ored to dispose of to editors, but met with no success.

Many stories have been told in regard to this unhappy period of Poe's
life. One, related by a Richmond man, stated that, being in Baltimore
about the time in question, he one day had occasion to visit a
brick-yard, when there passed him by a line of men bearing the freshly
moulded bricks to the kiln. Glancing at them casually, he was amazed to
recognize among them Edgar Poe. He could not be mistaken, having been
for years familiar with his appearance. Whether Poe recognized him, he
could not say; but when he returned next day he was not there, nor did
any one know of the name of Poe among the laborers. It was the opinion
of this man that he had merely picked up a day's job for a day's need.

He was said to have been recognized in other equally uncongenial
occupations, but relief was at hand in the time of his sorest need.

CHAPTER XI.

MRS. CLEMM.

His father's sister, Mrs. Maria Clemm, who had for some years been
living in a New York country town, supporting herself and little
daughter by dressmaking, about this time returned to Baltimore, and
hearing from the Poes of the presence of her brother's son in the city,
commenced a search for him. She found him, at length, ill--really ill;
and at once took him to her own humble home, installing him in a room
which had been furnished for a lodger, and from that hour attended and
cared for him with a true motherly devotion.

Those who believe in the spirit of the old adage, "Blood is thicker than
water," may imagine what a blessed relief this was to the weary and
almost despairing wanderer. Here he had what he needed almost as much as
he did food--rest; rest for the weak and exhausted body and for the
anxious mind as well. Here, in the quiet little room, he could lie and
dream, in the blissful consciousness that near him were the watchful
eyes and careful hands of his own father's sister, ready to attend to
his slightest want. And from the day on which he first entered her
humble abode Poe was never more to be a homeless wanderer. To him it
proved ever a safe little harbor, a sure haven of refuge and repose in
all storms and troubles that assailed, even to his life's end.

Mrs. Clemm was at this time a strong, vigorous woman, somewhat past
middle age, and of large frame and masculine features. Her manner was
dignified and well-bred, and she was possessed of abundant
self-reliance, ready resource, and, as m