The Wasp, 1918 · page 92 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 92: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is prose fiction rather than a political cartoon—likely serialized narrative from the magazine. It depicts a character named Burnham scheming to marry a woman to hide his disreputable past and secure financial stability through her father-in-law's protection. The plot turns on dramatic irony: Burnham decides to rush the marriage when a naval frigate arrives at Nevis (a Caribbean island). When military officers visit the governor to pay respects, Burnham is horrified to recognize Young Mr. Stanton—a man he'd cheated at cards in London who also stole away Burnham's romantic interest, Kitty Trimmer. The satire targets social climbing and moral corruption: Burnham's willingness to marry for security despite his shameful past, and the arbitrary social hierarchies that make a well-dressed man acceptable in respectable company despite his fraud and dishonesty. The sudden appearance of his nemesis threatens to expose him, creating the narrative tension.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 83 weeks he was quite certain that she was in love with him. So he decided to win her, to marry her, before any possibility of his exposure. Once married to her, he would be safe from Starvation, at the worst. A post of some sort - would be found for him, and it would be to his father-in-law’s interest to keep tight lips on the story of his past. Burnham came to this decison late at night, and the first news that he heard next morning | was that a frigate had but just let go her anchors in the roadstead. With the assistance of his valet he made short work of an elaborate toilet. Within half an hour of joining the governor, the commander of the frigate and a number of other officers arrived to pay their respects. Five of these callers belonged to a relief company of the Sixty- Second Regiment, which had come to strengthen the garrison of Nevis. Burnham, standing straight, cool, and fault- lessly attired at the governor’s elbow, glanced over the assembled company and felt a sudden paralyzing contraction of the heart.. Young Mr. Stanton, whom he had cheated at cards in London, and who had taken Kitty Trimmer away from him, returned his horrified glance ee comichooks.com