"
Silas had still two other prisoners under his care, and he let them
go outside as usual to enjoy the fresh air. They had both been
committed for murder, but their crime was reckoned a respectable one
compared to the mean one of horse stealing, so Silas gave them
honourable treatment.
One of the prisoners was a widow lady who had killed another lady
with an axe, at a hut near the canal on the road to Lockport. She
seemed crazy, and when outside the gaol walked here and there in a
helpless kind of way, muttering to herself; but sometimes an idea
seemed to strike her that she had something to do Lockport way, and
she started in that direction, forgetting very likely that she had
done it already; but whenever Silas called her back, she returned
without giving any trouble. One day, however, when Silas was asleep
she went clean out of sight, and I did not see her any more. The
Sheriff was still absent among the Bluenoses.
The fourth prisoner was an Englishman named Wilkins who owned a farm
on the prairie, in the direction of Bourbonnais' Grove. A few weeks
before, returning home from Joliet with his waggon and team of
horses, he halted for a short time at a distillery, situated at the
foot of the low bluff which bounded the bottom, through which ran the
Aux Plaines River. It was a place at which the farmers often called
to discuss politics, the prices of produce, and other matters, and
also, if so disposed, to take in a supply of liquor.
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