Penny Dreadfuls, 1923 · page 49 of 116
The Taking of Helen by John Masefield — page 49: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a page of running prose from a Victorian penny dreadful titled *The Taking of Helen* (page 37). The narrative follows a character named Nireus who emerges from woodland onto a hillside overlooking the sea near Green Havens. Searching for two missing lovers, Nireus initially despairs of finding them among the scattered population and soldiers he observes in the landscape. His fortune changes when he discovers fresh footprints of a man and woman in the dew-wet grass below a stone wall, causing him to celebrate what he believes is evidence of their location.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE TAKING OF HELEN ot two kings’ sons this night,’’ he said; ‘may you live free in these glens forever.”’ He clambered out of the wood on to a hillside in the daylight of a dull morning. He could see the sea, perhaps two miles away, straight in front of him be- yond some trees. Fully four miles away to his right was a little town of red-roofed white houses on the very brink of the sea. Above it on the cliff, still fur- ther away, was the town stronghold, with a part of its wall fallen in the long peace. As the town was Green Havens, he saw at once that he had come, as he had planned, well to the north of Green Havens, and near to his second ship. But where were the lovers? He could see some miles of glen, hill, scrub, woodland, with beasts grazing, smoke ris- ing, life going on, but not the runaways. Soldiers were moving like dots down the glenside near the city. “This is hopeless,’ Nireus said. ‘I have as much chance of finding them as the desert has of grass.’’ He went on for another mile and then stood upon a stone wall to look about. ‘The sun was shining upon a pasture beyond the wall. Most of the pasture was burnt, but below the wall some grass, still green, was wet with dew, and on the dew were the foot- prints of a man and girl who had walked side by side there. ‘Here they are,” he said, “here they are! These are their tracks.’’ He flung himself down and kissed Gomiilcooo! SS (EO)