Penny Dreadfuls, 1923 · page 55 of 116
The Taking of Helen by John Masefield — page 55: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Description This is a page of running prose narrative text from a Victorian penny dreadful titled "The Taking of Helen" (page 43). The passage depicts a scene in which Nireus asks an unnamed girl for shelter for two fugitive lovers, Paris and Helen. The girl becomes emotionally attached to Helen upon meeting her, while dismissing Paris as merely handsome. The text shows dialogue and internal narration as the group enters a stone passage and discusses their immediate danger of being searched for, with the girl offering to hide them despite the risks involved.
📄 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 43 thought him the comeliest young man of his time; she thought so, too, and as her song showed, she was ware of handsome young men; but she saw,that Nireus saw her and wanted her as a jolly boy, and that pleased her, for that was how she thought of herself. ‘“Madam,”’ Nireus said, ‘‘there are two lovers here, my dear friends; they are being pursued and will be killed if caught. Will you hide them?” Her whole nature was there at once. Paris she summed up as nothing but a handsome young man, but Helen was of a kind she had never seen; she was Helen’s slave thenceforth. Nireus saw her put out a shy finger to touch Helen’s dress as she brought her to the door. “Will the lady please to enter?” she said. -When they were all inside the door, in a damp stone passage, she looked at them and giggled. “IT do not know where I am to put you,” she said. ‘Will they search the houses for you?” “Yes,” Nireus said. ‘And in a minute’s time.” “Will the lady come this way?’’ she said. “You must not go,” Paris said. ‘‘Nireus, you ought not to have brought us here.”’ “I will go with this good girl anywhere,’’ Helen said. The girl caught Helen’s hand and kissed it. “We ought to be together,” Paris said. “We cannot save her: the girl may,” Nireus said. CORIICLO@ <S (C(O)