The Wasp, 1918 · page 187 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 187: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains serialized fiction rather than political satire or cartoon content. It narrates a pirate ship story featuring James Burnham and Captain John Trimmer. The text describes the legendary pirate woman Héléne da Silva (presented as daughter of the executed French pirate Saint-Ovide), who commands respect and songs across maritime ports. The narrative depicts a lawless ship environment where discipline has collapsed—Welsh Owen commits unpunished violence, and Burnham fears for his safety among treacherous crew members. Captain Trimmer appears to be organizing a marriage ceremony, likely between Burnham and da Silva, though this remains unclear from this excerpt alone. The passage illustrates 19th-century American fascination with romanticized piracy and suggests anxiety about authority breakdown aboard vessels. Without seeing accompanying illustrations, the satirical intent—if any—remains unclear.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
178 THE WASP called Héléne da Silva, and is generally sup- posed to be the daughter of a French freebooter who sailed and was hanged under the name of Saint-Ovide, and of a Spanish lady of degree. She is not unknown. I have heard songs about her in more than one port. She is a sort of queen of her kind—a bird of paradise among — fowl of her feather. Hicks went ashore and _ besieged a town for her, and took her from the governor, having first killed the governor.” James Burnham slept lightly that night. For the first time since joining the white schooner’s company he felt that he was not safe from the _ treacherous whim or secret grudge of a shipmate. Discipline had relaxed for the first time since his — joining. He had seen Welsh Owen knife a man in a fit of drunken rage and go unpunished. A spirit of unrest and uncertainty was in the air. The strong fingers of John Trimmer were relaxed for the moment. So James slept lightly, with his hand on the haft of his knife. He congratulated himself on his luck when he awoke in the satae world in - which he had fallen asleep. 4 Captain Trimmer appeared early, gorgeously | 3 } attired, and informed the company that the sacrament and ceremony of marriage would be comicbooks.com |