work upon the line; for we should have need of it in
a very little while. Presently, having pointed the bow more to the left,
I took the frappings off the strings, so that we could bend the bows
singly, and after that we set the great weapon again. Then, seeing that
the arrow was straight in the groove, I replaced the frappings, and
immediately discharged it. This time, to my very great pleasure and
pride, the arrow went with a wonderful straightness towards the ship,
and, clearing the superstructure, passed out of our sight as it fell
behind it. At this, I was all impatience to try to get the line to the
hulk before we made our dinner; but the men had not yet laid-up
sufficient; there being then only four hundred and fifty fathoms (which
the bo'sun measured off by stretching it along his arms and across his
chest). This being so, we went to dinner, and made very great haste
through it; and, after that, every one of us worked at the line, and so
in about an hour we had sufficient; for I had estimated that it would not
be wise to make the attempt with a less length than five hundred fathoms.

Having now completed a sufficiency of the line, the bo'sun set one of the
men to flake it down very carefully upon the rock beside the bow, whilst
he himself tested it at all such parts as he thought in any way doubtful,
and so, presently, all was ready. Then I bent it on to the arrow, and,
having set the bow whilst the men were flaking down the line, I was
prepared immediately to discharge the weapon.

Now, all the morning, a man upon the hulk had observed us through a
spy-glass, from a position that brought his head just above the edge of
the superstructure, and, being aware of our intentions--having watched
the previous flights--he understood the bo'sun, when he beckoned to him,
that we had made ready for a third shot, and so, with an answering wave
of his spy-glass, he disappeared from our sight. At that, having first
turned to see that all were clear of the line, I pressed down the
trigger, my heart beating very fast and thick, and so in a moment the
arrow was sped. But now, doubtless because of the weight of the line, it
made nowhere near so good a flight as on the previous occasion, the arrow
striking the weed some two hundred yards short of the hulk, and at this,
I could near have wept with vexation and disappointment.

Immediately upon the failure of my shot, the bo'sun called to the men to
haul in the line very carefully