ed return to him of the stories, poems and essays he sent
out had begun to make him lose faith in their merit and to question his
own right to live since the world had no use for the only commodity he
was capable of producing, "Muddie" came in one evening with an unusually
bright, eager look in her eyes and a copy of _The Saturday Visitor_ (a
weekly paper published in Baltimore) in her hand.

"Here's your chance, Eddie," she said.

In big capitals upon the first page of the paper was an announcement to
the effect that the _Visitor_ would give two prizes--one of one hundred
dollars for the best short story, and one of fifty dollars for the best
poem submitted to it anonymously. Three well-known gentlemen of the city
would act as judges, and the names of the successful contestants would
be published upon the twelfth of October.

With trembling hands the discouraged young applicant for place as an
author made a neat parcel of six of his "Tales of the Folio Club" and a
recently written poem, "The Coliseum," and left them, that very night,
at the door of the office of _The Saturday Visitor_.

How eagerly he and "Muddie" and "Sissy" awaited the fateful twelfth! The
hours and the days dragged by on leaden wings. But the twelfth came at
last. It found Edgar Poe at the office of the _Visitor_ an hour before
time for the paper to be issued, but at length he held the scarcely dry
sheet in his hand and there, with his name at the end, was the story
that had taken the prize--"The MS. Found in a Bottle."

More!--In the following wonderful--most wonderful words, it seemed to
him--the judges declared their decision:

"Among the prose articles were many of various and
distinguished merit, but the singular force and beauty of those
sent by the author of 'Tales of the Folio Club' leave us no
room for hesitation in that department. We have awarded the
premium to a tale entitled, 'The MS. Found in a Bottle.' It
would hardly be doing justice to the writer of this collection
to say that the tale we have chosen is the best of the six
offered by him. We cannot refrain from saying that the author
owes it to his own reputation as well as to the gratification
of the community to publish the entire volume. These tales are
eminently distinguished by a wild, vigorous and poetical
imagination, a rich style, a fertile invention and varied,
curious learning.

(Signed)
"JOH