The Wasp, 1918 · page 251 of 330
The Wasp — 1918 — page 251: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **text page** from what appears to be a serialized fiction story in *The Wasp* magazine, not a political cartoon. The passage is Chapter XVI of a narrative. The scene depicts James Burnham—apparently a pirate—being rescued on a beach by his brother, Lieutenant Burnham, a king's officer. The dramatic irony centers on **family loyalty versus duty**: a naval officer helps free a pirate relative, driven by "family pride" rather than duty to the Crown. The dialogue suggests this is **adventure fiction** rather than satire. James's weary acknowledgment that his brother sacrificed his honor as a king's officer to free him, and the ruffians' speculation about the officer's motivations, create melodramatic tension typical of 19th-century serialized stories. Without seeing other pages or knowing the publication date, I cannot identify specific historical references this story might satirize or parody.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
XVI Tue men on the beach gaped’ at James Burn- ham as if he were a visitor from beyond the grave. Young Henry Todd was the first to recover his wits. He sprang to James and embraced him. At that the others got to their feet and crowded around their hero. James received their rude and blasphemous expressions of con- | gratulation and: pleasure, and: their questions — concerning his escape, with an ironical, slanted smile. His hard eyes were softened a little by an expression as of weariness. 4 ‘“‘ It was my brother who cut me free, lads,” he said; ‘‘ Lieutenant Burnham, no less. He ~~ trod on the lantern and then-cut my bonds; but I saw his face before he smashed the light. That’s what family pride will do, lads. Iv’ll drive a king’s officer to setting free a bloody - pirate.” “An’s maybe it wasn’t all for pride’s sake he done it,” said one of the ruffians, a huge fellow - with a fresh wound.on his low forehead and a 242 cs icomicbooks:comyl|