The Wasp, 1913 · page 142 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 142: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a narrative fiction excerpt rather than a political cartoon. The text describes a dramatic romantic/action scene involving characters named James Burnham, a young woman (Kitty), and three men including Percy Stanton. The scene depicts Burnham attempting to kiss the woman on a trail, only to be deceived—she screams and escapes on horseback while three drunk men ("under the influence of the mess port") attack him with whips. Burnham defends himself with a wooden billet, disarming them. Without additional context about *The Wasp* magazine's specific satirical targets or the broader narrative, it's unclear whether these are real public figures being caricatured or purely fictional characters. The tropical setting and colonial military references ("mess port") suggest this may be set in a British colonial context, but the specific social or political commentary remains unclear from this page alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 139 to his. The docile pony did not move. The young woman did not resist; but suddenly, turning her face a little so that Burnham’s lips were upon one of her smooth cheeks, she screamed. Then James Burnham’s wits flashed awake, and he sprang back from the trail as if he had been stung. The brief tropic twilight had slipped away and the white stars were shining. Three men, afoot, rushed at him; and Kitty lashed the pony and went up the track at a hand gallop. Burnham was unarmed. Rage boiled in him to the verge of madness. She had tricked him again, even while his lips were upon her face! The three gallants came at him somewhat clum- sily, with more noise than agility, cutting at him wildly with heavy-thonged whips. Percy Stanton was one of them; and all three were under the in- fluence of the mess port. Burnham snatched up a billet which had fallen from the load of some wood-cutter and laid about him to such good purpose that the three merry gen- tlemen were speedily disarmed. He took Stanton Comichooks.com