Judge, 1919-05-03 · page 13 of 36
Judge — May 3, 1919 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# The Missing Suitor: Plot Setup This is the opening installment of a serialized short story, not a political cartoon. The narrative establishes a romantic rivalry: Tommy Telford, an orphan office boy living with his aunt, competes for Dora Hutton's affections against Harold Warde, a soldier in uniform (likely WWI-era doughboy) whose father is a company partner. The illustration shows the three in a drawing room—Tommy and Warde lounging while Dora sits between them, suggesting the tension. Tommy, though physically mature and intellectually capable, loses Dora to Warde's superior social status and military prestige. Humiliated, Tommy disappears the next day. The story plays on class anxieties of the era: merit and effort cannot overcome social standing and romantic advantage. For modern readers, the "doughboy uniform" dates this to the WWI period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Missing Suitor By J. A. Watpron Illustration by Lawrence Fettows OMMY TELFORD had gone to the Huttons for dinner and the evening. After dinner, while Tommy was with Dora Hutton, Harold Warde came in proudly in the new uniform of a doughboy. Tommy outstayed young Warde, although he knew it was not a polite thing to do, and was again alone with Dora, who was inclined to resent his persistency. “Dora, will you marry me some day?” asked Tommy with no diplomatic approach. “What a question!” replied Dora. “Tt requires an answer.”” Tommy’s seriousness was pathetic. “I’m fond of you, Tommy, but—’ “But you're more fond of Harold Warde, ch?” “You’re impertinent, Tommy! You're just a A boy!” “You're only sixteen, Tomm “And Warde is a venerable person of twenty-one! And you're an old lady of nineteen!” Even Tommy’s smile was pathetic. “But I’m more of a man than he is even in his uniform!” There was desperation in his tone. It was not vaunting. I y! “You are larger—taller—Tommy. But remember your ag “And I’m only your father’s office boy. Warde is the son of the junior partner of Hutton & Company. I see!” “Why, Tommy!” The boy was angry. He had been hurt. And he left the house solemnly, although Dora smiled upon him to the last. She was sorry for him. Tommy was an orphan, but his opportunities had been exceptional. Mr. Hutton, a close friend of his father, had practically adopted him. Tommy was treated almost as one of the Hutton family, although he lived with an aunt. Mr. Hutton had wanted to send Tommy to a preparatory school with college in view, but the boy had begged for a postponement of this plan. He detested the routine of school as he had known it, but he loved books of adventure and ro- mance, and was alert for business knowledge. He was very large for his age—a full six feet—and he had a certain maturity of appearance sometimes seen in ex- ceptional boys. He might have passed for twenty The day after Tommy’s talk with Dora he disar peared. All search for him was fruitless. The only comicbooks.com