The Wasp, 1913 · page 127 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 127: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains fiction narrative, not political satire or cartooning. It's a serialized story from *The Wasp* magazine featuring romantic tension between characters. The passage describes a chance encounter: a man named Burnham observes Kitty Trimmer (identified as "the tailor's daughter") riding with a young naval officer. Their brief eye contact carries loaded meaning—Burnham reads "fear, inquiry" and "coquettish challenge" in her gaze because he knows her "of old." He then deflects to a companion, Elizabeth Nash, with a somewhat dismissive comment about Kitty being "the toast of" (the text cuts off). The narrative suggests prior romantic history between Burnham and Kitty, and hints at social commentary about a tailor's daughter's elevated status ("the toast of"). This appears to be serialized romantic fiction rather than editorial satire—a common *Wasp* feature mixing literary content with political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
124 THE WASP long skirt of one of them brushing his near stirrup. A tinkle of familiar laughter rang in his ears. Burnham looked ahead and beheld Kitty Trim- mer’s graceful back and the gleam of her harvest- ripe hair beneath the jaunty slant of a wide, plumed hat. Where had the tailor’s daughter learned that trick of wearing a hat so that a man’s pulses quick- ened at the first glimpse of the hat alone? The art had always been hers. She was riding with a very young gentleman from the frigate. She turned her head and glanced back over her shoulder, and for a second her glance was held by Burnham’s fixed and expressionless stare. He read fear, inquiry—yes, and a gleam of coquettish challenge in those blue eyes. Brief as the glance was, he was able to read all this because he knew the girl’s eyes of old. He turned to Elizabeth Nash and smiled. “That must be the young lady of whom I heard so much yesterday,” he said. “A friend of one of the major’s wives, I believe. She is the toast of Comichooks.com