The Wasp, 1913 · page 189 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 189: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains narrative text—likely from a serialized story—rather than a political cartoon. It depicts a naval confrontation between rival ship captains during what appears to be a piracy or privateering scenario. The passage describes Captain Trimmer observing two damaged vessels (the white schooner "Black Polly" and a black schooner) that have already engaged in combat, having exhausted their ammunition and suffered severe damage. Trimmer references a rival named Hicks who previously threatened to chase him from these seas. Rather than waste gunpowder on already-crippled opponents, Trimmer decides to send boats to finish them off directly. The tone is cynical and bloodthirsty, typical of adventure fiction from this era. Without the magazine's publication date or surrounding context visible, the specific historical or satirical references remain unclear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
184 THE WASP or to the distant future, but waited with tingling blood and glinting eyes for the devil’s dance of combat to commence. The day flooded clean and clear from east to west. The wind held steady, but light. The white schooner raced down upon the black schooner, leav- ing the brig to stagger off on a long slant to the westward. Both the crippled vessels were in easy range of Trimmer’s guns, but no shot was fired. “That’s the Black Polly,’ said Trimmer to Burn- ham. ‘Hicks told a girl in La Guayra that he’d chase me off these seas inside the year. I wonder if he’s rememberin’ it now—if he’s alive. We'll waste no powder on ’em, Jim. They’ve smashed each other to a finish, d’ye see, at long range, at short range, an’ then rail to rail; and all that’s left for us to do is to pick ’em up, one at a time, and gut ’em. Hicks got the wrong sow by the ear when he laid hold o’ that brig. They’ve unshipped each other’s big guns, burned all their powder, an’ cut each other’s throats. I think I’ll send off the boats. That'll be quicker than layin’ her alongside.” Comichooks.com