s came up in those long night hours! How many on board that
ship thought of homes beyond the sea, of absent ones, of the distant and
the dead! Such thoughts, mingling with those suggested by the scene
around, added to the solemnity of the hour, had left an impression which
can never be forgotten.

"But with the work in hand all is going on well. There are vigilant eyes
on deck. Mr. Bright, the engineer of the company, is there, and Mr.
Everett, Mr. De Sauty, the electrician, and Professor Morse. The
paying-out machinery does its work, and though it makes a constant
rumble in the ship, that dull, heavy sound is music to their ears, as it
tells them that all is well. If one should drop to sleep, and wake up at
night, he has only to hear the sound of 'the old coffee-mill,' and his
fears are relieved, and he goes to sleep again."

Saturday and Sunday passed away without accident, but on Monday, when
two hundred miles at sea, in deep water, and safely beyond the great
submarine mountain, the electrical continuity was suddenly lost. This
interruption amazed and perplexed all on board, but no one was able to
remedy it, or to account for it satisfactorily. It lasted for two hours,
and then, just as the order was about to be given to cut the cable and
endeavor to wind it in, it came back as suddenly and mysteriously as it
had disappeared. The greatest delight was now manifested by all on
board. "You could see," says the correspondent of the London _Times_,
"the tears of joy standing in the eyes of some as they almost cried for
joy, and told their mess-mates that it was all right."

That night, however, the expedition came to grief. The cable was running
out freely at the rate of six miles per hour, while the ship was making
only four. This was supposed to be owing to a powerful undercurrent. To
check this waste of the cable the engineer applied the brakes firmly,
which at once stopped the machine. The effect was to bring a heavy
strain on the cable that was in the water. The stern of the ship was
down in the trough of the sea, and as it rose upward on the swell, the
pressure was too great, and the cable parted. The alarm was at once
given, and the greatest consternation and grief prevailed on board. "It
made all hands of us through the day," says Captain Hudson, "like a
household or family which had lost their dearest friend, for officers
and men had been deeply interested in the success of the enterprise."

The fleet immedia