speaking so earnestly, Mr. Hazel's blood seemed to run
through his veins like heavenly fire, but he said nothing, and the lady
resumed with gentle fervor, "Well, we got him a clerk's place in a
shipping-office, and heard no more of him; but he did not forget us; my
cabin here was fitted up with every comfort and every delicacy. I thanked
papa for it; but he looked so blank I saw directly he knew nothing about
it, and, now I think of it, it was Mr. Seaton. I am positive it was. Poor
fellow! And I should not even know him if I saw him."

Mr. Hazel observed, in a low voice, that Mr. Seaton's conduct did not
seem wonderful to him. "Still," said he, "one is glad to find there is
some good left even in a criminal."

"A criminal!" cried Helen Rolleston, firing up. "Pray, who says he was a
criminal? Mr. Hazel, once for all, no friend of mine ever deserves such a
name as that. A friend of mine may commit some great error or imprudence;
but that is all. The poor grateful soul was never guilty of any downright
wickedness. _That stands to reason."_

Mr. Hazel did not encounter this feminine logic with his usual ability;
he muttered something or other, with a trembling lip, and left her so
abruptly that she asked herself whether she had inadvertently said
anything that could have offended him; and awaited an explanation. But
none came. The topic was never revived by Mr. Hazel; and his manner, at
their next meeting, showed he liked her none the worse that she stood up
for her friends.

The wind steady from the west for two whole days, and the _Proserpine_
showed her best sailing qualities, and ran four hundred and fifty miles
in that time.

Then came a dead calm, and the sails flapped lazily and the masts
described an arc; and the sun broiled; and the sailors whistled; and the
captain drank; and the mate encouraged him.

During this calm Miss Rolleston fell downright ill, and quitted the deck.
Then Mr. Hazel was very sad; borrowed all the books in the ship and read
them, and took notes; and when he had done this he was at leisure to read
men, and so began to study Hiram Hudson, Joseph Wylie, and others, and
take a few notes about them.

From these we select some that are better worth the reader's attention
than anything we could relate in our own persons at this stagnant part of
the story.

PASSAGES FROM MR. HAZEL'S DIARY.

"CHARACTERS ON BOARD THE 'PROSERPINE.'

"There are two sailors, messmates, who have formed an