The Wasp, 1918 · page 250 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 250: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a **fictional narrative passage** rather than a political cartoon. The text describes the aftermath of a shipwreck involving James Burnham's crew at Bottle Harbour, discussing betrayal by someone named John Trimmer, who allegedly "set the king's ship onto us"—suggesting these are pirates or smugglers whose operation was exposed. The crew expresses rage that their captain was captured rather than killed, which would have prevented their eventual revenge. The passage emphasizes Burnham's emergence from the jungle with renewed determination to settle scores, suggesting a revenge plot narrative. Without additional visual context or historical records of *The Wasp* magazine's publication date and subjects, **I cannot identify the specific historical figures or political allegories this fictional narrative may reference**. It could satirize actual criminal cases, political betrayals, or maritime incidents of its era, but that context isn't evident from the text alone.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE WASP 241 murderers and robbers. I thank you again for your consideration.” From the climbing jungles around Bottle Harbour the scattered survivors of James Burn- ham’s crew gathered upon the sand. “They got the cap’n,” said one. “I seen ’em throw him an’ tie him. If it wasn’t for that, we'd be afloat agin inside the month in a new ship.” : “* Aye,” said another with a blistering oath. “¢ An’ inside six weeks we’d be cuttin’ the heart out o’ the carcass o’ that treacherous John Trimmer—for it was him set the king’s ship onto us. Aye, if they hadn’t took Burnham, we’d git John Trimmer yet.. Or even if Slim Sam hadn’t got his gizzard slit; but no, Slim wasn’t no fighter, though he was a fine scholard.” At that moment James Burnham emerged © from the jungle, where he had been lying on his — back for hours, planning for the future and communing with his blackened soul. He joined the disconsolate group of twelve. “Here I am, lads,” he said. ‘“ We'll settle our score with John!” — comichooks.com