Refloating the _Timbo_ was a fine piece of work, just as was the raising of the steamship _Fleswick_ with compressed air by the same expert, many years ago. But in raising the _Silurus_, Mr. Ensor accomplished a feat that ranks with the finest wreck-raising feats ever accomplished. The _Silurus_ was a dredger, one of the most powerful ever constructed. Built for duty in the port of Bombay, she was completed about eighteen months after the outbreak of war. As it was considered far too risky to attempt to tow her out to India at that time, she was taken to the Gareloch, where enemy submarines were not likely to penetrate, and anchored until such days as peace returned. She had been serenely sheltered in that haven on the Scottish coast for nearly a year, when dirty weather sprang up. In the ensuing gale, she dragged her anchors and was driven hard ashore. Had she remained upright, a tug might have remedied the matter in a simple fashion when the tide rose again. But unluckily she grounded on a very steep shore, which shelved away rapidly, and as the tide dropped she capsized and buried her funnel so deeply in the mud that she was all but upside-down. The top of the tower carrying the dredging buckets was thrust into the bottom of the Gareloch, and while the tower tended to pull her over, once she had overturned, it no doubt prevented her from finishing with her keel right in the air. As in the cases of the _Onward_ and the liner _St. Paul_, the problem was to right the ship before she could be pumped out and raised. But with the _Silurus_, the difficulties were increased by the top hamper, consisting of the tower with the dredging buckets. [Illustration: _By courtesy of H. Ensor & Sons_ THE CAPSIZED DREDGER SILURUS, WITH TIMBER FRAMING ERECTED ON HER HULL TO PREVENT THE STEEL ROPES FROM CUTTING RIGHT THROUGH HER] [Illustration: _By courtesy of H. Ensor & Sons_ THE WONDERFUL TANGLE OF WIRE ROPES AND GREAT BLOCKS THAT WERE USED TO PULL THE SILURUS ON TO AN EVEN KEEL AGAIN] Mr. Ensor, as unlike a miracle-worker as any one could imagine, went to the Gareloch and quietly looked over the sunken dredger. She was a big problem, but not too big for him to tackle. Moreover, he had the courage to back his ability with his own money. Calmly he offered to salve the vessel on the usual “no cure, no pay” principle. It meant risking quite a fortune, but this did not worry him.