Campbell and come with them to my room that evening (Saturday) or Sunday morning. As Snevel left I at once went to Marshal Murray's office to ascertain if I could get aid in finding the men, if needed, as I suspected that all was not right. The distance to the marshal's office from the Astor House is a walk of from three to five minutes. I did not find Marshal Murray, and returned to the Astor House, and when returning I met Snevel in the street. I spoke to him and he introduced me to Campbell, who was with him. They did not appear at their ease and seemed surprised at meeting me. They promised to find Conover and come with him to my room that evening or early Sunday morning. I then wrote two more notes to Conover at Stations A and F, saying I had a letter from Judge Holt to him asking his aid and assistance. No one appeared till Sunday afternoon and then Campbell called alone. I talked with him and asked questions and he was a good deal embarrassed. He finally asserted, "This is all false; I must make a clean breast of it; I can't stand it any longer." He then made a full disclosure, giving a history of himself, of Senvel and Conover, and others as far as he knew; the deceptions, fraud, and injury and perjury that had been practiced and perpetrated. Campbell informed me, and I afterward found it to be true, that Conover and himself saw the telegram sent Snevel by Judge Holt; that Conover received my notes, and that Conover dictated, wrote out, the note left by Snevel for me Friday; that Conover sent Snevel to my room, told him what to say, &c. I directed Campbell to say to Conover that I wished to have him go to Canada for witnesses, and that I had a letter for him from Judge Holt, &c., and that I wanted to send him at once. Conover finally called Monday noon. He was agitated, uneasy; said he was "busy and could not stop then." He left and promised to call next morning at 10 o'clock. He did not call til 3 p. m. I gave him the letter of Judge Holt. He said he would go to Canada for Mrs. Douglass and Miss Knapp; that they were at Lachine and that Wright was in Montreal; that he would find Wright and send him to Saint Louis for Patten, &c. He figured out the expenses of getting them to Washington at about $400. I told him I would telegraph to the Judiciary Committee for the money, and he was to call on me at 9 o'clock that evening. Previous to this I had ascertained unmistakably that the names of the eight witnesses were all fictitious, and that their names and residences were as follows:

Sanford Conover--his true name is Dunham; lawyer by profession; formerly lived at Croton, then in New York and Brooklyn; a very shrewd, bad, and dangerous man. William Campbell--his true name is Joseph A. Hoare; a gas-fixer by trade; born in the State of New York and never south of Washington. Joseph Snevel--his true name is William H. Roberts, formerly ticket agent on Harlem Railroad, then kept tavern at Yonkers, &c.; was never South. Farnum B. Wright--true name John Waters; is lame in the knee, works in a brickyard near Cold Spring, on Long Island, &c. John H. Patten--true name, Peter Stevens; lives at Nyack, near Piermont, on the North River; is now a justice of the peace there. Sarah Douglass and Miss Knapp--the true name of one is Dunham, who is the wife of Conover; the name of the other is Mrs. Charles Smythe, is the sister or sister-in-law of Conover and lives at Cold Spring, Long Island; her husband is a clerk on Balckwell's Island. McGill--his name is Neally; he is a licensed peddler in New York and sometimes drives a one-horse cart.

Conover agreed to call at or before 9 o'clock Tuesday evening. He sent a card saying he had called and would call again Wednesday morning at 10 o'clock. Campbell, as agreed, left with me Thursday morning for Washington and I directed that if any one called for me