On the whole, the man was rather grave for one of his years.

Occasionally, however, when anything particularly pleased him, he developed a vein of strong, rich mirth, which would endure for several hours.

He impressed us at once as a reliable man,--one to be depended on under any ordinary circumstances.
We decided (very wisely as I now think) to accept his offer; and, after dinner, went down to the Marine Insurance Office to take out a policy on the vessel.

On learning that we were intending to enter Hudson Straits, the agent refused to underwrite us: it was too ugly a risk.

He either couldn't or didn't want to understand the object of our voyage.