The Wasp, 1918 · page 135 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 135: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page depicts a literary excerpt describing a formal duel between James Burnham and someone named Stanton. Rather than a political cartoon, this appears to be serialized fiction from *The Wasp*, a 19th-century American satirical magazine. The passage describes the ritualistic preparation for a gentleman's duel—the formal salute, selection of weapons (rapiers), and positioning on a beach at dawn. The narrative emphasizes Stanton's composed exterior masking inner violence ("the lust of blood seethed and bubbled"), a common romantic trope of the era. Without additional context about the original publication date or the full narrative, it's unclear whether these specific characters reference real historical figures or contemporaneous political rivals, or if this is purely fictional melodrama. *The Wasp* serialized both satirical commentary and literary pieces, making this difficult to categorize definitively without seeing accompanying illustrations or advertisements on the page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
126 THE WASP James Burnham stood staring seaward with ‘an emotionless face. He raised his hat in grim | and formal salute, and Burnham ‘replied in kind. He presented one of the rapiers, hilt to the front. “Your sword, sir,” he said. “I have assured ‘myself that it is a dependable weapon. If — you will take your ground now, Mr. Burnham, we will get along with this little affair. The light — is not bad and the footing is admirable.” James Burnham bowed again, then let his hat fall to the sand. He did not so much as glance at the sword in his hand, but tucked it under his left arm and walked steadily to the spot selected by the seconds for the combat. He took his ground with his right shoulder to the flaming east. As Stanton was not yet ready, he ee the point of his sword to the toe of his buckled shoe, folded his hands lightly on the hilt, and glanced idly around hims His face was like a mask and his eyes were cool, and yet in his heart ~ the lust of blood seethed and bubbled. Coatless and-hatless, clothed only in a thin © white shirt and blue breeches, narrow of flank, deep of chest, straight of back, he cut a fine figure. His hair was simply tied and lightly icomicbooks:com)