The Wasp, 1918 · page 242 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 242: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page appears to be from a serialized fiction story rather than a political cartoon. The text describes Lieutenant Alexander Burnham's anguish upon learning that Captain Robinson plans to capture a pirate and hang him in Boston for public spectacle. The dramatic irony is that Alexander appears to know the pirate's identity—likely a family member or close associate. His emotional distress centers on the *social shame* this will bring to his family name (the Burnhams), his wife Elizabeth, and his father Sir Walter in distant Berkshire. The passage emphasizes his anxiety about public humiliation and the forthcoming trial more than the crime itself. This reflects 19th-century concerns with honor, family reputation, and how public execution functioned as social spectacle. The story mines tension from conflicting loyalties between justice and familial/social standing.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 233 Lieutenant Alexander Burnham, who was now a passenger aboard the Thunderous, had beer taken into Captain Robinson’s confidence earlier in the day. There was no doubt in Alexander’s _ mind as to the identity of the pirate whom Robin- son hoped to take. **T want to Be: their leader alive and hang him in Boston,” said Robinson, rubbing his_ hands briskly together. “That'll do more — good than stringing him up to my own yard-arm. __ Feather in my cap, too!” Alexander was sick at heart. Horror and shame, and pity for Elizabeth and himself— yes, and for James, bit him to the very core of | his being. The thought of a Burnham in irons aboard the Thunderous, with the crest of the Burnhams on his shoulder for all the world to wonder at and jeer at, went like ice and fire through his brain. How could Elizabeth ever _ forgive him this public disgrace? How should ~ he himself ever recover from it ? How should Sir Walter ever again hold up his NEGe in distant _ Berkshire ? - Then, after black and weary ae would follow the public hanging in Boston ; but before the hanging would come the trial. Ah, the _. trial! That would be the hardest and most = : comicbooks.com