but he
quitted the place very much in debt; and when Mr. Allan refused to accept
some of the drafts with which he had paid losses in gaming, he wrote to
him an abusive letter, quitted his house, and soon after left the country
with the quixotic intention of joining the Greeks, then in the midst of
their struggle with the Turks. He never reached his destination, and we
know but little of his adventures in Europe for nearly a year. By the end
of this time he had made his way to St. Petersburg, and our Minister in
that capital, the late Mr. Henry Middleton, of South Carolina, was
ummoned one morning to save him from penalties incurred in a drunken
debauch. Through Mr. Middleton's kindness he was set at liberty and
enabled to return to this country.

His meeting with Mr. Allan was not very cordial, but that gentleman
declared himself willing to serve him in any way that should seem
judicious; and when Poe expressed some anxiety to enter the Military
Academy, he induced Chief Justice Marshall, Andrew Stevenson, General
Scott, and other eminent persons, to sign an application which secured
his appointment to a scholarship in that institution.

Mrs. Allan, whom Poe appears to have regarded with much affection, and
who had more influence over him than any one else at this period, died on
the 27th of February, 1829, which I believe was just before Poe left
Richmond for West Point. It has been erroneously stated by all Poe's
biographers, that Mr. Allan was now sixty-five years of age, and that
Miss Paterson, to whom he was married afterward, was young enough to be
his granddaughter. Mr. Allan was in his forty-eighth year, and the
difference between his age and that of his second wife was not so great
as justly to attract any observation.

For a few weeks the cadet applied himself with much assiduity to his
studies, and he became at once a favorite with his mess and with the
officers and professors of the Academy; but his habits of dissipation
were renewed; he neglected his duties and disobeyed orders; and in ten
months from his matriculation he was cashiered.

He went again to Richmond, and was received into the family of Mr. Allan,
who was disposed still to be his friend, and in the event of his good
behavior to treat him like a son; but it soon became necessary to close
his doors against him forever. According to Poe's own statement he
ridiculed the marriage of his patron with Miss Paterson, and had a
quarrel with her; but