It was Mrs. McKinley’s wish that they remain at Buffalo until the President had recovered and then spend a month at the home at Canton in final recuperation, after which they were to proceed to Washington. The President favored going to Washington and the Cabinet officers favored this plan. There was no pressing public business, but the routine duties are numerous. Plans were under preparation for the journey to Washington when the distinguished patient began to show signs of a relapse. It was on Thursday, just six days after the shooting, that the President suffered a relapse. Everybody was still full of hopes until 8:30 o’clock in the evening, when the physicians announced officially that the President’s condition was not so good. The problem of disposing of the food in the stomach was becoming a serious one, and the danger of heart failure increased. At midnight the situation was critical. Calomel and oil were given to flush the bowels and digitalis to quiet the heart. The bowels moved soon afterwards, and the patient improved. The pulse dropped to 120, and the prospect was regarded as brighter. Secretary Cortelyou announced that there would be no more bulletins during the night, and the physicians departed. Shortly after two o’clock, after a heavy thunderstorm, the physicians and nurses who were left on watch detected a weakening of the heart action. The pulse fluttered and weakened and the President sank toward a collapse. The end appeared at hand. Restoratives were applied speedily, but they did not at once prove effective. It was then decided to send for the other physicians, relatives, members of the Cabinet, and close personal friends of the President. Trouble began on Thursday afternoon through the failure of the digestive organs to perform their functions. The necessity for nourishment had been pressing for several days, and the partial failure of artificial means had led to the adoption of natural means. The rectum, through which nourishment had been injected previously to Wednesday, became irritated and rejected the enemas. [Illustration: PRESIDENT McKINLEY FALLING INTO ARMS OF CORTELYOU, SAYING: “AM I SHOT?”] [Illustration: PRESIDENT McKINLEY BEING PUT IN THE AMBULANCE AFTER BEING SHOT.] The physicians tried to feed him through the mouth, probably before the stomach was prepared. The first administration of beef juice through the mouth, however, seemed to agree with the patient, and the physicians were highly gratified at the way the stomach seemed to receive the food.