The House on H. Street

This is an excerpt from Chapter 3. William Seward had suffered a near fatal accident. He was thrown from his carriage when the horses suddenly bolted. On the same night Lincoln was shot, Seward was attacked in his own bedroom by Lewis Paine, on Booth’s orders, in an attempt to kill him. Fanny was the Secretary’s daughter, barely out of her teens. “Seward did not give up and slowly moved out of crisis. With wired jaw, steel neck brace and left arm in a plaster cast, he was still suffering from his injuries but well enough to be read to by Fanny and others in the household. She and George Robinson, an Army male nurse, were in the bedroom taking care of him…. ….I moved (my unseen presence moved) to the window that overlooked the street below. Graceful wrought iron street lamps, lit by the city's network of natural gas lines, gave adequate light. A few pedestrians moved about, some with the ubiquitous uniforms of war-time Washington. A movement caught my eye about a half block up La Fayette Square. Two horsemen, one very tall dressed in a light colored duster. The tall man dismounted and tethered his horse with a quick slipknot at one of the many convenient iron posts that were provided for the purpose. As he approached on foot, I saw it was Lewis Paine and if I had a breath it was sucked in sharply. In an instant I was with Lewis as he strode toward the Seward's front door without the slightest emotion. He did not hurry. The only sign of his inner feelings, if he had any, was the purposeful way he banged on the heavy brass door knocker. A young black man, dressed in a house servant’s livery, answered the door in irritation: "Hush you, hush! peoples in this house is sleepin." The young man, William Welles, (his name came from trial testimony) looked at Lewis with unfeigned suspicion. Lewis was cool and confident. He had talked his way out of trouble with Yankee patrols and this harmless youngster would pose no problems. " I come from Dr. Verdi and I was told to give this medicine (he pulled a small wrapped package from the deep pockets of his duster) to Secretary Seward himself. Take me him." The last request was made a little more firmly. "No sir! I'll take the medicine right up to Miss Fanny and she'll know what to do. The Secretary needs to rest. He cain't be bothered by youall. Gives it to me." The argument went back and forth but Lewis never lost his cool: "Dr. Verdi made it clear that I must give this right to Mr. Seward and nobody else.” "You listen to me boy! Iffen I can't do that I'm going to take it back to Dr. Verdi and your gonna get in a heap of trouble." William hesitated, confused and upset by this turn of events: "Well..well, we'll takes it up to Mr. Frederick and sees what he wants to do wid it." Lewis stepped into the front door and followed William up the stairway. The giant did not take delicate strides and the young man turned repeatedly to admonish him. "Hush, dammit! Cain't you puts your feet a little softer?!" Lewis said nothing as he followed, slipping open the buttons of his duster and never varying his heavy tread. The hunter was getting close to his quarry and adrenaline began to flow, the killer's breath quickening in short gasps. Frederick Seward, the Secretary’s son, had heard this commotion and came out of his room, still fully dressed, to stand at the head of the second floor landing. “You there! My father is very ill and needs his rest. What do you want?" Lewis, closing in and becoming impatient did not mince words: "I must see the Secretary, is he asleep?" This was said roughly, masquerade discarded as he simply pushed past Frederick and turned right to Secretary Seward's bedroom door. Just then the door opened and Fanny, roused by the noise, anxiously peeked out. Frederick was just behind Lewis, frantically motioning Fanny to close and lock the door. Lewis, with a singular lack of imagination and almost shouting, asked again and again: "Is the Secretary asleep?" Fanny, now frightened, answered timidly: "Almost." Frederick took the immediate opportunity to grasp the doorknob and pulled the door closed. Lewis was through asking questions. In a blur of speed he pulled a large pistol from his belt with his right hand and a big Bowie knife from a holster with his left hand. His first choice was the knife and Frederick took a deep gash on his shoulder and arm as he raised it in an attempt to protect himself. The silver barrel of the pistol flashed in the flickering gaslight as it crunched into Frederick's skull with the sound of a dropped watermelon. Fanny's brother had no quit in him and instead of going down he grabbed the giant and hung on. Fanny, and the male nurse Robinson, heard the scuffling and blows inside the bedroom. The young woman staggered backwards in fright as Robinson moved forward to secure the lock. Lewis and Frederick burst through the broad doorway, side by side. Her brother Fred, staggering from a fractured skull and bleeding from stab wounds, was still hanging on, incredibly trying to stop Paine's charge to the bed. He finally crumpled to the floor unconscious. Fanny screamed for the intruder not to kill her father who had awakened gasping in confusion. Seward, eyes wide open and terrified, on his back and propped up by pillows, could only watch in horror. The brave Robinson leaped upon Paine's back, jarring loose the pistol in his right hand now pointed at the helpless invalid. Stabbing Robinson and throwing him aside, Paine moved like a panther to the left side of the bed and with the bloody Bowie knife in his left hand, methodically continued his horrible work. The giant stabbed Robinson once more as the veteran, despite his wounds, grabbed Lewis around the neck. The Giant threw him off as he would an annoying child as he struck at Seward repeatedly, blood spattering the walls. Seward rolled off the pillows to the right by the force of the blows. Robinson, bleeding and faint, could only manage to make a feeble attempt at Paine's legs as the killer leaned over to strike Seward again who had raised his wrapped left arm to instinctively protect himself. The floor, the carpets, the walls and the pulled off bed sheets were awash in bright, slippery blood. With Fanny screaming and Frederick and Robinson lying on the floor comatose from their wounds, Paine walked calmly out the door thinking Seward was surely dead. His slouch hat and Army pistol were left behind but he still gripped the dripping knife. Fanny almost slipped and fell in the blood as she rushed around the bed still screaming for help. It was not over. Seward’s oldest son Augustus, an Army officer on leave who did not know Paine was in the house, met Lewis Paine. He had rushed unarmed from an upstairs bedroom and hearing Fanny's screams was sure his father had died from his previous injuries. He confronted instead a blood-spattered giant striding out of his father's bedroom. The struggle was quick this time, Augustus no match for Paine's strength and determination. Augustus too, went down in a pool of blood as Paine, quickening his pace, rushed down the stairs. A young man, a State Department messenger named Emerick Hansell, who had been coming and going the past few days, had let himself in the unlocked front door and was coming up the stairs. Confronted by the grotesque apparition of Lewis, eyes wild and clothes covered with the blood of his victims, Hansell turned to run, frightened out of his wits. Hansell was the last victim of Paine's dripping knife, crumpling on the steps with a slash across his back. William, the young house servant, ran into the street shouting: “murder, murder!” As Paine went out the door there were several people who were drawn by the shouts and screaming. Lewis went through them like a bull in flight, waving the knife and shouting: