“Silent said: 'That scheme has already failed. Our knowledge of the fact defeats it. You must have a guard of at least one company of infantry at or near the White House, and the officers must be notified, in confidence, why they are placed here. There must be a company of cavalry ordered here for escort to the President, and he must not go out of call of the guards without an escort.'
“The President said: 'This will not look well, but I suppose I must do it for safety. I do not like this Vice-President's talk; it worries me. But how about yourself, Gen. Silent; they seem to be after you as well.'
“'Yes,' said the General; 'but you must remember that I am surrounded by an army, and this notice protects me. I will look after that hereafter. The truth is, they might have caught me napping, as I have heretofore had but a small guard. I will make it large enough when I return. My fears, however, are very much increased, as I see that there were many of those conspirators in favor of taking the proposition to assassinate instead of capture. That can be done in spite of guards, by reckless men who will take desperate chances. This is what we must look out for. I see that they are to take orders from Jacob Thomlinson, who is a most reckless man, without any of the instincts of humanity, and utterly without any regard for the rules of civilized warfare. He is a very dangerous man if he has about him those who will do his bidding. So look out, Mr. President; my judgment is that you will be in imminent peril.'
“'Yes,' said the President. 'Gen. Silent do you remember the dream I repeated to you when you came to Washington?'
“'Oh, yes,' said Gen. Silent, 'perfectly; and in that dream I was to be murdered as soon as the rebellion should be ended. But I do not feel alarmed about myself; dreams, you know, Mr. President, go by contraries.'
“'Yes,' said the President, 'I will not say that I believe in dreams, neither do I; yet they make an impression on my mind.'
“Gen. Silent said no more on the subject, and the conversation on that topic was dropped.
“'I was asked if I would send Henry back to Canada to watch further developments. I assented. They all thought that perhaps in this way we would be able to head off any further scheme as the one reported had been.
“I then related what I had discovered at the Owen House, and suggested a close watch on this man Alston. The President took up the report, and finding the name, thought there might be something in my suggestion. They sent for the detective that I had placed to watch him, and he informed us that this man drank pretty freely, and had disclosed to him while in his cups the night before that he was from St. Catharine's, Canada; that he had plenty of money in gold, and was desirous of finding some five or six good, active, bold and daring young men, who would be likely to be fond of an adventure. The detective was sent back at once with instructions to arrest him and have him taken to Old Capitol Prison. If any questions should be asked, he was to answer that the Secretary of War had directed it. The next morning it was telegraphed all over the country that a Mr. Alston was arrested in Washington for attempting to hire men to kidnap the President; and so the scheme, was exploded.
“The next day I bade the President and the Secretary good-by, at the same time warning the President of his great danger. He could not thank me enough, he said, for my interest. Silent had left for the army. Just as I was leaving, the President said to me in a whisper: