The Wasp, 1913 · page 315 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 315: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be text from a serialized story rather than a cartoon. It describes a mysterious character named Mr. Fitzwalter arriving in London. The satire seems to target Victorian-era social deception and class performance. Key satirical elements: **The mystery man**: Fitzwalter presents an ambiguous persona—his sad demeanor and mourning ring suggest he's a widower, yet his age is deliberately unclear (anywhere from early 30s to late 50s), mocking how people construct false identities. **Social performance**: His deliberate lodging in London and isolated lifestyle suggest calculated concealment. The revelation that his "hump" is a fake leather contrivance indicates deliberate physical deception. **The satire**: The piece likely mocks Victorian characters who fabricate tragic backstories and false appearances to manipulate social standing and sympathy. The detailed exposure of his artifice—the fake mourning, the constructed deformity—suggests *The Wasp* is exposing fraudulent social climbing or criminal masquerade common in Victorian literature and society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
~ 308 THE WASP even sad; and this, in connection with an elaborate mourning ring which he wore on the second finger of his right hand, led his companions to believe him to be a widower. His age was the subject of much discussion. Some maintained that he had not yet seen his thirty- second year, and others that he would never again see his fiftieth. The voyage was an uneventful one, and at the end of it Mr. Fitzwalter entered the mazes of Lon- don like a man who knew his way, with his leather bag in his hand and two watermen following with his chests. He soon found lodgings that suited him, and dismissed the watermen with a shilling apiece. He remained in his apartments all day, having his meals served to him in his sitting-room. After his supper dishes had been carried away by the little maid he locked his outer door and retired to his bedroom. There he undressed. Had a spy been hidden in the room he would have been astonished to see that the slight hump of Mr. Fitzwalter’s shoulders was a contrivance of leather attached to Comichooks.com