The Wasp, 1913 · page 56 of 364
The Wasp — 1913 — page 56: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains narrative text—not a cartoon—from what appears to be a serialized pirate fiction story. The passage describes James Burnham, a prisoner aboard a ship, being identified as the notorious pirate "Hellfire Hicks" (with a bounty of 200 pounds alive, 100 dead). A young crew member named Henry Todd, mistreated aboard the vessel, secretly asks Burnham to help him join a pirate crew, expressing his desperation to escape his brutal circumstances. The dialect-heavy dialogue and dramatic setup suggest this is pulp fiction entertainment rather than political satire. Without additional context about *The Wasp* magazine's satirical mission or the story's arc, it's unclear whether this adventure narrative carries satirical intent or simply represents the magazine's entertainment content.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 55 “Ye got a figgerhead on ye, an’ no mistake,” responded the mate. ‘An’ jist which one o’ these here pirates will ye make o’ him? He don’t talk like a Frenchy, and Major Deck’s a fat man, so I’ve bin told by them as have saw him.” “This is Hellfire Hicks,” said the other promptly. “There’s a reward o’ two hundred pounds for him alive an’ one hundred dead.” So brandy was forced generously between Burn- ham’s teeth. Later he was fed with cabin fare. He had the stifling forecastle to himself, for the crew had deserted it for the deck the moment the brig had entered the sultry latitudes. Young Henry Todd brought him his food. The poor lad was a sight to soften a heart of iron; but James Burnham felt nothing but a scornful interest in him. “If they don’t hang ye,” whispered the boy, “will ye git me a berth aboard a-pirate ship? I git starved here, an’ I git kicked. Let me be a pirate, sir, so’s some day I kin lay this old devil’s tub aboard an’ see the cap’n an’ Winch an’ the cook Comichooks.com