attached there to a stout rope from the ship. Then the buoy was cut
away and taken into the little boat, the cable being heaved aboard
by means of the drum, where, after detaching the mushroom anchor,
tests were made and final telegraphic instructions sent to Misamis
about connecting the office there. Then the final splice was made, and
the two women of the _Burnside_ were given the privilege of cutting
the slip-ropes that held the cable on the ship. It had already been
lowered over the bows, and only these ropes held it in place.

"If anything goes wrong now, you are to blame," said the Powers-that-Be
severely, and I, personally, felt the responsibility of so momentous
an event, and awaited with no little nervousness the signal which
would tell us to sever the ropes, for it was important that the two
fastenings should be cut at exactly the same moment to avoid a strain
on the cable. "Now!" called the cable expert. It was a thrilling
moment. My little _kris_ dagger seemed scarcely to make an impression
on the stout Manila rope. "Faster! Harder!" called some one, and we
sawed with all our strength. A moment more and the green waters of
the bay had opened and closed over the cable--the first stretch of
it laid on the trip--and we women had helped do it.

Everyone on board was excited over the great event, the very natives,
tired as they were, sending up a faint _viva_, and at dinner that
evening it was easy to see a strain had been lifted from all the
officers. Not a man but was freshly shaved and attired in immaculate
white linen in contradistinction to the inevitable khaki. Later,
however, the young officer who had been sent ashore to make the
final adjustments in the Dumaguete office, came aboard with the
disheartening information that Misamis could not be raised, and the
ensuing depression on the _Burnside_ was appalling.

The next morning a wire was run ashore connecting the cable hut
with the ship, and by what is called a capacity test, the trouble
was located at Misamis. So late that night, instead of going to
Iligan, as we had expected, we sailed for Misamis again, arriving
there a little after one on the following day. The fault was found
in a lightning arrester which one of the operators had neglected in
the cable hut. This was remedied, and the cable connection between
Misamis and Dumaguete completed.

Immediately the natives poured into the cable office with numberless
messages for friends or business acq