Lincoln, the unknown

17W hile Lincoln was en route to Washington for his inauguration,both the United States Secret Service and private detectivesdiscovered what they believed was a plot to assassinate himas he passed through Baltimore.In alarm Lincoln's friends pleaded with him to abandon theschedule that had been announced, and urged him to slip intoWashington incognito by night.That sounded cowardly, and Lincoln knew it would raisea storm of scoffs and sneers. He was decidedly against it. Butfinally,after hours of pleading, he bowed to the wishes of histrusted advisers, and prepared to make the rest of the tripsecretly.As soon as Mrs. Lincoln heard about the altered arrangementsshe insisted that she would go with him, and when shewas told most emphatically that she must come on a later trainshe lost her temper and protested so loudly that she all butgave the plan away.It had been announced that Lincoln would speak in Harrisburg,Pennsylvania, on February 22, spend the night there,and then leave the next morning for Baltimore and Washington.He made his speech in Harrisburg according to schedule; but,instead of spending the night there, he slipped out of the backdoor of the hotel that evening at six and, disguised in an oldthreadbare overcoat and a soft wool hat such as he had neverworn before, he was driven to an unlighted railway coach, and122