delong.
His tone was depressed and full of pity as he said,

"Poor Poe! It is too bad that when he must be in need he cannot, or does
not, write something saleable. Of course you could not set such stuff as
this before the readers of _Graham's_!"

For once Mr. Graham was disposed to question his opinion.

"I don't know about that," he said. "The poem has a certain power, it
seems to me. It might repel--it might fascinate. I should like to buy it
just to give the poor fellow a little lift. The lovely eyes of that
fragile wife of his haunt me."

It was finally decided to let Mr. Poe read the poem to the office force,
and take the vote upon it.

They were all drawn up in a semi-circle, even the small office boy, who
sat with solemn eyes and mouth open and who felt the importance of
being called upon to sit in judgment upon a "piece of poetry." Edgar Poe
stood opposite them and for the second time recited his new poem--then
withdrew while the vote was taken.

Dr. Griswold was the first to cast his vote and at once emphatically
pronounced his "No!"

The rest agreed with him that the poem was "too queer," but as a solace
for the poet's disappointment some one passed around a hat and the next
day a hamper of delicacies was sent to Mrs. Poe, with the "compliments
of the staff at _Grahams_."

Albeit "The Raven" was rejected by Graham's Magazine and others, enough
of Edgar Poe's work was bought and published to keep his name and fame
before the public--just enough (poorly paid as it was) to keep the souls
of himself and his wife and his "more than mother," within their bodies.

And though Mr. Graham would none of "The Raven," he paid its author
fifty-two dollars for a new story--"The Gold Bug." This sum seemed a
small fortune to The Dreamer at the time, but he was to do better than
that with his story. _The Dollar Magazine_ of New York offered a prize
of one hundred dollars for the best short story submitted to it. Poe had
nothing by him but some critical essays, but remembering his early
success in Baltimore with "The MS. Found in a Bottle," he was anxious to
try. So he hastened with the critiques to _Graham's_ and offered them in
place of the story.

Mr. Graham agreed to the exchange and "The Gold Bug" was promptly
dispatched to New York, where it was awarded the prize.

When it was published in _The Dollar Magazine_ it made a great noise in
the world and a red-letter day in the life of Edgar Poe.

*