The Wasp, 1918 · page 244 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 244: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **narrative fiction rather than a political cartoon**. It's an excerpt from a serialized adventure story titled "The Wasp" appearing in the satirical magazine *The Wasp*. The text describes a military attack on pirates. Captain Robinson orchestrates a surprise assault on a coastal settlement where pirates are based, using boats from a schooner (likely a naval vessel). The protagonist Alexander deliberately avoids combat, instead observing from the jungle. The attack succeeds despite resistance from pirates in stone houses; three naval personnel are killed and six wounded, while pirates are captured. This appears to be part of a longer serialized adventure narrative—common content in satirical magazines of the era, which mixed political satire with entertainment fiction. Without seeing illustrations or knowing the publication date, I cannot identify specific political references or satirical intent in this particular excerpt.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP (235° saw the white schooner like a pale ghost against the blackness of the hills and the water. Beyond | the vague shimmer which they knew to be the schooner’s hull they could just detect pale patches which they took to be the white fronts of houses. Captain Robinson had decided that most of the schooner’s company would be sleeping ashore, so two of the boats went ashore and one slid noiselessly alongside the vessel, Alexander was in one of the boats that went ashore. The little stone houses were surrounded. The doors and windows stood wide open. At the sound of a pistol-shot from the schooner the attack, began. Alexander did not join in the assault, but slunk into the jungle near the stranded boats and watched and waited. : The pirates were taken completely by sur- | prise, both ashore and on the schooner. The few who composed the anchor-watch aboard the vessel were quickly overpowered. The ruffians in the houses made a desperate resistance: despite the odds against them. Some’ escaped to the jungle, some fell fighting, and the rest were disarmed and bound. Three of the frigate’s men were killed and half a dozen were wounded. Now lanterns were lighted and the prisoners were examined. James Burnham, who was one comichooks.com