"Daylight showed that I was within five miles of St. Agnes, and the wind having veered to the north'ard I knew that I was comparatively safe and was in no danger of being cast ashore, though the shift of wind had knocked up a nasty cross-sea. "However, for six hours the 'Sea Shell' rode to the sea-anchor, but about noon, while I was down below having something to eat, the yacht's motion became so erratic, and such heavy seas tumbled on her decks, that I knew something had gone wrong. "Upon going on deck, I found, to my horror, that the riding-rope of the sea-anchor had chafed through, and consequently, the anchor being lost, the yacht was aimlessly tossing in the crested seas. Only one thing remained to be done: to show the merest spread of canvas and try and gain the shelter of the land. I managed, although I was frequently up to my waist in water, to hoist the reefed foresail, and, the yacht's head having been paid off, I thereupon began to set the close-reefed mainsail. Hardly had I hoisted the throat than an extra strong squall struck the boat, and in a moment the mainsail had burst right along the dentre-cloths. Nevertheless I set the storm-jib, and by dint of careful nursing I managed to keep a small amount of way on, though every time the 'Sea Shell' rose on the crest of a wave she was nearly knocked on her beam ends by the force of the wind. "Then I tried to lay her to, but she yawed to such an extent that that manoeuvre was impossible, so I had to let her go, handling her as gently as I could for fear of carrying away the gear. "This went on for several hours, and though the watertight cockpit was continually getting full of water, it drained out without a drop getting below. After a time, however, I realized that the 'Sea Shell' was not so buoyant as she had been, and that she plunged sluggishly into the crests of the waves, and on looking down the hatch I found that the cabin floor was awash, and the yacht was slowly, yet none the less surely, foundering. "Then, for the first time, I realized the absolute danger of my position. During the terrible buffeting she had received, the 'Sea Shell' had opened a seam, and the cabin being panelled, it was impossible to caulk the leak from the inside, even had the yacht been capable of being hove-to for a sufficient time to effect the repairs. "Under these circumstances I was helpless. At one time I thought seriously of cutting away the mast and gear, and riding to the wreckage as to a sea-anchor, but the almost certainty of having more planks stove in by the mast before I could get it clear made me abandon that plan. So I set to work at the pump, hoping that I might keep down the leak until, perhaps, some passing vessel might sight me, or even--vain hope--that, even though there was no sign of the coast, I might gain the lee of the land before the little craft sank under me."