The Wasp — 1914 — page 38: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This page contains satirical narrative text rather than a cartoon. It describes James's evening at a gambling establishment where he loses money but gains stories about notorious criminals operating in Caribbean waters. The text mocks criminal enterprises by presenting them as legitimate "professions" with organizational structure—mentioning figures like Major Deck (a former Barbados planter), Duval (a "polite" Canadian gentleman robber), and Hellfire Hicks (a former shopkeeper turned pirate). The satire suggests that piracy and theft operate with the same business sophistication as legitimate commerce: agents, accounting, corporate hierarchy. The speaker's tone is darkly humorous, treating organized crime as an entrepreneurial endeavor worthy of respect for its "brains and courage."