The Wasp, 1918 · page 281 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 281: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains serialized fiction rather than a political cartoon. It describes a mysterious traveler, "Mr. Fitzwalter," who arrives in London with carefully constructed deceptions: a mourning ring suggesting widowhood, vague age ambiguity, and most significantly, a fake leather hump strapped to his shoulders. The revelation is that this disguised figure is actually **James Burnham**, whose removal of the prosthetic reveals "the heraldic device of the Burnhams of Burnham"—suggesting he's a nobleman traveling incognito. The satire likely mocks elaborate Victorian disguises and the pretensions of the upper classes. The artificial hump serves as both practical concealment and a symbol of deceptive appearance versus hidden identity. Without knowing the larger narrative context, the specific social commentary remains unclear, but the piece appears to satirize class mobility, aristocratic secrecy, and the theatrical nature of Victorian society.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
B72) THE WASP 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 London like a man who knew his way, with © his leather bag in his hand and two watermen following with his chests. He soon found lodg- ings that suited him, and dismissed the watermen with a shilling apiece. He remained in his apartments all ay, 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 his person by straps ; and when the artificial hump was removed the heraldic_device of the Papas of Burnham came to light. et James Burnham, once more in his native land, Comicbooks.con | us wicker ied + as