The Wasp, 1918 · page 285 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 285: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a **literary excerpt rather than a political cartoon**—specifically, prose fiction from a serialized story about a character named James Burnham. The text describes Burnham's moral and psychological deterioration: once ambitious and violent ("blood-lust and money-lust"), he's now exhausted and spiritually broken, retaining only an "ignoble infatuation for Kitty." The passage depicts him deliberately disguising himself in rough seafaring clothes and a false beard to venture into dark streets—suggesting a morally questionable nighttime mission. The narrative tone is morally judgmental, emphasizing his corrupted nature. **Without seeing the magazine's masthead or publication date**, I cannot identify the specific political/social context this story engages. To modern readers, this reads as Victorian-era melodrama focused on individual moral failings rather than social satire. More context about *The Wasp*'s era and editorial stance would be needed to determine if this story carried satirical commentary on contemporary figures or social conditions.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
276 THE WASP He sends money to the woman, but never goes — near her, and he follows Percy around and slaps __ | his face every day ; but Percy won ’t fight him. | ~ Percy is afraid of the little surgeon.” 7 _ James left the coffee-house without waiting a to hear more. He went home and sat foralong time staring at the flame of his candle. The | expression of his face and eyes had changed within the past six months, and again within . the last hour. Nothing had softened, and yet the set of the lips was less devilishly playful than of old. The formidable eyes looked tired. God had struck James Burnham in the very ~ core of the dark soul without so much as scarring the perfect body, shaking the pitiless brain, or dismaying the hard heart. He was sick of life, sick of anger and ambition, sick of bloodlust and money-lust; but curiously enough, one | emotion of youth was left to him— his old, a _ignoble infatuation for Kitty. Re: Now he sat for a long time and stared at the _ flame of the candle. The new clothes came from the tailor next || day, but when James went out on the night? | business he did not wear them. He issued into | the dark street in rough, seafaring kit, with a | bearded face and dirty hands. cn this disguise J Frosh con