Two hours did the grapnels descend before they reached the bottom of the sea! All night did the cable-layers fish, with the characteristic patience of fishermen, but did not get a nibble. Towards morning, however, there was a decided bite, and the line became taut.
“Got him!” exclaimed an enthusiast eagerly.
“Don’t be too sure,” replied a philosopher cautiously.
“It may be a bit of wreck,” suggested Ebenezer Smith, who was a natural doubter.
“Or a whale, or the great sea-serpent,” said the sporting electrician, who was everything by turns and nothing long.
“We shall very soon know,” remarked a matter-of-fact engineer. “If it is a loose object the strain will decrease as it nears the surface, but if it be the cable the strain will certainly increase, because its weight will be greater the more of it we lift off the bottom.”
Earnestly did every one regard the dynamometer which told the exact amount of strain on the iron fishing-line, and to their joy the strain increased until the object caught had been raised three-quarters of a mile from the bottom. Then a swivel gave way, and the cable went back to its ocean-bed.
But those plucky engineers were not to be overcome by a first failure. Having started with five miles of fishing-line, they proceed at once to make a second attempt.
“Oh, I do hope they will hook it again!” said Robin Wright.
“And so they will,” said Ebenezer Smith.