CHAPTER VIII.
MARRIOT.
[Illustration] I have hinted that Marriot was our sentimental member.

He was seldom sentimental until after midnight, and then only when he and I were alone.

Why he should have chosen me as the pail into which to pour his troubles I cannot say.

I let him talk on, and when he had ended I showed him plainly that I had been thinking most of the time about something else.

Whether Marriot was entirely a humbug or the most conscientious person on our stair, readers may decide.