companion, and also of the leading Baltimore rebels, procured them passes signed by Gen. Winder and countersigned by Marshal Kane. Having these, they paid $50 for a carriage which took them to Washington. Reaching Washington at 10 P. M. on Wednesday, Gen. Aiken found its silence and emptiness a startling contrast to the hot-blooded crowd at Baltimore. He says: "Half a dozen people in the hall of the hotel crowded around _to ask questions about the North_. I then began to realize the isolation of the city." Hurrying to Gen. Scott's head-quarters, the old chief was found with only two of his staff. "Upon reading the Governor's letter, he rose and said excitedly, 'Sir, you are the first man I have seen with a written dispatch for three days. I have sent men out every day to bring intelligence of the northern troops. Not one of them has returned; where _are_ the troops?' The number and rapidity of his questions, and his very excited manner, gave me a further realization of the critical nature of the situation." Calling on Secretary Cameron, Gen. Aiken was received very much in the same manner. A friend in one of the Departments "advised very strongly against a return by the same route, _as my arrival was known_, and the general nature of my business suspected by rebel spies, with whom the city abounded, and in some quarters least suspected. "How the knowledge of my affairs could have been gained has always been a mystery, for I had realized since leaving Philadelphia, that my personal safety depended entirely upon secrecy and prudence. "At 10 A. M. I called on the President, and saw him for the first time in my life. It was an interview I can never forget. No office-seekers were about 'the presence' that day--there was no delay in getting an audience. Mr. Lincoln was alone, seated in his business room up stairs, looking toward Arlington Heights through a widely opened window. Against the casement stood a very long spy-glass, which he had obviously just been using. I gave him all the information I could, from what I had seen and heard during my journey. "He seemed depressed beyond measure, as he asked, slowly, and with great emphasis, 'What _is_ the North about? Do they know our condition?' I said, 'No, they certainly did not when I left.' This was true enough. "He spoke of the non-arrival of the troops under Gen. Butler, and of having had no intelligence from them for two or three days. * * *