THE TOLL OF THE BRAVE 345 



such a coast ; all that pluck and skill could do was done, 

 and the masts were being cut away when a huge sea 

 lifted the flagship and dashed her on a sandbank, where 

 she remained. The masts had fallen clear of her tower- 

 ing sides, and for that small mercy the ship's company 

 had cause for gratitude, though there seemed little chance 

 of saving her. Despite their peril and intense sufferings 

 in the bitter weather, the crew fought gallantly. They 

 were ordered to man the pumps, and they did so cheer- 

 fully. In the hurricane of wind and snow and sleet they 

 laboured till the day broke, then they had the joy of 

 learning that the water was not gaining on them. The 

 ship's rudder was torn away, and she was bumped per- 

 sistently upon the shoal ; but throughout that long and 

 awful day her people fought to save her as fiercely as 

 they had ever contended with an enemy behind his guns. 

 There seemed no hope of rescue or salvation ; yet by ten 

 o'clock on the morning of Sunday, the I7th, the flagship 

 had been almost miraculously cleared of danger ; the water 

 had fallen to the working of the pumps, jury-masts were 

 fitted, and a rudder fixed one had been supplied from 

 the consort Cressy and on December the battered but 

 triumphant battleship reached Gottenberg in safety. 



The undaunted admiral and officers and crew set to 

 work to put their ship in trim for another effort to cross 

 the wild North Sea. By i7th December the extensive 

 damage had been partially repaired, and though the St. 

 George was scarcely fit to venture forth again, yet she 

 weighed anchor, and with the Defence and Cressy con- 

 voyed a fleet of homeward-bound merchantmen. 



For nearly a week the ships struggled to get out 

 into the open waters and away from the fatal shores ; but 



