The Battery and the Boiler: Adventures in Laying of Submarine Electric Cables

by R. M. Ballantyne

  CHAPTER NINE.

  IN WHICH JOYS, HOPES, ALARMS, GHOSTS, AND LEVIATHANS TAKE PART.

  That man who can appreciate the feelings of one who has become suddenlybankrupt may understand the mental condition of those on board the GreatEastern when they were thus tossed from the pinnacle of joyous hope tothe depths of dark despair. It was not, however, absolute despair. Thecable was utterly useless indeed--insensate--but it was not broken.There was still the blessed possibility of picking it up and bringing itto life again.

  That, however, was scarcely an appreciable comfort at the moment, andlittle could be seen or heard on board the Great Eastern save elongatedfaces and gloomy forebodings.

  Ebenezer Smith and his _confreres_ worked in the testing-room likeTrojans. They connected and disconnected; they put in stops and tookthem out; they intensified currents to the extent of their anxietiesthey reduced them to the measure of their despair--nothing would do.The cable was apparently dead. In these circumstances picking-up wasthe only resource, and the apparatus for that purpose was again riggedup in the bows.

  In the meantime the splice which had been made to connect the tanks wascut and examined, and the portions coiled in the fore and main tankswere found to be perfect--alive and well--but the part between ship andshore was speechless.

  So was poor Robin Wright! After Mr Field--whose life-hope seemed to bedoomed to disappointment--the blow was probably felt most severely byRobin. But Fortune seemed to be playfully testing the endurance ofthese cable-layers at that time, for, when the despair was at its worst,the tell-tale light reappeared on the index of the galvanometer, withoutrhyme or reason, calling forth a shout of joyful surprise, and puttingan abrupt stoppage to the labours of the pickers-up!

  They never found out what was the cause of that fault; but that was asmall matter, for, with restored sensation in the cable-nerve, renewedcommunication with the shore, and resumed progress of the ship towardsher goal, they could afford to smile at former troubles.

  Joy and sorrow, shower and sunshine, fair weather and foul, was at firstthe alternating portion of the cable-layers.

  "I can't believe my eyes!" said Robin to Jim Slagg, as they stood nextday, during a leisure hour, close to the whirling wheels andnever-ending cable, about 160 miles of which had been laid by that time."Just look at the Terrible and Sphinx; the sea is now so heavy thatthey are thumping into the waves, burying their bows in foam, while weare slipping along as steadily as a Thames steamer."

  "That's true, sir," answered Slagg, whose admiration for our hero'senthusiastic and simple character increased as their intimacy wasprolonged, and whose manner of address became proportionally morerespectful, "She's a steady little duck is the Great Eastern! she hasgot the advantage of length, you see, over other ships, an' rides on twowaves at a time, instead of wobblin' in between 'em; but I raither thinkshe'd roll a bit if she was to go along in the trough of the seas.Don't the cable go out beautiful, too--just like a long-drawn eel withthe consumption! Did you hear how deep the captain said it washereabouts?"

  "Yes, I heard him say it was a little short of two miles deep, so it hasgot a long way to sink before it reaches its oozy bed."

  "How d'ee know what sort o' bed it's got to lie on?" asked Slagg.

  "Because," said Robin, "the whole Atlantic where the cable is to lie hasbeen carefully sounded long ago, and it is found that the ocean-bedhere, which looks so like mud, is composed of millions of beautifulshells, so small that they cannot be distinguished by the naked eye. Ofcourse, they have no creatures in them. It would seem that theseshell-fish go about the ocean till they die, and then fall to the bottomlike rain." See note one.

  "You _don't_ say so!" returned Slagg, who, being utterly uneducated,received suchlike information with charming surprise, and regarded Robinas a very mine of knowledge. "Well now, that beats cock-fighting. But,I say, how is it that the electricity works through the cable? I heerdone o' your electrical fellers explaining to a landlubber t'otherevenin' that electricity could only run along wires when the _circuitwas closed_, by which he meant to say that it would fly from a batteryand travel along a wire ever so far, if only that wire was to turn rightround and run back to the same battery again. Now, if that's so, seemsto me that when you've got your cable to Newfoundland you'll have to runanother one back again to Ireland before it'll work."

