Excerpt from Episodes in an Obscure Life, Vol. 2 of 3<br><br>Which forms the head of the stairs; and w'atermen are always lounging there with their hands in their pockets, looking with sullen discontent at the splashing steamers which have almost supplanted the wherry. When I first knew Pelican Stairs, however, one of those constrained loungers was a most cheerfully contented old fellow. Having occasion to cross to the Surrey side, I turned down Pelican Lane for the purpose of taking a boat. For a wonder, none of the loungers on the stairs saw me until I came out into the little square, and I was able to take in the picture it pre sented without disturbance. A hale, grey haired, venerable-looking old man, with a wooden leg, was seated, bareheaded, on a low mooring-post. His right arm was raised, and he was addressing a little congregation of watermen and mudlarks. The mudlarks came up in relays from the slash in which they paddled with their trousers rolled up.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.