, and after going a few steps he paused, turned, and again
lifted his hat, in a last adieu. At the moment, a brilliant meteor
appeared in the sky directly over his head, and vanished in the east.
We commented laughingly upon the incident; but I remembered it sadly
afterward.

That night he spent at Duncan's lodge; and as his friend said, sat
late at his window, meditatively smoking, and seemingly disinclined
for conversation. On the following morning he went into the city,
accompanied by his friends Dr. Gibbon Carter and Dr. Mackenzie. The
day was passed with them and others of his intimate friends. Late in
the evening he entered the office of Dr. John Carter, and spent an
hour in looking over the day's papers; then taking Dr. Carter's cane
he went out, remarking that he would step across to Saddler's (a
fashionable restaurant) and get supper. From the circumstance of his
taking the cane, leaving his own in its place, it is probable that he
had intended to return; but at the restaurant he met with some
acquaintances who detained him until late, and then accompanied him to
the Baltimore boat. According to their account he was quite sober and
cheerful to the last, remarking, as he took leave of them, that he
would soon be in Richmond again.

... Three days after, a friend came to me with the day's issue of the
_Richmond Dispatch_. Without a word she pointed to a particular
paragraph, where I read,--"Death of Edgar A. Poe, in Baltimore."

Poe had made himself popular in Richmond, people had become interested
in him, and his death cast a universal gloom over the city. His old
friends, and even those more recently formed, and whom he had
strangely attached to himself, deeply regretted him. Mr. Sully came to
consult with me about a picture of _The Raven_ which he intended to
make; and in the course of the conversation expressed himself in
regard to his lost friend with a warmth of feeling and appreciation
not usual to him. The two had been schoolmates; and the artist said:
"Poe was one of the most warm-hearted and generous of men. In his
youth and prosperity, when admired and looked up to by all his
companions, he invariably stood by me and took my part. I was a dull
boy at learning, and Edgar never grudged time or pains in assisting
me." In further speaking, he said, with a decision and earnestness
which impressed me, "It was Mr. Allan's cruelty in casting him upon
the world, a beggar, which ruined Poe. Some who had envie