ay, and the great cable went
down to its ocean-bed so smoothly and regularly, that men began to talk
of speedy arrival at Heart's Content--their destination in
Newfoundland--which was now only about 600 miles distant; but their
greatest troubles still lay before them. About eight o'clock in the
morning of 2nd August another bad fault was reported, and they had once
again to resort to the wearisome process of picking-up.

At first all seemed about to go well. A gale was indeed blowing at the
time, but that did not much affect the colossal ship. The cable was
cut, fastened to its iron rope, passed to the bow, and got in over the
pulleys. Then, and very slowly, it was drawn on board. When a mile or
so had been recovered, the gearing of one of the engines got a little
out of order, and the process had to be temporarily stopped; then
something went wrong with the boilers, but soon these difficulties were
removed. Immediately after, the Great Eastern drifted, so that it was
impossible to prevent the cable from chafing against her bows. Equally
impossible was it to go astern, lest the strain should be too great.
Then the wind suddenly shifted, making matters worse. Suddenly the
chain shackle and wire-rope attached to the cable came in over the wheel
at the bows with considerable violence. Another moment and the cable
parted, flew through the stoppers, and, with one bound, flashed into the
sea and disappeared!

Now, at last, the fatal climax so much dreaded had arrived. The days
and nights of anxious labour had been spent in vain. The cable was
lost, and with it went not only hundreds of thousands of pounds, but the
hopes of hundreds of thousands of people, whose sanguine expectations of
success were thus rudely dispelled.

Need it be said that something very like despair reigned for the moment
on board the Great Eastern?

Most of the gentlemen on board--never dreaming of catastrophe--were at
luncheon, when Mr Canning entered the saloon with a look that caused
every one to start.

"It is all over!--it is gone!" he said, and hastened to his cabin.

Mr Field, with the composure of faith and courage, though very pale,
entered the saloon immediately after, and confirmed the chief engineer's
statement.

"The cable has parted," he said, "and has gone overboard."

From the chiefs down even to Stumps and his fraternity all was blank
dismay! As for our hero Robin Wright, he retired to his cabin, flung
himself on hi