The Wasp — 1879 — page 831: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

The cartoon depicts two men apparently breaking into or ransacking a house while residents are away. The caption explains: Mr. and Mrs. Brown and Mr. and Mrs. Jones spent a fortnight at Santa Cruz. Mr. Brown asked Jones to "keep an eye" on his house. Jones promised to watch it carefully, but upon the Browns' return, they discovered the burglary and confronted Jones, who unconvincingly claimed he'd "go back a day early" and give them a "pleasant surprise." This is a straightforward satirical commentary on dishonesty and broken trust—mocking both the ineffectual caretaker and the transparent lie. The cartoon's title "Those Deceitful Men" directly calls out the deception. It's a simple moral lesson about unreliable acquaintances, common fodder for 19th-century satirical magazines.