The Wasp, 1913 · page 123 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 123: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a cartoon or satirical illustration**—it's prose fiction, specifically Chapter VII of a serialized story appearing in *The Wasp* magazine. The text describes a clandestine nighttime meeting between two characters, Tanton and James Burnham, in what appears to be a tropical setting (sugarcane, bananas, sea breeze). Burnham is portrayed as an elegantly dressed, sober dandy with distinctive affectations (amber glass cane, long pipe), while his companion shows signs of recent heavy drinking. The chapter ends mid-dialogue with Burnham's cryptic question: "Is it live and let live? Or—" **Without additional context** (earlier chapters, publication date, author), the story's satirical purpose remains unclear. The page number (120) suggests this is mid-narrative. The dramatic nighttime encounter hints at conflict or moral confrontation, but the specific political or social satire *The Wasp* intended is not evident from this excerpt alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
VII TANTON arranged a secret meeting with James Burnham for that same night. They met on a white track above the town, sev- eral hours after midnight, by the light of a belated and reduced moon and a million white stars. The long streamers of sugar-cane and bananas whis- pered around them in the cool sea breeze. Both men had been sitting late with roistering companions. The ensign showed it in his flushed face and slightly deranged costume; but he was so- ber. Burnham was cool, mentally and physically. He was all in white linen and silk, and looked a notable dandy of original ideas. He carried a iong walking cane of amber-colored glass and smoked a long pipe. Under the whimsical half lights of the stars and the old moon he cut an exceedingly ro- mantic and attractive figure. “Ts it live and let live?’ he asked quietly. “Or 120 Commichooks.com