and held his head on her lap.

We decided that the President could now be moved from the possibility
of danger in the theatre to a house where we might place him on a bed
in safety. To assist in this duty I assigned Dr. Taft to carry his
right shoulder, Dr. King to carry his left shoulder and detailed a
sufficient number of others, whose names I have never discovered, to
assist in carrying the body, while I carried his head, going first. We
reached the door of the box and saw the long passage leading to the
exit crowded with people. I called out twice: "Guards, clear the
passage! Guards, clear the passage!" A free space was quickly cleared
by an officer and protected by a line of soldiers in the position of
present arms with swords, pistols and bayonets. When we reached the
stairs, I turned so that those holding the President's feet would
descend first. At the door of the theatre, I was again asked if the
President could be taken to the White House. I answered: "No, the
President would die on the way."

The crowd in the street completely obstructed the doorway and a
captain, whose services proved invaluable all through the night, came
to me, saying: "Surgeon, give me your commands and I will see that
they are obeyed." I asked him to clear a passage to the nearest house
opposite. He had on side arms and drew his sword. With the sword and
word of command he cleared the way. We slowly crossed the street. It
was necessary to stop several times to give me the opportunity to
remove the clot of blood from the opening to the wound. A barrier of
men had been formed to keep back the crowds on each side of an open
space leading to the house. Those who went ahead reported that the
house directly opposite the theatre was closed. I saw a man standing
at the door of Mr. Petersen's house, diagonally opposite, holding a
lighted candle in his hand and beckoning us to enter. This we did, not
having been interrupted in the slightest by the throngs in the street,
but a number of the excited populace followed us into the house.

The great difficulty of retaining life during this brief time occupied
in moving the President from the theatre to Mr. Petersen's house,
conclusively proved that the President would have died in the street
if I had granted the request to take him such a long distance as to
the White House. I asked for the best room and we soon had the
President placed in bed. He was lifted to the longitudinal center of
the bed and