I was fond of wandering about the Adelphi, because it was a mysterious place, with those dark arches.

I see myself emerging one evening from some of these arches, on a little public-house close to the river, with an open space before it, where some coal-heavers were dancing; to look at whom I sat down upon a bench.

I wonder what they thought of me! I was such a child, and so little, that frequently when I went into the bar of a strange public-house for a glass of ale or porter, to moisten what I had had for dinner, they were afraid to give it me.

I remember one hot evening I went into the bar of a public-house, and said to the landlord: 'What is your best--your very best--ale a glass ?' For it was a special occasion.

I don't know what.