Penny Dreadfuls, 1923 · page 94 of 116
The Taking of Helen by John Masefield — page 94: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Page Description This is a page of running prose (page 82) from the Victorian penny dreadful *The Taking of Helen*. The text depicts a nighttime scene in which an old woman unlocks a door for a visitor she calls "The Sightless." A character named Paris observes from within as the mysterious man enters, and the old woman follows him, muttering about reflection and age. The passage emphasizes atmosphere—wind, rushlight, shadows—and suggests the visitor is a figure of some significance or notoriety from the woman's past.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
82 THE TAKING OF HELEN heard her pass along the passage outside the room in which they were, and then on, to the door, calling out to the knocker that she was coming. Soon she was fumbling at the bolts and trying to pull them back. Paris, looking out, saw her there, wheezing and fum- bling, lit by a rushlight which she had laid upon a stone. The flame blew about and flung shadows, while the fingers tried to slip the bolt. “There it is,’’ she said, as the bolt fell back. ‘“‘Come in now, if it’s you, The Sightless.’’ _ As the door opened, the wind blew in so wildly that the light danced on the rush as though it would blow it out. Somebody came in from the night and slammed the door behind him. “Who else would come to this house?’”’ the man said. ‘Not many, I should think.” “Not many, indeed,” the old lady said. “My heart’s very bad to-night. Go you to the kitchen.” “Your heart’s well enough not to keep me waiting at the door, one would think,” the man said. “I’ve seen the time when a princess would open the door to me and princes bring me my drink.’’ “The latter end of our time is for reflection,’ the old woman muttered, as she followed him. “To think it all out in the dark, when we’ve lived it all out in the light.” The man paid no heed to what she said, but strode forward. Paris could see that he was indeed The CORnnIClOOKS»1EO