The Wasp, 1918 · page 295 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 295: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page presents prose fiction rather than visual satire. The narrative depicts a dramatic Victorian-era scene involving criminal intrigue: a character named James delivers contraband (guineas and diamonds) to a woman on behalf of her brother John, who has fled legal authorities to the West Indies. The passage emphasizes moral complexity—James admits to past murders while claiming altruistic motives regarding this delivery. The woman expresses concern about potential violence against someone named Percy or Master Stanton. Without seeing the magazine's date, publication context, or illustrations accompanying this text, it's unclear whether this represents serialized fiction, social commentary on colonial crime, or satire of melodramatic literature conventions. The themes of fugitives, corruption, and class conflict suggest *The Wasp* may have been using sensationalized narrative for social critique, though the specific satirical target remains uncertain from this excerpt alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
286 THE; WASP morning in Nevis. I made. a mistake im not finishing him then. But tel] me this, my dear —if anything should happen to Master Stanton, would Willis come to you ? ” “‘ He waits at the Green Dragon,” she reolcd: *‘] have but to send a word to him—or go to him. But—but would you murder Perey? It — would benefit you nothing. Nothing, do you hear ?” ‘‘T have murdered better men, od for nothing,”’ answered James. ‘‘ But I did not come here to talk about myself. Your brother John, who. escaped from the guardians of the law and engaged in business in the West Indies, sent | this bag of guineas and these stones to you by —_ | my hand. Hide them away, there’s a good girl, I promised John that they should not fall into Stanton’s hands.” He placed the guineas and the six diamonds ~ | on the little table in front of her, turned, and | hastened from the room and the house. He went blindly for several hundred yards. . Then, his wits clearing suddenly, he drew his sword and continued his journey with caution. 'He reached his lodgings without accident. A church clock chimed eleven as he unlocked his door. icomicbooks-com