The Wasp — 1921 — page 27: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page presents a dramatic dialogue between a General and Mademoiselle (identified as "Mel"), likely from a serialized story or play rather than a political cartoon. The scene depicts a tense confrontation where the General holds Mademoiselle at gunpoint, threatening her with seventeen minutes to live. The exchange references Nikola Petroff, head of an "Odessa brotherhood" whom the General imprisoned for ten months before executing. Mademoiselle argues the General should have mercy, while he counters that Petroff's fate was justified because Petroff killed a guard attempting escape. The dialogue explores themes of justice, mercy, and revolutionary violence—likely reflecting late 19th-century Russian political tensions, though the specific historical context remains unclear from this excerpt alone.