The Wasp, 1918 · page 22 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is primarily text from what appears to be a serialized story rather than political satire or cartoon content. The narrative concerns a character named James Burnham, who has apparently committed a crime (possibly highway robbery—"taken toll on the king's highway") and been given five hundred guineas by his father William Stow as hush money to leave England. The text describes James's surprise at his father's generosity and notes his shrewd calculation that returning with wealth and respectability would make him welcome despite the warning never to return. Captain Hobkirk is introduced as a companionable character who treats James with "comradeship and respect." Without seeing illustrations or additional context, the specific satirical targets remain unclear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP ~ 13 the worthy Mchatchy, and multiply those guineas, or 'ye’ll squander the money with the swine and the husks and rot in the mire—it’s all one to us. But if ever ye come home to England, rich or poor, ye’ll be clapped into prison and soon set on another voyage without a box of gold!” This was better than James had expected— “much better than he had even dreamed. He -had angered and disgraced his father, and was astonished and delighted to find him so generous. The mistake of his family in believing that he had already taken toll on the king’s highway did not trouble him in the least, considering that it was the inspiration of the five hundred guineas. As for the warning never to return to England —well, that did not trouble him, either. He was shrewd enough to suspect that if he should . ever return with plenty of.money and a respect- _able reputation he would be entirely welcome. ** Where is the money 2” he asked. ‘William Stow smiled calmly, and knowingly vat that. ' Captain Hobkirk proved to be a companion- able person, ignorant of book learning and the “usages of polite society, but full of a merry ‘humour. He treated James Burnham with an “easy mixture of comradeship and respect; for B comichooks.com