The Wasp, 1913 · page 191 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 191: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **narrative fiction rather than political satire or editorial cartoons**. It's an excerpt from an adventure story titled "The Wasp," depicting a naval combat scene involving pirate ships—specifically the "Black Polly" and another vessel. The passage describes a dramatic boarding action where James Burnham leads boats to attack a wounded pirate ship. Pirates defend themselves by dropping explosives onto the attacking boats, causing a chaotic explosion that throws men, oars, and debris into the sea. **No political figures or social satire are visible here.** This appears to be serialized adventure fiction—common content in *The Wasp*, which despite its satirical reputation, also published entertainment fiction. The page shows no cartoons, illustrations, or editorial commentary; it's purely narrative text depicting a swashbuckling maritime battle.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
186 THE WASP deck with a scream and the Polly fell sluggishly back to her old course before the wind. The three boats were lowered and pulled briskly away. The quartermaster’s boat sprang into the lead and drew away from the others. James Burnham crouched in the bow of the second boat, sword in hand. All three pulled straight for the wounded vessel’s larboard side. At the instant of the quartermaster’s boat touch- ing the Black Polly’s side Burnham, in the bows of the second boat, was not twenty feet away. He saw something black and red appear above the schooner’s rail and fall, with a crash, into the quar- termaster’s boat. There were enough live pirates on the Black Polly to prepare and drop an ex- plosive! The crippled schooner rolled heavily, and, for a second or two, everything —water, men, oars, and boats—seemed to leap heavenward. A flopping shape. fell within a yard of Burnham’s head and plunged into the torn sea. Burnham’s. boat drove onward across some Comichooks.com