been brought into the cellar of some blacksmith shop.
Kay called again as loudly as she could. This time, heavy steps overhead responded to her call and with mounting excitement she heard the thumping of feet descending some stairs. A moment later, a door some 10 feet away from her was pulled open. Josh Hastings appeared, framed in the dim light that penetrated through that doorway.
(Copyright, 1937, Maril de Nervaud)
Kay receives a proposal of marriage, Monday.
BY MARIL DE NERVAUD
SYNOPSIS: Kay Crandon of the Lazy Nine impulsively hires Ted Gaynor, a jobless puncher. He helps her fight Josh Hastings, a "friendly" neighbor who wants to buy her ranch and marry Kay. Ted pummels Scrap Johnson, a cowhand who molested Kay. They shoot it out, wounding each other. Hastings sneaks up and kills Scrap with Ted's gun. A girl named Marian finds Ted and her nursing saves his life. The sheriff arrests Ted on a tip unconsciously given by Kay. The cards are stacked against him at his trial for Scrap's murder. The sheriff is charging the jury when Kay protests this trial on a technicality.
Chapter 40
Kidnapped!
A CONFUSED hubbub broke out in the court room, and through it, Tom Runyon and Josh Hastings both tried to force their way to Kay's side. The sheriff's pounding fist proved futile to stem the uproar. Pulling out his gun, he sent a shot shattering through a window.
"Silence!" he yelled.
In the stupefied moment that followed, Josh Hastings called out, "Don't listen to her! She's been suffering with concussion of the brain, and she's not right yet. She doesn't know what she's talking about."
"I do know what I'm talking about," Kay declared, "and I've brought my proof."
"You're crazy," Sam Cutter broke in. "Scrap Johnson was murdered a half a mile this side of the line. The monument's right there by the trail, on the way up to the summit."
"I know it is." Kay brought out a pamphlet, and held it impressively aloft. "But what you evidently don't know is that the summit where Scrap Johnson was murdered is a migrating divide. Wait! I'll read it to you from the latest U. S. geological survey."
In the stunned silence that followed, Kay read in a clear voice: "The summit is known as a retreating or migrating divide. Waters tributary to the Bitter Root river in Montana are capturing by erosion those of the Clear Water river in Idaho, so that the divide is slowly being shifted westward, adding to the territory of Montana, and diminishing that of Idaho. The existing divide is six to eight miles from the irregular line representing the original divide.'"
Kay looked up at Sam Cutter's baffled and astonished face. "That monument you spoke of marks the original divide. Actually, it is six to eight miles on the Montana side, and as Scrap Johnson was murdered only half a mile west of it, there's no question but that the killing took place in Montana."
"Let me see that book!" Sam Cutter demanded hoarsely, as a flood of excited comment broke out, everybody talking at once.
The only quiet person in the courtroom was Ted Gaynor, who sat, momentarily stunned at the unexpected turn of events. Relief at the delay and change of venue of the trial mingled with amazement that it was due to Kay.
Ted reproached himself for his aloofness that morning. She evidently wanted to atone for her betrayal of him, and while he could never forget that treacherous act, he at least should have seen her.
A sudden tense silence in the room brought Ted's eye back to Sam Cutter's face. Everyone was watching him as he read the pamphlet Kay had quoted from. With an abrupt movement, Sam Cutter threw the booklet on the table and crashed his fist down.
"This trial is adjourned," he announced in acid tones. He glanced over to where Zeke Farley was seated, gazing at him in stupefaction. "I'll turn the prisoner over to you whenever you are ready."
Totally disregarding the uproar that followed his words, he wrenched open the door of his office, which gave off the back of the room, strode in and slammed it.
Collapse In The Street
KAY pushed her way out through the excited crowd, pretending not to see Tom Runyon and Josh Hastings, as they tried to fight their way to her.
A sudden exhaustion flooded her as she gained the front door and came out into the fresh air. She simply had to be alone to take stock of the situation!
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Josh Hastings appear at the door. Tom Runyon was in the background, talking excitedly to two men who had buttonholed him, and were apparently giving him some unwelcome news.
Thankful that his attention, at least, was diverted from her for the moment, Kay started to run down the street toward the hotel, her one thought being to reach her room before a threatening dizziness overcame her.
At the far end of the practically deserted street, stood the rambling two-story wooden hotel, where she had taken a room, and Kay sped toward it.
Halfway there, the buzzing in her ears increased to a deafening roar, and an enveloping blackness sent her staggering ahead a few more steps before she fell in a dead faint.
A second later, Josh Hastings was beside her. Picking her up, he carried her a few yards to where he had left his car parked. He put her hastily and none too gently on the back seat, sprang in and drove off at high speed.
Black Prison
WHEN Kay came to, her first impression was that the blackness which had overcome her was still around her. Then, as consciousness gradually came back, she realized that she really was in a totally dark place of some kind, with a dank, unpleasant odor.
A nameless terror brought Kay to her knees, on the damp floor where she had been lying. Groping about her, her hand came in contact with a cold piece of iron. She ran her hand along its surface. It felt like an old forge.
She grasped it to steady herself, and got to her feet, fighting with all her might not to give way again to the surging rumbling in her ears and the wild beating of her heart. At least, she wasn't bound and gagged!
She shouted aloud, and her voice resounded with muffled roar against the low ceiling.
As her eyes gradually became accustomed to the dark, she reached out toward the wall taking a few experimental steps away from the prop that had been supporting her. Her foot hit against a hard obstruction, and stooping down she felt some pieces of scrap iron.
She realized that she must have been brought into the cellar of some blacksmith shop.
Kay called again as loudly as she could. This time, heavy steps overhead responded to her call and with mounting excitement she heard the thumping of feet descending some stairs. A moment later, a door some 10 feet away from her was pulled open. Josh Hastings appeared, framed in the dim light that penetrated through that doorway.
(Copyright, 1937, Maril de Nervaud)
Kay receives a proposal of marriage, Monday.
What sub-type of article is it?
Prose Fiction
What themes does it cover?
Political
Liberty Freedom
What keywords are associated?
Western Novel
Trial Technicality
Kidnapping
Ranch Conflict
Murder Accusation
What entities or persons were involved?
Maril De Nervaud
Literary Details
Title
Chapter 40 Kidnapped!
Author
Maril De Nervaud
Key Lines
"The Summit Is Known As A Retreating Or Migrating Divide. Waters Tributary To The Bitter Root River In Montana Are Capturing By Erosion Those Of The Clear Water River In Idaho, So That The Divide Is Slowly Being Shifted Westward, Adding To The Territory Of Montana, And Diminishing That Of Idaho. The Existing Divide Is Six To Eight Miles From The Irregular Line Representing The Original Divide.'"
"This Trial Is Adjourned," He Announced In Acid Tones.