The Wasp, 1913 · page 292 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 292: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains text from a serialized fiction story, not a political cartoon or satire. It appears to be from a narrative about James Burnham and associates conducting maritime thefts—first stealing a fishing boat, then a trading schooner. The story describes their coordinated heist: provisioning vessels quietly, sailing under cover of darkness, and forcibly taking over the trader's ship. A character named Bill Hook dies during the schooner's capture, which the narrator dismisses callously ("it did not matter much"). **Context unclear**: Without knowing the publication date or larger story context, it's uncertain whether this serialized fiction was meant as social commentary, adventure entertainment, or satire on criminality. The page number (287) suggests this is mid-story, making isolated interpretation difficult. The cynical tone toward Hook's death might be satirical commentary on piracy or working-class expendability, but that's speculative without additional information.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 287 James Burnham’s luck was with him. Some rough provisions were found in an unguarded store- house and carried down to the boat. Then the best craft of the little fleet was provisioned and manned. _ The anchor was brought noiselessly aboard. Oars were muffled and manned, and the pride of the fleet stole out of the cove like a dark ghost, with the open boat towing astern. Clear of the cove, the patched sail was hoisted. The voyagers beat up to windward for a couple of hours, then headed due south. A chill caught Bill Hook and rattled his teeth. The affair of the trading-schooner proved to be a trifle more difficult than the affair of the fishing- boat, but the daring voyagers transferred themselves from the fishing-boat to the decked fore-and-after within sixty hours of the theft of the former craft. The little trader’s anchor-watch, numbering three, had put up a slight resistance and had suffered ex- termination.- One of Burnham’s company had been killed; but, as it happened to be poor Bill Hook, it did not matter much. And now they squared away on what they hoped x * Comichooks.com