Page:Behind the scenes, or, Thirty years a slave and four years in the White House.djvu/195

Rh children in her private chamber. She denied admittance to almost every one, and I was her only companion, except her children, in the days of her great sorrow.

There were many surmises as to who was implicated with J. Wilkes Booth in the assassination of the President. A new messenger had accompanied Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln to the theatre on that terrible Friday night. It was the duty of this messenger to stand at the door of the box during the performance, and thus guard the inmates from all intrusion. It appears that the messenger was carried away by the play, and so neglected his duty that Booth gained, easy admission to the box. Mrs. Lincoln firmly believed that this messenger was implicated in the assassination plot. One night I was lying on a lounge near the bed occupied by Mrs. Lincoln. One of the servants entering the room, Mrs. L. asked: "Who is on watch to-night?" "The new messenger," was the reply.