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Page 3
Time passed, and the winds and waters of the North Sea dealt all too rudely
with the fair freshness of her exterior; she grew worn and weather-stained,
and it was apparent even to the casual eye of a landsman that she had left
her girlhood behind her out on the Nor'-East Rough. Some of the younger
trawlers would jeeringly refer to her behind her back as "Auntie," and
affected to regard her as an antediluvian old dowager, which of course was
mainly due to jealousy. But she still pegged away at her work, bringing in
from the Dogger week by week her cargoes of fish, regardless alike of the
ravages of time and the jibes of her upstart rivals. As long as her owners
were satisfied she was happy, for she cherished first and last a sense of
duty, as all good ships do.
And then suddenly came the War, infesting the seas with unaccustomed and
nerve-racking dangers. I must apologise for mentioning this, as everybody
knows that we ought now to forget about the War as quickly as possible and
get on with more important matters, but at the time it had a certain effect
upon us all, not excluding the _King George_. Scorning the menaces that
lurked about her path she carried on the pursuit of the cod and haddock in
her old undemonstrative fashion, for she was a British ship from stem to
stern and conscious of the tradition behind her.
Then one day they hauled her up in dock, gave her a six-pounder astern,
fitted her with wireless and sent her out to take care of her unarmed
sisters on the fishing-grounds. She flew the White Ensign.
These were the proudest days of her life: she was helping to keep the seas.
It is true the big ships of the Fleet might laugh at her in a good-natured
way and pass uncomplimentary remarks about her personal appearance, but
they had to acknowledge her seamanship and her pluck. She could buffet her
way through weather that no destroyer dare face, and mines had no terrors
for her, for even if she were to bump a tin-fish it only meant one old
trawler the less, and the Navy could afford it.
It was during these days, too, that she became known, though not by name,
to readers of _Punch_, for her adventures and those of her crew were often
chronicled in his tales of the "Auxiliary Patrol." And when she had seen
the War through she said Good-bye to his pages and made ready to return
again to the ways of peace. She was quite satisfied; she never thought of
giving up her job, though she was now a very old ship, and it would have
been no shame to her. She just took a fresh coat of paint and steamed away
to the Dogger Bank once more.
* * * * *
The other day a small paragraph appeared in some of the newspapers that
were not too busy discussing the possibilities of another railway strike:
"The Grimsby trawler _King George_," it said, "is reported long over-due
from the fishing-grounds, and the owners say that there is no hope of her
return." No one would notice this, because the first round of the English
Cup was to be played that week, and besides it was not as though it were a
battleship or a big liner that had gone down. It was just the old _King
George_.
And that, I suppose, is the end of her, except that she may continue to be
remembered by one or two who served aboard her in the days of the Auxiliary
Patrol--remembered as a gallant little ship that served her country in its
hour of need, and did not hold that hour the limit of her service. Well
played, _King George_!
* * * * *
"THE DRINKWATER TRAGEDY."--_Heading in "New York Times."_
This comes from dry America, but it is not the wail of a "Wet"; merely the
heading of an article on _Abraham Lincoln_.
* * * * *
"Wales has its Ulster just as Ireland had, and it was a question
whether Wales was going to be conquered by the industrial area of
Cardiff and the district, or whether the industrial area was going to
conquer Wales."--_Western Mail._
We shall put our money on "the industrial area."
* * * * *
[Illustration: A POPULAR REAPPEARANCE.
MR. ASQUITH (_the Veteran Scots Impersonator_) _sings_:--
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