Life, 1907-12-05 · page 40 of 68
Life — December 5, 1907 — page 40: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents the opening of a serialized short story rather than political satire. The illustration shows a woman writing a letter of congratulation to "Dearest Nellie" about her happiness. The narrative that follows is a first-person account by a man describing his decision to romantically pursue a young woman already courted by another man—described as plain, awkward, and homely. The narrator, considering himself more sophisticated and accomplished, sees winning her affections as an "adventurous" conquest. The story explores themes of romantic rivalry and social competition common to early 20th-century popular fiction. There's no apparent political commentary; this appears to be straightforward magazine entertainment aimed at readers interested in romantic drama and character psychology. The text continues on page 60, indicating this is serialized fiction rather than a standalone comic or satirical piece.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
seals LTE a dition A LETTER OF CONGRATULATION “Dearest Nellie, I'm simply delighted to hear of your happiness.” An Affair of Honor DOWT know what possessed me to do it—or rather, I do know, for after all it is quite the one human trait common to all of us, this love of conquest, and when I saw the young chap head over ears in love with that girl, why then, somehow, I began to prick upmycarsand take an interest in the situation. I had been making love to all ki could remember. Oh, yes, I was fami of the game. Now, just because I say this, please don’t jump to the conclusion that I necessarily considered myself an expert. A man may beanexpert at anything else—nervous diseases, alfalfa, or flying-machines, but when it comes to making love to a girl, that’s always a‘different matter. And I think I have had experience enough to be humble. So I don’t mean it in that way. What I do mean is that it looked to me like an adventurous and exciting matter on this occasion to cut out the young chap. He was awkward in his manner. There was nothing, indeed, that appeared to be cosmopolitan about him. His clothes did not fit. He had no suggestion of smartness. He was plain and homely and rugged. He appeared to be unfinished. He needed to be turned on an emery wheel—no doubt of that. Quite a contrast, indeed, to the lovely creature she was. Nevertheless, he had an honest, if ungainly, appearance. There was a dor- mant, settled air of resolution about him, and he was evidently gone on her. Any one could sce that. He hung about her constantly. I was by no means too confident of myself. Sometimes the awkward creatures win by sheer force of brute strength. I saw one thing quite clearly, if her sympathy was excited for him it would be all over. Even if he had made no progress at all (I heard from the clerk he had been there a week, while I had only just come), and I should appear to be trying to cut him out, should appear to put him at a disadvantage, that would count against me. If he had only been my kind! Then it would have been easy. I’ve never yet seen the man in my c who could cut me out with any girl. But women are undoubtedly queer. Excite their sympathies elsewhere, and it’s all over. Of course this was only a precautionary method of reasoning This story continued on page 60 comicbooks.com