was arranged that the _Niagara_ and
_Agamemnon_ should meet in mid-ocean, there splice the cable together
and proceed in opposite directions, laying the cable simultaneously.
On this expedition Professor Thomson was to assume the real scientific
leadership, Professor Morse, though he retained his position with the
company, taking no active part.

The ships had not proceeded any great distance before they ran into a
terrible gale. The _Agamemnon_ had an especially difficult time of
it, her great load of cable overbalancing the ship and threatening
to break loose again and again and carry the great vessel and her
precious cargo to the bottom. The storm continued for over a week, and
when at last it had blown itself out the _Agamemnon_ resembled a wreck
and many of her crew had been seriously injured. But the cable
had been saved and the expedition was enabled to proceed to the
rendezvous. The _Niagara_, a larger ship, had weathered the storm
without mishap.

The splice was effected on Saturday, the 26th, but before three miles
had been laid the cable caught in the paying-out machinery on the
_Niagara_ and was broken off. Another splice was made that evening and
the ships started again. The two vessels kept in communication with
each other by telegraph as they proceeded, and anxious inquiries and
many tests marked the progress of the work. When fifty miles were
out, the cable parted again at some point between the vessels and they
again sought the rendezvous in mid-Atlantic. Sufficient cable still
remained and a third start was made. For a few days all went well and
some four hundred miles of cable had been laid with success as the
messages passing from ship to ship clearly demonstrated. Field,
Thomson, and Bright began to believe that their great enterprise was
to be crowned with success when the cable broke again, this time about
twenty feet astern of the _Agamemnon_. This time there was no apparent
reason for the mishap, the cable having parted without warning when
under no unusual strain.

The vessels returned to Queenstown, and Field and Thomson went to
London, where the directors of the company were assembled. Many were
in favor of abandoning the enterprise, selling the remaining cable
for what it would bring, and saving as much of their investment as
possible. But Field and Thomson were not of the sort who are easily
discouraged, and they managed to rouse fresh courage in their
associates. Yet another attempt wa