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378
The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph
·
Henry M. Field
267
While
preparing
for
a
third
attempt,
the
ship
had
been
drifting
about,
sometimes
to
a
distance
of
thirty
or
forty
miles,
but
it
had
marked
the
course
where
the
cable
lay
by
two
buoys,
thrown
over
about
ten
miles
apart,
each
bearing
a
flag
which
might
be
seen
at
a
distance,
and
so
easily
came
back
to
the
spot.
On
Thursday
morning
all
was
ready,
and
the
line
was
cast
as
before,
but
after
some
hours
of
drifting,
it
was
evident
that
the
ship
had
passed
over
the
cable
without
grappling.
The
line
was
hauled
in,
and
the
reason
at
once
appeared.
One
of
the
flukes
had
caught
in
the
chain,
so
that
it
could
not
strike
its
teeth
into
the
bottom.
This
was
cleared
away,
and
the
rope
prepared
for
a
fourth
and
final
attempt.
It
was
at
noon
of
Friday
that
the
grapnel
went
overboard
for
the
last
time.
By
four
o'clock
it
had
caught,
and
the
work
of
hauling-in
recommenced.
Again
the
cable
was
brought
up
nearly
eight
hundred
fathoms,
when
the
rope
broke,
carrying
down
two
miles
of
its
own
length,
and
with
it
the
hopes
of
the
Atlantic
Telegraph
for
the
present
year.
Their
resources
were
exhausted.
For
nine
days
and
nights,
for
the
work
never
stopped
for
light
or
darkness,
had
the
great
ship
kept
moving
round
and
round
like
some
mighty
bird
of
the
sea,
with
her
eye
fixed
on
the
place
where
her
treasure
had
gone
down,
and
striving
to
wrest
it
from
the
hand
of
the
spoiler.
Three
times
had
they
grasped
the
prize,
and
each
time
failed
to
recover
it,
only
for
want
of
ropes
strong
enough
to
bring
it
on
board.
The
cable
itself
never
broke.
This
proof
of
its
strength
was
a
good
omen
for
future
success.
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