  "Ah, Slagg, that would indeed be the case," returned Robin, "were it notthat we have discovered the important fact that the earth--the roundglobe on which we stand--itself acts the part of a grand conductor. Sowe have only to send down _earth-wires_ at the two ends--one into theearth of Ireland, the other into the earth of Newfoundland, andstraightway the circuit is closed, and the electricity generated in ourbatteries passes through the cable from earth to earth."

  "Robin," said Slagg doubtingly, "d'you expect me for to believe _that_?"

  "Indeed I do," said Robin simply.

  "Then you're greener than I took you for. No offence meant, but it's myopinion some o' these 'cute electricians has bin tryin' the width ofyour swallow."

  "No, you are mistaken," returned Robin earnestly; "I have read the factin many books. The books differ in their opinions as to the causes andnature of the fact, but not as to the fact itself."

  It was evident that Robin looked upon this as an unanswerable argument,and his friend seemed perplexed.

  "Well, I don' know how it is," he said, after a pause, "but I do believethat this here wonderful electricity is fit for a'most anything, an'that we'll have it revoloosionising everything afore long--I do indeed."

  The intelligent reader who has noted the gigantic strides which we haverecently made in electric lighting of late will observe that Slagg,unwittingly, had become almost prophetic at this time.

  "We're going along splendidly now," said Mr Smith, coming up to Robinthat evening while he was conversing with Slagg, who immediatelyretired.--"Who is that youth? He seems very fond of you; I've observedthat he makes up to you whenever you chance to be on deck together."

  "He is one of the steward's lads, sir; I met him accidentally in thetrain; but I suspect the fondness is chiefly on my side. He was verykind to me when I first came on board, and I really think he is anintelligent, good fellow--a strange mixture of self-confidence andhumility. Sometimes, to hear him speak, you would think he kneweverything; but at the same time he is always willing--indeed anxious--to listen and learn. He is a capital fighter too."

  Here Robin related the battle in the boys' berth, when Slagg thrashedStumps, whereat Mr Smith was much amused.

  "So he seems a peculiar lad--modest, impudent, teachable, kindly, andwarlike! Come below now, Robin, I have some work for you. Did you makethe calculations I gave you yesterday?"

  "Yes, sir, and they corresponded exactly with your own."

  "Good. Go fetch my little note-book: I left it in the grand saloon onthe furthest aft seat, port side."

  Robin found the magnificent saloon of the big ship ringing with musicand conversation. Joy over the recent restoration to health of theailing cable, the comfortable stability of the ship in rough weather,and the satisfactory progress then being made, all contributed to raisethe spirits of every one connected with the great work, so that, whilesome were amusing themselves at the piano, others were scattered aboutin little groups, discussing the profounder mysteries of electricscience, or prophesying the speedy completion of the enterprise, while afew were speculating on the probability of sport in Newfoundland, orplanning out journeys through the United States.

  "There's lots of game, I'm told, in Newfoundland," said one of theyouthful electricians, whose ruling passion--next to the subtle fluid--was the gun.

  "So I've been told," replied an elder and graver comrade. "Polar bearsare quite common in the woods, and it is said that walrus are fond ofroosting in the trees."

  "Yes, I have heard so," returned the youthful sportsman, who, althoughyoung, was not to be caught with chaff, "and the fishing, I hear, isalso splendid. Salmon
and cod are found swarming in the rivers by thosewho care for mild occupation, while really exciting sport is to be hadin the great lakes of the interior, where there are plenty offresh-water whales that take the fly."

  "The swan, you mean," said another comrade. "The fly that is mostkilling among Newfoundland whales is a swan fastened whole to a sharkhook--though a small boat's anchor will do if you haven't the righttackle."

  "Come, don't talk nonsense, but let's have a song!" said a brotherelectrician to the sporting youth.

  "I never sing," he replied, "except when hurt, and then I sing out. Butsee, our best musician has just seated himself at the instrument."

  "I don't talk shop, Nimrod; call it the piano."

  Most of those present drew towards the musical corner, where EbenezerSmith, having just entered the saloon in search of Robin, had beenprevailed on to sit down and enliven the company. Robin, who had beendelayed by difficulty in finding the note-book, stopped to listen.

  Smith had a fair average voice and a vigorous manner.

  "You wouldn't object to hear the cook's last?" asked Smith, running hisfingers lightly over the keys.

  "Of course not--go on," chorused several voices.

