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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
146
But
all
things
have
an
end;
and
this
long
gale
at
last
blew
itself
out,
and
the
weary
ocean
rocked
itself
to
rest.
Toward
the
last
of
the
week
the
squadron
got
together
at
the
appointed
rendezvous
in
mid-ocean.
As
the
ships
came
in
sight,
the
angry
sea
went
down;
and
on
Friday,
June
twenty-fifth,
just
fifteen
days
from
Plymouth,
they
were
all
together,
as
tranquil
in
the
middle
of
the
Atlantic
as
if
in
Plymouth
Sound.
"This
evening
the
four
vessels
lay
together,
side
by
side,
and
there
was
such
a
stillness
in
the
sea
and
air,
as
would
have
seemed
remarkable
in
an
inland
lake;
on
the
Atlantic,
and
after
what
we
had
all
so
lately
witnessed,
it
seemed
almost
unnatural."
The
boats
were
out,
and
the
officers
were
passing
from
ship
to
ship,
telling
their
experiences
of
the
voyage,
and
forming
their
plans
for
the
morrow.
Captains
Aldham
and
Dayman
said
it
was
the
worst
weather
they
had
ever
experienced
in
the
North-Atlantic.
But
it
was
the
Agamemnon
that
suffered
most.
The
rough
sea
had
shaken
not
only
the
ship,
but
the
cable
in
her.
The
upper
part
of
the
main
coil
had
shifted,
and
become
so
twisted
and
tangled,
that
a
hundred
miles
had
to
be
got
out
and
coiled
in
another
part
of
the
ship,
so
that
it
was
not
till
the
afternoon
of
Saturday,
the
twenty-sixth,
that
the
splice
was
finally
made,
and
the
cable
lowered
to
the
bottom
of
the
sea.
The
ships
were
then
got
under
way,
but
had
not
gone
three
miles,
before
the
cable
broke,
being
caught
in
the
machinery
on
board
the
Niagara.
It
was
fortunate
they
had
gone
no
farther.
Both
ships
at
once
turned
about
and
spliced
again
the
same
afternoon,
and
made
a
fresh
start.
Now
all
went
well.
The
paying-out
machines
worked
smoothly,
and
the
cable
ran
off
easily
into
the
sea.
Thus
each
ship
had
paid
out
about
forty
miles
when
suddenly
the
current
ceased!
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