154 A SAGA OF THE SEAS 
wrote, “and during those twelve years any wish that might be 
expressed could only be gratified ‘when the cable is laid.’ 
All waited for that day, but not always patiently, for one or 
another was often heard to exclaim, ‘Oh, if that old cable was 
only at the bottom of the ocean!’ and to this he would in- 
variably answer, “That is just where I wish it to be.’ ” 
Eighteen months later in London, Field told of the seesaw 
vicissitudes of his telegraph stock. He said: “It is within the 
last six months only that we have received the first return from 
the money we had put at the bottom of the Atlantic. I do not 
believe that any enterprise has ever been undertaken that has 
had such fortune: that has been so low, and, one might almost 
say, so high. I have known the time when a thousand pounds 
of Atlantic telegraph stock sold in London at a high premium. 
I have known the time when a thousand pounds of the same 
stock was purchased by my worthy friend, the Right Honor- 
able Mr. Wortley, for thirty guineas. At one time when I 
was in London trying to raise money to carry forward this 
great enterprise, a certificate for ten thousand dollars in the 
New York, Newfoundland, & London Telegraph Company 
sold at the Merchants’ Exchange in New York by public auc- 
tion for a ten-dollar bill. On my return home the gentleman 
handed the certificate to me and asked me if it was worth 
anything. I said to him, ‘My dear sir, what did you pay for 
it?’ and to my mortification he showed to me the auctioneer’s 
bill for ten dollars. I said to him, ‘I shall be happy to pay 
you a good profit on your investment.’ He replied, ‘No; what 
do you advise me to do with it?’ I rejoined, “Lock it up in 
your safe. Do not even think about or look at it until you 
receive a notice to collect your dividends.’ The holder now 
receives a dividend of eight hundred dollars per annum in 
gold for his investment. If any gentleman here has ever pos- 
sessed a more fluctuating investment I should like to hear it.” 
Field’s personal investment (or speculation) in telegraph 
stock was more than a third of a million dollars. This in- 
