The Wasp, 1918 · page 259 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 259: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be from a serialized story rather than a political cartoon. It depicts a murder scene: Bill Hook, described as "red-headed" with a "yellow brow," kills Tom Croft—characterized as a "sentimentalist" and "defender of superstitions"—by stabbing him and stealing a gold cross from his chest. The satire seems to contrast two character types: Hook, the pragmatic "anatomist," versus Croft, the superstitious idealist. The killing is framed as inevitable ("fateful number"), suggesting deterministic or materialist philosophy triumphing over religious faith (the cross, superstitions). Without knowing the publication date or broader context of *The Wasp*, it's unclear whether this satirizes specific contemporary figures, ideological conflicts, or simply serves as dark serialized fiction. The language and themes suggest late 19th or early 20th-century skepticism toward religious belief, but specifics remain uncertain.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
250 THE WASP that high jungle. Poor Bill Hook crawled — | around them and among them, unseen and — unheard. He paused frequently to listen to the breathing of his mates, sometimes to pass inquiring, feather-light finger-tips over an uncon- scious breast. : At last his fingers encountered the little gold cross which adorned the hairy bosom of Tom Croft. In his right hand he held his heavy knife, which was keen of edge and point. Bill Hook was a practical anatomist. The ted spirit of Croft the sentimentalist fled his stalwart carcase without so much as a grunt. Owing to his weakened condition, Bill experi- enced no little difficulty in getting the dead body away without awakening the eleven sleepers. He managed it at last, however, in the sweat | of his yellow brow. He was fortunate enough to find a deep hole in the floor of the forest within _ a few hundred yards of the scene of the operation, — and into this he stowed the corpse of the defender of superstitions. The fateful number had claimed its victim; and the red-headed instrument of fate cleaned his knife and: his hands, returned to his sleeping comrades, and lay down peacefully beside the captain. bicomicbooks:com)