The Wasp, 1913 · page 29 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 29: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **narrative fiction, not a political cartoon**. It's an excerpt from a serialized adventure story aboard the ship *Lass o' London*, featuring characters James Burnham and Henry Boyle (the mate). The passage dramatizes a violent confrontation: Boyle taunts Burnham about allegedly expressing fear of pirates, challenging his masculinity. Burnham, initially restraint-conscious about maintaining his reputation as peaceful, suddenly attacks—vaulting the table, choking Boyle, and slamming him against the ship's wall. Captain Hobkirk discovers them mid-fight. **Context for modern readers:** This reflects late-19th-century adventure fiction tropes—working-class maritime settings, masculine honor codes, and sudden explosive violence. The dialogue captures period nautical dialect. The irony lies in Burnham's internal conflict between wanting to fight and maintaining appearances—a tension resolved through violent action rather than restraint. No specific political satire or historical event appears referenced on this page.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ND 28 THE WASP ful days, turned on his heel, and went below to the main cabin. If ever a man was spoiling for a fight it was James Burnham; and yet he did not want to shatter his reputation aboard the Lass o’ London as a man of peace at this last hour of the voyage. Boyle entered the cabin twenty seconds. later. “Now look ye here, my- fine cock, what was this ye said about dying of fright?” he asked in a throaty and truculent whisper. “Henry Boyle takes no such talk as that from no man, be he com- ° mon tar or lord’s son!” Burnham, who was seated on a locker, did not look up, but the muscles of his shoulders twitched slightly. The big mate leaned far across the table with his big hands fisted upon it. “Ye don’t look so keen for a fight yerself, just now,” he sneered. “Be ye returnin’ thanks to yer Maker for yer safe delivery from the pirates?” Burnham sprang without a sound, vaulted the ta- ble, gripped the mate by the windpipe, and drove him against the larboard bulkhead. And so Captain Hobkirk found them half a min- Comichhooks.com