Life — September 18, 1913 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Fugitives" — Life Magazine, September 16, 1913 This short story depicts two exhausted strangers meeting in a back alley. The first character complains about being "overworked"—mentioning that "every school child, every college boy, porters, politicians, old and young, rich and poor, men, women, children and babies have all had their try at me." The second stranger, introduced as "Vital," responds by saying there's "only one instant" to escape their shared burden. **The satirical point**: This appears to be personifying abstract concepts—likely "Hope" and "Vital" (as mentioned in the issue's subtitle "While there is Life there's Hope")—as fugitives fleeing from constant public overuse and misapplication. It's social commentary on how these idealistic concepts are exhausted by constant, often shallow invocation by all social classes.