The Wasp, 1913 · page 15 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains narrative text rather than a cartoon. It appears to be from a serialized story involving characters named James Burnham, Kitty, Stanton, and John Trimmer. The plot involves romantic betrayal and social degradation—Kitty abandons Burnham, and he witnesses John Trimmer in "that gang," facing possible transportation to plantations or execution via gallows. The passage explores themes of class anxiety and downward mobility common to 19th-century satire. Burnham's fear that he might follow Trimmer's trajectory suggests social precariousness for men of his status. Without seeing the full serial context or publication date, the specific satirical targets remain unclear, though the narrative critiques moral corruption and social vulnerability among middle/upper-class men.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
14 THE WASP more skilful hell-rake played the same game on him, plucking him to the hide; and on the day following. that dismal night the youngest of the fools, an en- sign by the name of Stanton, took Kitty away from him. This last was the shrewdest cut of all, though he would not admit it even to himself. He was fond of the girl, though he had not entertained any de- lusions about her even before her desertion. James Burnham sat for a long time in grim thought. Pictures of his past and the picture of the daunting procession he had seen that very morn- ing trailed through his mind. How long, he won- dered, before he, too, would be on his way to the plantations—or the gallows? The sight of John Trimmer in that gang had touched him keenly—not with pity for John, but with consciousness of the peril of his own position. He sat in a padded armchair, limp, with his laced hat still on his head. Something like defeat twisted his lips; but a menacing light shone in his pale eyes. Comichooks.com