instantly records the fact, and
warning is given at all parts of the ship. The man in charge touches a
small handle, and an electric bell rings violently in the tank and at
the paying-out machinery. At the same time a loud gong is struck, at
the sound of which the engines are stopped. Delay might cause much
trouble or total failure, as the injured section must be arrested and
repaired before it enters the water.

The great steamer went ahead at the rate of five nautical miles an
hour, and the cable passed smoothly overboard. Messages were sent to
England and answers received. The weather was bright, and all hands
were cheerful. On the third day after the "splicing" of the shore-end
with the main cable, that part of the ocean was reached where the water
suddenly increases in depth from two hundred and ten fathoms to two
thousand and fifty. One of the earlier cables broke at this place and
was lost forever. The electricians and engineers watched for it with
anxious eyes. It was reached and passed. The black cord still traveled
through the wheels unbroken, and the test applied by the galvanometer
proved the insulation to be perfect. The days wore away without mishap
until the evening of July 17, when the sound of the gong filled all
hearts with a sickening fear.

The rain was falling in torrents and pattering on the heavy oil-skin
clothing of the watchers. The wind blew in chilly gusts, and the sea
broke in white crests of foam. A dense and pitchy cloud issued from the
smoke-stacks. The vessel advanced in utter darkness. A few lights were
moving about, and shadows fell hither and thither as one of the hands
carried a lantern along the sloppy deck. The testing-room was occupied
by an electrician, who was quietly working with his magical instrument,
and the cable could be heard winding over the wheels astern, as the
tinkling of a little bell on the "drum" recorded its progress.

[Illustration: THE "GREAT EASTERN" ENTERING THE BAY OF HEART'S CONTENT.]

The electrician rose from his seat suddenly, and struck the alarum. The
next instant each person on board knew that an accident had happened.
The engines were stopped and reversed within two minutes. Blue-lights
were burned on the paddle-boxes, and showed a knot in the cable as it
lay in the trough.

Two remedies seemed possible. One was to cut the cable, and support one
end in the water by a buoy until the rest could be unraveled. The other
was to unravel the cable witho