The Wasp — 1895 — page 1004: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a humorous comic strip about a lost dog named Alexander. The narrative follows a gentleman and lady trying to retrieve the dog's lost reticule (a small handbag). Despite the man's repeated attempts to catch Alexander by going to the specified location in the park, the dog proves cleverly evasive—"he don't seem to catch on," as the woman notes. The joke lies in the dog's apparent intelligence: it eventually catches the reticule itself, outwitting the human efforts. The satire gently mocks both the incompetence of the gentleman and the ironic situation where a pet demonstrates more practical problem-solving than its owners. The title's emphasis on the dog being "very intelligent" underscores this humorous reversal.