The Wasp, 1918 · page 85 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 85: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be from a serialized narrative fiction rather than a political cartoon. It depicts an emotional meeting between two young people—Elizabeth and a man named Burnham—following some incident where he performed "heroic services" and she suffered a wound (now hidden by her hair). The scene is satirical domestic melodrama: Elizabeth's portly father is portrayed as absurdly pretentious, boasting intimate knowledge of Berkshire landed families and their rent-rolls. Burnham responds with calculated theatrical charm—"nicely calculated expression of admiration and modest confusion"—suggesting the entire encounter is performative courtship ritual rather than genuine emotion. The satire likely mocks Victorian romantic conventions and the social climbing of the emerging middle class, where fathers flaunt knowledge of aristocratic families and young men perform practiced gallantry. Without seeing the full story context, the precise historical reference remains unclear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
76 _ THE WASP to pay her ropes, and to hear the story of his adventures. Elizabeth appre Burnham slowly across — the polished floor, regarding him gravely, ten- | derly, steadily with her splendid eyes. Her | ~ clear cheeks were blooming with health and, perhaps, a little with the excitement of this meeting. The small wound on her forehead was hidden by a band of her hair. Her portly father strutted and bowed beside | her, evidently vastly pleased with himself and the two young people. He was as romantic as the slenderest ensign ; and he was so well informed concerning the landed families of Berkshire that he had the name and rent-roll of every one of the Burnham manors on the tip of his tongue. | Burnham met the young woman’s gaze with a nicely calculated expression of admiration and modest confusion in his eyes. “ Thank Heaven you have suffered no serious hurt ? ”? he murmured. oe | She stood beside his chair, placed her right hand in his, and thanked him for his heroic — services in a few shy and generous words. He bowed his head in silence, raised her hand a | little, and pressed his a to her cool fingers. : icomicbooks/com) | |