In 1822 he returned to Richmond, and in 1825 was entered as a student at the University of Virginia. His life at the University was marked by many youthful excesses, which finally resulted in his expulsion. He was very much in debt and upon Mr. Allan's refusal to satisfy the claims of some of his creditors he quarreled with his benefactor and set out to join the Greeks, who were then in the midst of their war with Turkey. After wandering in Europe for about a year, he finally made his way to St. Petersburg where he became involved in a quarrel

' with the Russian authorities, from which he was extricated through the kind offices of the American minister, Mr. Middleton. Returning to America he was again taken into favor by Mr. Allan, who sent him to West Point, where his conduct was so irregular that in ten months after his admission he was cashiered. He was again received into Mr. Allan's family but another rupture ensued, in consequence, it is said, of Poe's uncivil behavior toward Mr. Allan's .«econd wife. Mr. Allan died a few years latter, leaving Poe

j nothing.

Thrown upon his own resources, Poe turned to ' literature for support. In 1829, he had published in

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HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Baltimore a volumeof poems, " Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems," which iiad been received withfiivor. He seems to have had but little difficulty in obtaining employme'itfrom magazines and newspapers, but the pay was meagre. In despair he enlisted in the army and then deserted. Luckily for him, in 1833 he entered the competition for prizes offered by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor for a story and a poem. He was awarded both prizes but was subsequently excluded from the second prize and only given that for the story.