Penny Dreadfuls, 1923 · page 58 of 116
The Taking of Helen by John Masefield — page 58: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a page of running prose from "The Taking of Helen," a penny dreadful (page 46). The text depicts soldiers searching a house and gully for a fugitive man and woman accused of "reasons of state." A character named Nireus, who is digging a catchment for a brook, encounters the soldiers. When they compliment a girl as "a nice piece," Nireus reveals she is his sister, prompting the trooper's approval. A sergeant then reports finding no trace of the fugitives indoors. The passage is dialogue-heavy melodrama depicting manhunt and family loyalty in what appears to be a classical or mythological setting.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
46 THE TAKING OF HELEN through the house to open the door, Nireus took pick and shovel, scrambled into the gully and began to dig. He heard the soldiers go into the house, rummage about and drag things out of corners. Presently they left the house, and came beating and peering among the tamarisks in the gully. One of'them asked Nireus what he was doing. “Making a catchment for the brook.”’ “Tt ought to be hot work.” “Pretty well. What are you doing?” ‘Looking for a man and a woman.” “Weren’t you doing that last evening ?”’ Ves.”’ ‘“Haven’t you found them yet?” 66 No.”’ ‘What have they done?”’ ‘“They’ve been doing reasons of state, and we've got to have them.”’ “They wouldn’t come to a place like this.” “You’re right. A ruin like this. The girl’s a nice piece.”’ “She’s my sister,’’ Nireus said. “You’d ought to be proud of her,” the trooper sald. | au | am.’’ The sergeant in charge of the men came out at this point, wiping his mouth. ‘No trace of them in the house,” he said. ‘We'll ECoOnnicooolKS.s.e@