But the rope and Cable did not come up in a right line in the V in the wheel, but were drawn up obliquely. Still, up they came. The strain shown on the dynamometer was high, but was not near the breaking point. The part of the Cable which had suffered from chafing was coming in, and the first portion of it was inboard; suddenly a jar was given to the dynamometer by a jerk, caused either by a heave of the vessel or by the shackle of wire-rope secured to the Cable, and the index jumped far above 60 cwt., the highest point marked on it. The chain shackle and wire-rope clambered up out of the groove of the V wheel, got on the rim, and rushed down with a crash on the smaller wheel, giving a severe shock to the Cable. Almost at the same moment, as the Cable and the rope travelled slowly along through the machinery, just ere they reached the dynamometer the Cable parted, flew through the stoppers, and with one bound leaped over intervening space and flashed into the sea. The shock of the instant was as sharp as the snapping of the Cable itself. No words could describe the bitterness of the disappointment. The Cable gone! gone for ever down in that fearful depth! It was enough to move one to tears; and when a man came with the piece of the end lashed still to the chain, and showed the tortured strands--the torn wires--the lacerated core--it is no exaggeration to say that a feeling of pity, as if it were some sentient creature which had been thus mutilated and dragged asunder by brutal force, moved the spectators. Captain Moriarty was just coming to the foot of the companion to put up his daily statement of the ship’s position, having had excellent observations, when the news came. “I fear,” he said, “we will not feel much interested now in knowing how far we are from Heart’s Content.” However, it was something to know, though it was little comfort, that we had at noon run precisely 116·4 miles since yesterday; that we were 1,062·4 miles from Valentia, 606·6 miles from Heart’s Content; that we were in Lat. 51° 25´, Long. 39° 6´, our course being 76° S. and 25° W. But instant strenuous action was demanded! Alas! action! There around us lay the placid Atlantic smiling in the sun, and not a dimple to show where lay so many hopes buried. The Terrible was signalled to, “the Cable has parted,” and soon bore down to us, and came-to off our port beam. After brief consideration, Mr. Canning resolved to make an attempt to recover the Cable. Never, we thought, had alchemist less chance of finding a gold button in the dross from which he was seeking aurum potabile, or philosopher’s stone. But, then, what would they say in England, if not even an attempt, however desperate, were made? There were men on board who had picked up Cables from the Mediterranean 700 fathoms down. The weather was beautiful, but we had no soundings, and the depth was matter of conjecture; still it was settled that the Great Eastern should steam to windward and eastward of the