The Wasp, 1918 · page 283 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 283: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be from a serialized story rather than a cartoon. It depicts a mysterious man with a deformity who disguises himself by "leaving his deformity behind" when venturing into taverns to search for someone. While tavern-goers discuss Percy Stanton—described as "a bully, a sot, and a coward" with a dead corset-maker grandfather—the narrative suggests social class anxieties typical of 19th-century satire. Stanton's marriage to a tailor's daughter, rather than someone of equal station, appears scandalous to the gossipers, reflecting period prejudices about class mixing. The satire likely mocks both Stanton's moral failings and the snobbish attitudes of London's social climbers. However, without seeing the full story's context or any illustrations, the specific target and complete satirical intent remain unclear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
274 THE WASP long pipe and read in one of his brown books ; and the little maid who waited upon him thought him a very kind and studious old gentleman. After supper he changed again and went out into the ill-lit streets, leaving his deformity behind him. He visited half a dozen taverns and coffee-houses of the better sort. He drank sparingly, and at last returned to his lodgings — without having seen or heard anything of the man he sought. On the following night. he aes another half-dozen taverns ; and in the last one he over- _ heard some talk of Percy Stanton. “What has become of Percy Stanton ? ” asked | one young blood of another. “ I haven’t clapped eyes on him since the Lord knows when. Idon’t miss his society, mind you, but I do miss by money !”’ - “So does he,” replied the other young blood, and laughed immoderately. “ You don’t know Percy and his affairs as I do, Jack,”’ he continued. : “A bully, a sot, and a coward, with a dead corset-maker for a grandfather. There you have him, Jack. He was in the army and served in _ the Indies. When he came home he had a wife with him—a little beauty, too—but who was she but the daughter of a tailor from some ville Be otueboo ks com