  "I had no idea," lisped a simple youth, who was one of a small party ofyoung gentlemen interested in engineering and science, who had beenaccommodated with a passage,--"I had no idea that our cook was a poet aswell as an admirable _chef de cuisine_."

  "Oh, it's not _our_ cook he means," explained the sporting electrician;"Mr Smith _refers_ to a certain sea-cook--or his son, I'm not surewhich--who is _chef des horse-marines_."

  "Is there a chorus?" asked one.

  "Of course there is," replied Smith; "a sea-song without a chorus islike a kite without a tail--it is sure to fall flat, but the chorus isan old and well-known one--it is only the song that is new. Now then,clear your throats, gentlemen."

  Song--The Loss of the Nancy Lee.

  I.

  'Twas on a Friday morning that I went off, An' shipped in the Nancy Lee, But that ship caught a cold and with one tremendous cough Went slap to the bottom of the sea, the sea, the sea, Went slap to the bottom of the sea.

  Chorus.--Then the raging sea may roar, An' the stormy winds may blow, While we jolly sailor boys rattle up aloft, And the landlubbers lie down below, below, below And the landlubbers lie down below.

  II.

  For wery nigh a century I lived with the crabs, An' danced wi' the Mermaids too, An' drove about the Ocean in mother o' pearl cabs, An' dwelt in a cavern so blue, so blue, so blue, An' dwelt in a cavern so blue. Chorus.--Then the raging sea, etcetera.

  III.

  I soon forgot the sorrows o' the world above In the pleasures o' the life below; Queer fish they made up to me the want o' human love, As through the world o' waters I did go, did go, did go; As through the world o' waters I did go. Chorus.--Then the raging sea, etcetera.

  IV.

  One day a horrid grampus caught me all by the nose, An' swung me up to the land, An' I never went to sea again, as everybody knows, And as everybody well may understand, 'derstand, 'derstand, And as everybody well may understand. Chorus.--Then the raging sea, etcetera.

  The plaudits with which this song was received were, it need scarcely beremarked, due more to the vigour of the chorus and the enthusiasm of theaudience than to intrinsic merit. Even Robin Wright was carried off hislegs for the moment, and, modest though he was, broke in at the choruswith such effect--his voice being shrill and clear--that, heunintentionally outyelled all the rest, and would have fled inconsternation from the saloon if he had not been caught and forciblydetained by the sporting electrician, who demanded what right he had toraise his steam-whistle in that fashion.

  "But I say, young Wright," he added in a lower tone, leading our heroaside, "what's this rumour I hear about a ghost in the steward's cabin?"

  "Oh! it is nothing to speak of," replied Robin, with a laugh. "The ladthey call Stumps got a fright--that's all."

  "But that's enough. Let us hear about it."

  "Well, I suppose you know," said Robin, "that there's a ghost in theGreat Eastern."

  "No, I don't know it from personal experience, but I have heard a reportto that effect."

  "Well, I was down in Jim Slagg's berth, having a chat with him about thenature of electric currents--for he has a very inquiring mind,--andsomehow we diverged to ghosts, and began to talk of the ghost of theGreat Eastern.

  "`I don't believe in the Great Eastern ghost--no, nor in ghosts of anykind,' said Stumps, who was sitting near us eating a bit of cheese.

  "`But I believe in 'em,' said the boy Jeff, who was seated on the otherside of the table, and looked at us so earnestly that we could scarcehelp smiling--though we didn't feel in a smiling humour at the time, forit was getting dark, and we had got to talking in low tones and lookinganxiously over our shoulders, you know--

  "`Oh yes, I know,' replied the sportsman, with a laugh; `I haveshuddered and grue-oo-ed many a time over ghost-stories. Well?'

  "`_I_ don't believe in 'em, Jeff. Why do _you_?' asked Stumps, in ascoffing tone.

  "`Because I hear one every night a'most when I go down into the darkplaces below to fetch things. There's one particular spot where theghost goes tap-tap-tapping continually.'

  "`Fiddlededee,' said Stumps.

  "`Come down, and you shall hear it for yourself,' said Jeff.

  "Now, they say that Stumps is a coward, though he boasts a good deal--"

  "You may say," interrupted the sportsman, "that Stumps is a coward_because_ he boasts a good deal. Boasting is often a sign ofcowardice--though not always."

