The Wasp, 1913 · page 247 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 247: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be **text only—no cartoon visible**. It's an excerpt from a serialized fiction story about maritime piracy or privateering, likely published in *The Wasp*, a San Francisco satirical magazine. The passage describes rival pirates (Trimmer, Wells, Slim Sam, and James Burnham) negotiating command of a second stolen ship called *Le Diable*. The reluctant appointments and the establishment of "secret havens" for coordinating plunder suggest the story satirizes either actual criminal operations or corrupt maritime ventures of the era. Without seeing illustrations or knowing the publication date, it's unclear whether this mocks specific historical figures or serves as general satire of lawlessness. The narrative tone is surprisingly matter-of-fact about piracy, suggesting *The Wasp* may have been using this fictional framework to comment on contemporary scandals or moral corruption.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
242 THE WASP threatening, and now pleading, he talked them around to his own views of his ambitious plan. Then he thumped Slim Sam on the back and named him for commander of the second schooner. Slim Sam jumped under the captain’s heavy hand. and wriggled away from the honor of commanding Le Diable. He was no sort of fighting man, he pro- tested. He humbly suggested that James Burnham should command the new schooner. This was finally agreed to by Trimmer, Wells, and the others, and James accepted the honor with seeming reluctance. All the officers save Wells returned to the white schooner, leaving a strong guard aboard the prize. They had wines and rum up from the lazaretto and sat around the cabin-table until dawn arranging the details of management of the expanded business. The two vessels were to work separately and as far apart as they might see fit; but once in each period of three months the new schooner was to put in at one or more of Trimmer’s three secret havens and leave a report and her plunder. Comichooks.com