Should She Have Left Him? — page 39: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

26 SHOULD SHE HAVE LEFT HIM? wedded wife. Thena story was told which had been concealed from me. A year previous Elsie had eloped from Buffalo with this man Adams and had fled with him to Cleveland. Whether young Hallock was in Cleveland and had been informed by telegraph of their flight to that place, or whether it was an acci- dent, I never knew, but, as a matter of fact, when they stepped off the cars in that city he was await- ing them, and with police aid compelled Elsie to return with him to Buffalo. Both Adams and Elsie insisted that they had been married before leaving Buffalo, but as neither could produce proof nor cer- tificate, and as the time of her leaving home in the day and their arrival in the evening at Cleveland would indicate they barely had time to catch the train they arrived upon, young Hallock refused to believe their story. Looking upon the whole affair as something from which Elsie had been rescued in time to save her reputation, the family had hastened to Europe with Elsie to remove her from Adams’ influence. But now he presented the indubitable proofs of marriage. “Whatever there was of dilemma, and to the great disgust of the Hallock family, I promptly disposed. of by asserting my satisfaction with the prior claims of Mr. Adams and by insisting that the previous marriage made mine invalid. It was plain to see where Elsie’s heart was. If Adams was willing to take her after due explanation, and in knowledge, I, who had never pretended toa passion for the girl, was Satisfied that she should gotohim. I had sense ah. COMICMHOOOKS.CO @