Hosier reached her.

She thought he said to the captain: "There's a chance, if we can swing her clear." Then the ship struck, and they were all flung to the deck.

They rose, somehow, anyhow, but the _Andromeda_, apparently resenting the check, lifted herself bodily, tilted bow upward, and struck again.

A mass of spray dashed down upon the struggling figures who had been driven a second time to their knees.

There was a terrific explosion in the after-hold, for the deck had burst under the pressure of air, and another ominous roar announced that the water had reached the furnaces.
Steam and smoke and dust mingled with the incessant lashing of sheets of spray, and Iris was torn from Coke's grip.
She fancied she heard Hozier cry, "Too late!" and a lightning glimpse down the sloping deck showed some of the engineers and stokers crawling up toward the quivering forecastle.