THE TOLL OF THE BRAVE 339 



Lieutenant Snell, the officer of the watch, was telling the 

 captain what was being done, when the Minotaur struck 

 with such force that it was impossible to move her. 



All the officers and men were on deck, and the 

 eager question was, " Where have we struck?" 



The pilot of the watch declared that they were on 

 some English shoal ; but the other pilot was convinced 

 that the ship was on the North Haaks, and there she 

 proved to be. So heavily had the ground been taken 

 that it was almost impossible to stand on the deck. The 

 yawning timbers admitted water so swiftly that soon 

 there was 15 ft. in the hold, and a few minutes later 

 it had risen above the orlop deck. Masts were cut away 

 and guns thrown overboard, and the boom of other guns 

 gave the signal of distress. The crashing masts and the 

 smashing seas destroyed all the boats except the launch 

 and two yawls, and as the Minotaur sank more deeply 

 in her yielding bed and the water covered the forecastle, 

 there seemed to be no prospect of salvation for the 

 company. 



Throughout that awful night her people crowded 

 together, while the seas roared over her, and the thunder 

 of the unseen breakers on the shore was heard above all 

 other sounds. At eight o'clock on the morning of the 

 23rd, two days before Christmas, the Minotaur broke 

 her back, and the utter destruction of the ship and her 

 company seemed certain. 



The gunner, a brave man, offered to try to reach the 

 shore in a yawl ; but the captain, believing that no boat 

 could live in such a sea, refused at first to let him try. 

 At last he gave consent, and the gunner and thirty-one 

 of the crew managed to get clear of the wreck and the 



