Later Jem told me to try not to annoy Aunty. I got so mad because he was trying to tell me what to do again. But Jem explained that we shouldn’t do anything that would upset Atticus because he’s got a lot on his mind. He’s worried about the Tom Robinson case. Jem said, “Now I mean it , Scout, you bother Aunty and I’ll – I’ll spank you.”
“ I’ll kill you!” I yelled. I was so mad that he was treating me like a little kid. We got in a fight and were punching and kicking. Finally Atticus came in and broke up the fight.
Later that night I stepped on something near my bed and thought it was a snake. I went to get Jem to check. When he looked under there, he found DILL!!! He was dirty and hungry. He told this ridiculous story about how he had escaped some monsters to get to us.
Jem knew he was lying and so Dill finally said that really he had taken from his mother’s purse and took a train from Meridian to somewhere near Maycomb. He had walked ten or eleven miles toward Maycomb and then rode the rest of the way, clinging to the back of a wagon. Jem said that Dill’s folks and aunt would be worried about him, so they should tell Atticus.
