The Wasp, 1918 · page 178 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 178: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a dialogue scene from a serialized story rather than a political cartoon. The text depicts a conversation between a character named Burnham and a woman (possibly of French or foreign origin, given her accent and phrasing) about Captain Hicks, whom Burnham has killed. The passage suggests a melodramatic narrative involving pirates, ships, and jealousy. The woman implies Burnham killed Hicks out of rivalry, then praises Burnham's boldness while questioning his ambitions—noting her father (a French soldier) could only accept piracy if he were captain himself. Without additional visual context or knowledge of this specific *Wasp* serial, the precise satirical or social commentary remains unclear. The page may be mocking romantic melodrama conventions, maritime villainy tropes, or contemporary social attitudes toward violence and ambition, but the exact target of satire cannot be definitively determined from this excerpt alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 169 “TI like you; and it may be I do not like this Captain Trimmer so well. Captain Hicks tell me, when he shut me in my berth after he see your schooner, how it may be that Trimmer get me very soon. So when I see you my heart jump with joy and I say to myself that it is better.” ~“ Trimmer is a very amiable and worthy person, I assure you,” said Burnham, smiling. “* But how came you into the hands of the late Captain Hicks, my beauty ?”’ : “* He take me from a ship one whole year ago,” she replied. ‘‘ He had much love for me for six month, and then not so much—but more than I have for him. He was the lover of many women—and some not beautiful, as I see with my own eyes sometimes. He is good dead, I think—more than alive. How did he get his death ? ” | ““T had the pleasure of giving it to him,” -replied Burnham coolly. “Ah! You have the great courage, the heart of stone,” she exclaimed. ‘“‘ My father was such —a soldier of France; but if he had been a pirate he could not have suffered contentment — except he was the captain. And why is it not so with you? You kill that Hicks. You have comichooks.com