370



Shenandoah



most of the audience thought for a brief instant
to be incidental to the play. Then, in the vague
hush that followed, a piercing scream brought
many people to their feet, as the figure of a man
appeared upon the railing of the proscenium box
and leaped to the stage below, brandishing in one
hand a large, glittering knife.
  "Sic semper tyrannis!" he cried, with clear
dramatic emphasis, then turned and made a rapid
exit diagonally across the stage to the back, like
a swift, demoniacal spirit of evil.
  " Murder! He has killed the President! " came
the heart-rending cry of Mrs. Lincoln, as with
ghastly face she leaned out of the box and pointed
to the retreating assassin.
  Another second's pause, and then pandemonium
broke loose. Men burst through railings, climbed
over chairs, swarmed upon the stage and mingled
with the terrified rouge-faced actors-women
fainted, children screamed in terror, police and
soldiers tore their way through the seething, roar-
ing crowd-and amidst all could be heard the
clatter of a horse's hoofs as the mysterious assail-
ant of the President made his escape down the
stone-paved alley back of the theatre.
  President Lincoln had been shot in the back of
the head, at close range. He fell from his chair,