The Wasp, 1918 · page 17 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains prose fiction rather than a political cartoon. It depicts a dramatic scene involving a character named James in a disheveled room—with abandoned cards, dice, a crushed fan, and stale candles—suggesting abandonment or dissolution. James, still wearing his "laced hat," displays menacing behavior: he drinks French brandy directly from a bottle, then violently hurls it across the room, cursing "the heartless little wench" before settling into a dark, brooding silence as footsteps ascend the stairs. The passage appears to be a melodramatic narrative piece rather than political satire. Without seeing illustrations or understanding the broader serial context, I cannot identify James or the referenced woman ("Kitty"), making it difficult to assess what specific social commentary—if any—the *Wasp* intended here.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
se ‘THE WASP with his laced hat still on. his head. Something like defeat twisted his lips; but a menacing light shone in his pale eyes. a The room had not been touched in two nights anda day, for even the maid servant had deserted him. - Blobs of wax and black wicks topped the candlesticks. Cards and dice lay on the table. Kitty’s fan, a painted thing that he had given her, lay on the floor. — Its frail sticks of fragrant. wood had been crushed by a boot-heel. The. heavy furnishings looked tawdry in the sunlight. James sat up suddenly and smiled around — him with a sinister grimace. “To perdition with them all, aed may. the devil get his twist on the pales little — wench!” he cried. A tall bottle of green glass, half full of French brandy, stood among the cards on the table. He extended his right hand slowly, grasped the bottle, drew it to him, set it to his lips, and drained it. He flung the bottle violently across ~ the room with an oath; it splintered against the wall and fell to the carpet in a dozen tinkling fragments. Then he settled back in his chair — and glowered straight before him. : 2 Footsteps sounded on the stairs, ascending briskly. J did not change his position, comicbooks\com