It now expressed the anguish that occasionally came over his heart, as the helplessness of his situation presented itself fully to his mind.

Cuffe's feelings were touched, for he remembered the time when they were messmates, with a future before them that promised no more to the one than to the other, the difference in the chances which birth afforded the captain alone excepted.

Clinch was a prime seaman, and as brave as a lion, too; qualities that secured to him a degree of respect that his occasional self-forgetfulness had never entirely forfeited.

Some persons thought him the most skilful mariner the Proserpine contained; and, perhaps, this was true, if the professional skill were confined strictly to the handling of a ship, or to taking care of her on critical occasions.

All these circumstances induced Cuffe to enter more closely into the master's-mate's present distress than he might otherwise have done.