n him from his side pocket and commenced reading. Very
soon he exhibited some little excitement, rang his bell and sent for the
Secretary of War, who soon came in. After the Secretary had exchanged
compliments with me, the President continued reading. When he had
finished he turned to me and said:

"'This is the most extraordinary thing that I have ever read or heard
of, in or out of history. Mr. Secretary, please read this.'

[Illustration: Uncle Daniel conferring with Lincoln and Stanton 404]

"The Secretary read it very carefully and remarked: 'This is what they
are coming to; they will stop at nothing. But the most surprising part
of all is the attitude of your Vice-President. What can he mean by
hobnobbing with those traitors and having interviews with one of their
principal leaders inside of our lines?' "'Yes,' said the President;
'this is strange, indeed.' "After further conversation it was determined
to have the Cabinet officers meet that day. The President also directed
the Secretary of War to ask Gen. Silent to be at the Executive Mansion
the next morning. He asked me to remain in Washington and come to see
him the next day at 10 o'clock, and not to fail. I left, went to the
Owen House and took a room.

"While there I met a man in rather delicate health, who said his name
was Alston, that he was a Canadian, and had come to Washington on
account of the mildness of the climate. He was about five feet ten
inches in height, hazel eyes, light hair, with small goatee; was quite
a nervous man, moving his hands, or sitting down and immediately rising
again, picking his teeth, or pulling his goatee. I remembered the man's
name as that of one of the conspirators, and marked him well. On inquiry
I found he had arrived the day before and was intending, as he said, to
remain for some time in order to test the climate in his case. I stepped
up to the War Department, and finding my friend, the Secretary, in, I
asked him to send a detective with me, and he did so. I put him on the
man and said no more to any one until I met the President and others the
next day.

"At 10 o'clock the following morning, I appeared at the Mansion and was
admitted at once. On entering the President's office I met Gen. Silent.
Having previously met him at Chatteraugus and elsewhere, he recognized
me, and after the usual compliments asked about Gen. Anderson. I told
him about my misfortunes, the last of which he was not aware of. He said
no mor