  "Well," continued Robin, "being ashamed to draw back, I suppose, heagreed to accompany Jeff.

  "`Won't you come too, Slagg?' said Stumps.

  "`No; I don't care a button for ghosts. Besides, I'm too busy, butWright will go. There, don't bother me!' said Jim.

  "I noticed, as I went last out of the room, that Slagg rose quickly andpulled a sheet off one of the beds. Afterwards, looking back, I saw himslip out and run down the passage in the opposite direction. Isuspected he was about some mischief, but said nothing.

  "It was getting dark, as I have said, though not dark enough forlighting the lamps, and in some corners below it was as dark asmidnight. To one of these places Jeff led us.

  "`Mind how you go now,' whispered Jeff; `it's here somewhere, andthere's a hole too--look-out--there it is!'

  "`What! the ghost?' whispered Stumps, beginning to feel uneasy. To saytruth, I began to feel uneasy myself without well knowing why. At thatmoment I fell over something, and came down with a crash that shookStumps's nerves completely out of order.

  "`I say, let's go back,' he muttered in a tremulous voice.

  "`No, no,' whispered Jeff seizing Stumps by the arm with a sudden gripthat made him give a short yelp, `we are at the place now. It's in thisdark passage. Listen!'

  "We all held our breath and listened. For a few seconds we heardnothing, but presently a slight tapping was heard.

  "`I've heard,' whispered Jeff in a low tone, `that when the big ship wasbuildin', one o' the plate-riveters disappeared in some hole between thetwo skins o' the ship hereabouts, and his comrades, not bein' able tofind him, were obliged at last to rivet him in, which they did so tightthat even his ghost could not get out, so it goes on tappin', as youhear, an' is likely to go on tappin' for ever.'

  "`Bosh!' whispered Stumps; thus politely intimating his disbelief, but Ifelt him trembling all over notwithstanding.

  "At that moment we saw a dim shadowy whitish object at the other end ofthe dark passage. `Wha'--wha'--what's that?' said I.

  "Stumps gasped. I heard his teeth chattering, and I think his kneeswere knocking together. Jeff made no sound, and it was too dark to seehis face. Suddenly the object rushed at us. There was no noise offootsteps--only a muffled sound and a faint hissing. I stood still,unable to move. So did Jeff. I felt the hair
of my head rising.Stumps gasped again--then turned and fled. The creature, whatever itwas, brushed past us with a hideous laugh. I guessed at once that itwas Jim Slagg, but evidently Stumps didn't, for he uttered an awful yellthat would have roused the whole ship if she had been of an ordinarysize; at the same moment he tripped and fell on the thing that had upsetme, and the ghost, leaping over him, vanished from our sight.

  "To my surprise, on returning to our cabin, we found Slagg as we hadleft him, with both hands on his forehead poring over his book. I wasalmost as much surprised to see Jeff sit down and laugh heartily.--Now,what _do_ you think it could have been?"

  "It was Slagg, of course," answered the sporting electrician.

  "Yes, but what causes the tapping?"

  "Oh, that is no doubt some little trifle--a chip of wood, or bit of wireleft hanging loose, which shakes about when the ship heaves."

  A sudden tramping of feet overhead brought this ghostly discussion to anabrupt close, and caused every man in the saloon to rush on deck with aterrible feeling in his heart that something had gone wrong.

  "Not broken?" asked an electrician with a pale face on reaching thedeck.

  "Oh no, sir," replied an engineer, with an anxious look, "not quite sobad as that, but a whale has taken a fancy to inspect us, and he isalmost _too_ attentive."

  So it was. A large Greenland whale was playing about the big ship,apparently under the impression that she was a giant of his own species,and it had passed perilously close to the cable.

  A second time it came up, rolling high above the waves. It went closepast the stern--rose again and dived with a gentle flop of its greattail, which, if it had touched the cable, would have cut it like athread. At that trying moment, as they saw its huge back glittering inthe moonlight, the hearts of the helpless spectators appeared absolutelyto stand still. When the monster dived its side even touched the cable,but did not damage it. Being apparently satisfied by that time that theship was not a friend, the whale finally disappeared in the depths ofits ocean home.

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  Those who visited the Crystal Palace at Sydenham during the recentElectrical Exhibition had an opportunity of seeing the shells herereferred to under a powerful microscope.