To Kill a Mockingbird Chapter 15 Summary

It's arranged that Dill can stay in Maycomb for the summer.
After an uneventful week, one evening Mr. Heck Tate knocks on the front door of the Finch house.
Jem invites him in, but there's some men in the yard who want Atticus to come out.
Atticus goes outside, while Jem, Dill, and Scout peer through the windows, to Aunt Alexandra's dismay.
The bits of the conversation Scout can hear are about Tom Robinson: Tate doesn't want to keep him in the town jail the night before the trial starts.
Mr. Link Deas says that Atticus has everything to lose from this case, and Atticus answers, “Do you really think so?” (16.21), which Scout recognizes as his “dangerous question” (16.22), meaning that he's not going to take being messed with.
Atticus says that whatever happens to Tom, he's going to make sure that the truth gets told.
When Atticus steps back to the front porch, the men move forward ominously.
Jem breaks the tension by shouting out that the telephone's ringing, and Atticus tells him to answer it, causing the men – whom Scout now recognizes as people she sees every day – to go off laughing.
Jem asks if that was a gang, but Atticus says that those were their friends.
Jem mentions the Ku Klux Klan, but Atticus says that they're gone and will never come back.
Scout walks Dill home, and returns to find Atticus and Alexandra in the midst of another polite quarrel.
Scout finds Jem in his room and asks him what's been going on.
Jem says that Alexandra's been after Atticus about Tom Robinson, and that he (Jem) is afraid something is going to happen to Atticus, but he won't answer any of Scout's questions.
The next day is Sunday, and Scout seems some men at church who don't usually attend, including Mr. Heck Tate and Mr. Underwood, the editor of The Maycomb Tribune.
Atticus tells Scout that Tom Robinson has arrived at the Maycomb jail, and that they should have kept him there in the first place.
After church the Finches head back home for a quiet afternoon.
The evening, however, is marked by a strange event: Atticus comes into the living room with a light bulb and an extension cord. He says that he's going out for a while and won't be back till after the kids are in bed.
Strange event #2: Atticus takes the car to go wherever he's going, instead of walking like he usually does.
After bedtime Scout finds Jem getting dressed to go downtown, and Scout insists on going with him and bringing Dill.
Once they reach the town square, the kids see Atticus's car outside the bank building where his office is, but his light isn't on, so they keep looking for him.
Finally they see him in front of the jail – a fantastical structure which some people say looks like a Victorian bathroom – reading by the light of the light bulb he went off with.
Suddenly four cars drive up to the jail, but no one gets out.
Atticus puts down his newspaper, and Scout thinks that he seems to be expecting these visitors.
The kids hide in a nearby doorway where they can see and hear what's going on without being seen themselves.
One man tells Atticus to move away from the door and let them through, but Atticus tells them to go home and that Heck Tate's nearby.
Another man says that they decoyed Tate out into the woods, and he's not coming back any time soon.
Atticus says that that changes things, the other man says it does, and Atticus replies once more with "Do you really think so?” (15.89).
At these words, which she thinks are a signal that something exciting is about to go down, Scout breaks free of the boys and runs out to Atticus.
For a moment Atticus looks afraid when he sees Scout, and then again when he sees Jem and Dill.
Scout looks around and is embarrassed that she doesn't know these men – they're not the same ones as last night.
Atticus tells Jem to take Scout and Dill home.
Jem refuses, and father and son face off.
One of the men grabs Jem, and Scout kicks him in the nuts, making him back off.
One of the strangers tells Atticus to get rid of the kids, and Atticus pleads with Jem to leave, but Jem isn't budging an inch.
Scout scans the men for a familiar face, and finally recognizes Mr. Cunningham.
Scout says hi to Mr. Cunningham and asks him about his entailment, but he doesn't answer.
Nevertheless, Scout keeps talking to Mr. Cunningham, and tells him that she goes to school with Walter, and to say hi to him for her.
Scout prattles on about Mr. Cunningham's entailment, remembering past advice from Atticus that it's polite to talk about what other people are interested in, until finally the silence she's met with starts to get to her.
But then Mr. Cunningham squats down and tells Scout that he's give Walter her message, and then tells the other men that they're going to leave, which they do.
Scout asks Atticus if they can go home now, and Atticus nods.
A voice comes from above: Tom Robinson is asking if the men have gone.
Atticus tells him yes.
From across the square, another voice: Mr. Underwood has been playing sniper backup from The Maycomb Tribune office, where he also lives.
Atticus and Mr. Underwood talk for a while, and then Atticus and the kids take Atticus's stuff to his car to go home.
Scout thinks Jem is going to get royally chewed out for following Atticus into town, but she sees her father massaging Jem's hair in affection instead.

Chapter 16

Chapter 14