and a third start was made.  For a few days all went well and some four hundred miles of cable had been laid with success as the messages passing from ship to ship clearly demonstrated.  Field, Thomson, and Bright began to believe that their great enterprise was to be crowned with success when the cable broke again, this time about twenty feet astern of the Agamemnon.  This time there was no apparent reason for the mishap, the cable having parted without warning when under no unusual strain.

The vessels returned to Queenstown, and Field and Thomson went to London, where the directors of the company were assembled.  Many were in favor of abandoning the enterprise, selling the remaining cable for what it would bring, and saving as much of their investment as possible.  But Field and Thomson were not of the sort who are easily discouraged, and they managed to rouse fresh courage in their associates.  Yet another attempt was decided upon, and with replenished stores the Agamemnon and Niagara once again proceeded to the rendezvous.

The fourth start was made on the 29th of July.  On several occasions as the work progressed communication failed, and Professor Thomson on the Agamemnon and the other electricians on the Niagara spent many anxious moments fearing that the line had again been severed.  On each occasion, however, the current resumed.  It was afterward determined that the difficulties were because of faulty batteries rather than leaks in the cable.  On both ships bad spots were found in the cable as it was uncoiled and some quick work was necessary to repair them before they dropped into the sea, since it was practically impossible to stop the flow of the cable without breaking it.  The Niagara had some narrow escapes from icebergs, and the Agamemnon had difficulties with ships which passed too close and a whale which swam close to the ship and grazed the precious cable.  But this time there was no break and the ships approached their respective destinations with the cable still carrying messages between them.  The Niagara reached the Newfoundland coast on August 4th, and early the next morning landed the cable in the cable-house at Trinity Bay.  The Agamemnon reached the Irish coast but a few hours later, and her end of the cable was landed on the afternoon of the same day.

The public, because of the repeated failures, had come to look upon the cable project as a sort of gigantic wild-goose chase.  The news that a cable had at last been laid across the ocean was received with incredulity.  Becoming convinced at last, there was great rejoicing in England and America.  Queen Victoria sent to President Buchanan a congratulatory message in which she expressed the hope “that the electric cable which now connects Great Britain with the United States will prove an additional link between the two nations, whose friendship is founded upon their mutual interest and reciprocal esteem.”  The President responded in similar vein, and expressed the hope that the neutrality of the cable might be established.