“In the dead stillness, Baker dismounted and forced the outer gate; Conger kept close behind him, and the horsemen followed cautiously. So they surrounded the pleasant old homestead, each horseman, carbine in poise, adjusted under the grove of locusts, so as to inclose the dwelling with a circle of fire. After a pause, Baker rode to the kitchen door on the side, and dismounting, rapped and hallooed lustily. An old man, in drawers and a nightshirt, hastily undrew the bolts, and stood on the threshold, peering shiveringly into the darkness.
“Baker seized him by the throat at once, and held a pistol to his ear. ‘Who—who is it that calls me?’ cried the old man. ‘Where are the men who stay with you?’ challenged Baker. ‘If you prevaricate you are a dead man!’ The old fellow, who proved to be the head of the family, was so overawed and paralyzed that he stammered and shook, and said not a word. ‘Go light a candle,’ cried Baker, sternly, ‘and be quick about it.’ The trembling old man obeyed, and in a moment the imperfect rays flared upon his whitening hairs and bluishly pallid face. Then the question was repeated, backed up by the glimmering pistol, ‘Where are those men?’ The old man held to the wall and his knees smote each other. ‘They are gone,’ he said. ‘We haven’t got them in the house. I assure you that they are gone.’ Here there were sounds and whisperings in the main building adjoining, and the lieutenant strode to the door. A ludicrous instant intervened, the old man’s modesty outran his terror. ‘Don’t go in there,’ he said feebly, ‘there are women undressed in there.’ ‘Damn the women,’ cried Baker; ‘what if they are undressed? We shall go in if they haven’t a rag.’ Leaving the old man in mute astonishment, Baker bolted through the door, and stood in the assemblage of bare arms and night robes. His loaded pistol disarmed modesty of its delicacy and substituted therefor a seasonable terror. Here he repeated his summons, and the half light gave to his face a more than bandit ferocity. They all denied knowledge of the strangers’ whereabouts.
“In the interim, Conger had also entered, and while the household and its invaders were thus in weird tableaux, a young man appeared, as if he had risen from the ground. The muzzles of every gun turned upon him in a second; but, while he blanched, he did not lose loquacity. ‘Father,’ he said, ‘we had better tell the truth about the matter. Those men whom you seek, gentlemen, are in the barn, I know. They went there to sleep.’ Leaving one soldier to guard the old man—and the soldier was very glad of the job, as it relieved him of personal hazard in the approaching combat—all the rest, with cocked pistols at the young man’s head, followed on to the barn. It lay a hundred yards from the house, the front barn door facing the west gable, and was an old and spacious structure, with floors only a trifle above the ground level.
“The troops dismounted, were stationed at regular intervals around it, and ten yards distant at every point, four special guards placed to command the door and all with weapons in supple preparation, while Baker and Conger went direct to the portal. It had a padlock upon it, and the key of this Baker secured at once. In the interval of silence that ensued, the rustling of planks and straw was heard inside, as of persons rising from sleep.
“At the same moment, Baker hailed: ‘To the persons in this barn. I have a proposal to make; we are about to send in to you the son of the man in whose custody you are found. Either surrender to him your arms and then give yourselves up, or we’ll set fire to the place. We mean to take you both, or to have a bonfire and a shooting match.’
“No answer came to this of any kind. The lad, John M. Garrett, who was in deadly fear, was here pushed through the door by a sudden opening of it, and immediately Lieutenant Baker locked the door on the outside. The boy was heard to state his appeal in undertone. Booth replied:
“‘Damn you! Get out of here. You have betrayed me.’
“At the same time he placed his hand in his pocket as for a pistol. A remonstrance followed, but the boy slipped quickly over the reopened portal, reporting that his errand had failed, and that he dared not enter again. All this time, the candle brought from the house to the barn was burning close beside the two detectives, rendering it easy for any one within to have shot them dead. This observed, the light was cautiously removed, and everybody took care to keep out of its reflection. By this time, the crisis of the position was at hand, the cavalry exhibited very variable inclinations, some to run away, others to shoot Booth without a summons, but all were excited and fitfully silent. At the house near by, the female folks were seen collected in the doorway, and the necessities of the case provoked prompt conclusions. The boy was placed at a remote point. The summons was repeated by Baker:
“‘You must surrender inside there. Give up your arms and appear. There is no chance for escape. We give you five minutes to make up your mind.’
“A bold, clarion reply came from within, so strong as to be heard at the house door: