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Just before the funnel, and near the centre of the vessel, was the bridge, at either side of which hung the two principal boats, cutter and launch; a gig, and whale-boat, being suspended from the davits on either side of the quarter-deck, and a small dingy over the stern. On the main deck she was pierced for twelve guns, with two heavy pivot guns amidships.
By the time they reached Hafraklett the wind was very high. Thorgeir said: "The stern is slackening." Grettir said: "The stern will not be left behind if the rowing amidships is all right." Thorgeir then bent his back to the oars and pulled so violently that both the rowlocks carried away. He said: "Pull on, Grettir, whilst I mend the rowlocks."
Then a Happy Idea struck him amidships. "Jim, I want you to be my Associate Counsel," he said. "I understand, of course, that you do not know the difference between a Caveat and a Caviar Sandwich, but as long as you keep your Hair combed the way it is now and wear that Thoughtful Expression, you're just as good as the whole Choate Family. I will introduce you as an Eminent Attorney from the East.
Here, racked by the waves and the tide, she split amidships; but most of the crew reached land with their weapons and ammunition. The northern winter had already begun, and the snow lay a foot deep in the forest. Some of them died from cold and exhaustion, and the rest built huts and kindled fires to warm and dry themselves.
In the ward-room were all the other officers, two in each state-room; and Minor, being an extra lieutenant, had to sleep in a hammock slung in the ward-room. Ord and I roomed together; Halleck and Loeser and the others were scattered about. The men were arranged in bunks "between-decks," one set along the sides of the ship, and another, double tier, amidships.
"Hurrah!" shouted hundreds of men on the Everett in unison as the torpedo-boat destroyer opened fire. And the aim of her gunners was deadly! for just as the U-boat began to submerge, one of the big projectiles from the destroyer hit her squarely amidships.
The oars were dashed out of the hands of two of the crew as she swung around and was carried down the stream with great velocity, and immediately after she struck another rock amidships, which broke her in two and threw the men into the water.
She parted amidships with a fearful yawn, and the waves went toppling and curling clean through her. At this appalling sound and sight, the few creatures left on the poop cowered screaming and clinging at Dodd's knees, and fought for a bit of him.
Through the torpor that rested like a black cloud upon his senses he caught broken phrases, snatches of sentences: "... sinking fast ... struck square amidships ... broke her back...." "... trouble with her boats. There goes one over!..." "... fools jumping overboard like cattle...." "What's that rocket? Do the swine want us to shell their boats?" "Why not? They're asking for it!"
Every plan known to experienced boatmen was resorted to; every unnecessary impediment that could offer the slightest obstruction removed; the bottoms of the boats, after having been well scraped, were secretly greased, and the pintals of the rudder carefully oiled, the weight of the oars well calculated, and the trim of the boats arranged by placing breakers of water fore, aft, or amidships, as it was thought their weight might be required to give a proper balance.
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