The Wasp, 1918 · page 188 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 188: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a literary excerpt rather than a political cartoon—a passage from a serialized adventure story about pirates aboard the *Black Polly*. The text describes a moment of mutiny-brewing tension among a pirate crew. The captain, Trimmer, has lost his men's respect by taking "Hellfire Hicks's mistress and wardrobe" without sharing the spoils—a violation of pirate code. The crew, exhausted and resentful after violent combat, recognize their leader's weakness and question his authority. Trimmer recognizes the dangerous mood but maintains a facade of confidence, bowing and retreating below deck. A crew member, Wells, bitterly comments that "the wench has made a monkey of him." The passage concludes with Trimmer returning with a Spanish bishop and a woman named Hélène—likely an attempt to restore his authority or salvage the situation through some dramatic revelation. The satire targets masculine pride and the precarious nature of command among lawless men.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 179 performed in half an hour’s time by his reverence the Spanish bishop. The gentlemen of fortune . received the glad news sullenly. They were heavy of head and stomach. They were in no mood for jokes or sentiment. They had seen the hand of their captain falter. They were ‘disillusioned. They stared gloomily at their commander, reflecting that life was no joke for them, what- ever it might be for him. He had taken no wound yesterday, they told themselves ; but he had taken Hellfire Hicks’s mistress and wardrobe without so much as by-your-leave to the stout’ lads who had done the bloody work on the Black Polly’s deck. Trimmer was quick to see the trouble. He knew that he had been guilty of a grave mistake in not having struck Welsh Owen to the deck at the time of the knife-play. But he pretended to see nothing critical or unusual in the attitude | - of his comrades. He bowed, waved a hand and went below. : “The wench has made a monkey of oe already,” muttered Wells. Trimmer soon reappeared, this time ie the Spanish bishop at his heels. Behind the faint and reluctant prelate came Héléne, comichooks.com