Penny Dreadfuls, 1923 · page 74 of 116
The Taking of Helen by John Masefield — page 74: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Analysis This is a page of running prose from the penny dreadful *The Taking of Helen* (page 62). A military commander inspects a house and grounds with his sergeant, discussing a failed search. The commander critiques the sergeant's earlier efforts to catch fugitives—apparently someone named Nireus worked in a gully that leads to the beach. The commander expresses frustration that dogs weren't used initially, orders the sergeant to await his command before searching the house further, and blames the sergeant for inadequate duty performance. The page ends with the commander examining a gap in a wall from multiple angles, remarking that something about the fugitives' whereabouts seems odd.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
62 THE TAKING OF HELEN “Well, here are the house and grounds, sir,’’ Myrtle said. , “T’m not blaming you,” he said, “any more than I am acquitting you.” He turned to his underling. “What we ought to have had was dogs,” he said. ‘Tf we had had dogs from the first, we should have caught them.’’ He went moodily to a gap in the wall from which he could look down into the gully where Nireus had worked. ‘“T suppose,” he said, “you didn’t beat the gully?” “Yes, sir,’ the sergeant said. ‘We went right through it till it ends on the beach.” “T’m surprised,’’ he said. “Sir,” said his underling, “shall I call in the men to go through the house and beat everything thor- oughly ?”’ “You will call the men in when [I tell you to, and I shall tell you to when I choose.”’ “Certainly, sir.”’ “Tf you had done your duty at the first we might not have been powdering here in this way.”’ “Yes, sir.” “T say, No, sir.”’ “No, sir.” The commander walked to look through the gap in the wall from three different angles. ‘“Tt’s odd,” he said, ““but I am quite sure they are GOMIIGIOOKS (C(O)