Wilkins took his team home, then returned to Joliet and gave himself
into the custody of the squire, Hoosier Smith. At the inquest he was
committed to take his trial for murder, and did not get bail. His
wife left the farm, and with her two little boys lived in an old log
hut near the gaol. She brought with her two cows, which Wilkins
milked each morning as soon as Silas let him out of prison. I could
see him every day from the window of my room, and I often passed by
the hut when he was doing chores, chopping wood, or fetching water,
but I never spoke to him. He did not look happy or sociable, and I
could not think of anything pleasant to say by way of making his
acquaintance. After much observation and thought I came to the
conclusion that Sheriff Cunningham wanted his prisoner to go away; he
would not like to hang the man; the citizens would not take Wilkins
off his hands; if two fools chose to get up a little difficulty and
one was killed, it was their own look-out; and anyway they were only
foreigners. The fact was Wilkins was waiting for someone to purchase
his farm.
The court-house for Will County was within view of the gaol, at the
other side of the street, and one day I went over to look at it. The
judge was hearing a civil case, and I sat down to listen to the
proceedings. A learned counsel was addressing the jury.
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