Yet, before he was taken from the station, he suddenly aroused from his half-unconscious state, and turning to one of his friends he said, with his old, self-forgetting thoughtfulness,-- "Rockwell, I want you to send a message to my wife. Tell her I am seriously hurt; how seriously I cannot yet say. I am myself, and hope she will come to me soon. I send my love to her." CHAPTER XXIX. At the White House.--The Anxious Throngs.--Examination of the Wounds.--The President's Questions.--His Willingness to Die.--Waiting for his Wife.--Sudden Relapse.--A Glimmer of Hope.--A Sunday of Doubt.--Independence Day.--Remarks of George William Curtis. The members of the Cabinet and a number of the President's personal friends were at the White House, when the ambulance containing the wounded man drove slowly up the avenue. When he saw them on the porch, he raised his right hand, and with one of his old, bright smiles, gave the military salute. But for the extreme pallor of his face, no one would have guessed the intense pain he was suffering, as he was borne upstairs to his own room in the southeast corner. An excited crowd had already gathered about the White House, but troops had been ordered from the Washington Arsenal, and armed sentinels kept a vigilant guard about the executive Mansion. When Dr. Bliss and the other physicians in attendance examined the wounds, they found the first shot had passed through the arm just below the shoulder, without breaking any bones. The other ball had entered the back just over the hips, but what direction it had taken, of where it had lodged, could not be determined with any degree of certainty. The physicians held a short consultation, and agreed to search for the ball as soon as the President's condition would permit. The wounded man first complained of pain in his feet and legs, and for a long time the "tiger clawing," as he called it, seemed harder to bear than anything else. It is easy to understand now, how seriously the spinal cord and the whole nervous system must have been affected by that first fearful fracture of the vertebrae. As the shock began to pass off, the President turned to Secretary Blaine, who was sitting beside him, and said,-- "What motive do you think that man could have had in trying to assassinate me?" "Indeed, I cannot tell. He says he had no motive." "Perhaps," said Garfield, with a smile, "he thought it would be a glorious thing to be a pirate king." Turning to Dr. Bliss, he said,-- "I want to know my true condition. Do not conceal anything from me; remember, I am not afraid to die." The President's condition was extremely critical at that time, as there were indications of internal hemorrhage, and the doctor frankly told him that he feared he could live but a few hours. "God's will be done," he replied; "I am ready to go if my time has come."