130 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
of the expedition would mean at least a two-million-dollar 
drop in the market valuation of the shares. 
Volunteer guards were posted to watch the workmen, and 
for several days things went well. Cyrus Field’s hopes rose 
high; success seemed near. ‘Two-thirds of the cable had been 
laid; deep valleys in the ocean depths had been safely passed. 
Two days more and the shallow bottom of the Grand Banks 
would be reached. Then, on the morning of August 2, as 
Field kept watch over the men, a grating sound was heard, 
like a nail in the machinery, and the electricians reported a 
small fault in communication. 
The matter did not seem serious, but the cable was hauled 
in. While the ship tossed idly on the waves during this pro- 
cess, faults in the machinery caused undue strains in the 
cable. The injured part almost within grasp, when suddenly 
it broke and the dark line slipped into the depths of the At- 
lantic! Another catastrophe had befallen the misfated cable. 
Cyrus Field walked into the saloon and, with quivering 
lips and pale face, announced, “The cable has parted and has 
gone overboard.” The chief engineer, Samuel Canning, had 
preceded him, muttering, “It is all over! It is gone!” as he 
hurried to his cabin. The officials who had watched and 
prayed under severe nervous strains realized that a small 
accident had ruined the work of months. 
The disappointment and gloom were intense. Nearly 
twelve hundred miles had been laid, but now the ragged end 
lay on the bottom of the ocean two and a half miles beneath 
them. Canning decided to grapple for the cable, despite the 
great depth and his unsatisfactory equipment. He had done 
a little of this ‘fishing’ in the Mediterranean, but never at 
such depths. 
Two anchors fastened to the end of a piece of wire rope 
were flung overboard and sank for two hours before striking 
bottom. In the words of Henry Field: ‘All night long these 
iron fingers were raking the bottom of the deep but grasping 
