“‘The foe bravely fought, but his arms were all broken,
And he fled from his death-wound, aghast and affrighted;
But the Wasp darted forward her death-doing sting,
And full on his bosom, like lightning, alighted.
She pierced through his entrails, she maddened his brain,
And he writhed and he groaned as if torn with the colic;
And long shall John Bull rue the terrible day
He met the American Wasp on a Frolic.’
“Caricature and satire were pressed into the service of history. A caricature entitled ‘A Wasp on a Frolic; or, A Sting for John Bull,’ was sent out by a Philadelphia publisher.”
“Papa, didn’t Lieutenant Biddle get any presents for his brave deeds on the Wasp against the Frolic?” asked Elsie.