When they brought the School-teacher into the courthouse, the sheriff, the doctor, the minister, the old trustee who had ridden down out of the mountains in his cart, were already there.
The deputy and Jonas led the Schoolteacher inside the railing. Then they sat down. The School-teacher remained standing.
The hearing before the circuit judge followed the informal custom of these mountain circuits.
The School-teacher made no defense.
He stood before the bench. The early sunlight of the morning, entering through the high windows, fell on his face, on his soft brown hair, on his deep gray-blue eyes, on his clothing covered with the dust of the road.
The judge heard the oral evidence in open court, He inquired into the service of the restraining order, and the prisoner's subsequent disregard of it. But he was not convinced. The prisoner's conduct seemed inconsistent with an intent to resist the State's title to these lands. Moreover, the silence, the calm demeanor, the strange personality of the prisoner, profoundly impressed him. He felt that some ulterior motive lay behind the cover of this accusation.
At this moment a woman appeared at the door of the courthouse and sent in a note to the judge. This note was sealed in an envelope and addressed in a fine hand. The judge opened it at once. When he had read it, he sat for some time looking down at the prisoner. He did not believe in dreams; but the insistence of his wife impressed him.
He turned to the sheriff, and inquired if there was a man in the courtroom who knew anything about the prisoner.
The sheriff indicated the others near him.
“Yes, Your Honor,” he replied, “the minister, the school trustee of that district, and the doctor here, all know about him. He seems to have made himself generally troublesome to the community. I believe the justice of the peace had issued a warrant against him for practicing medicine without a license.”