Cast of Characters

Atticus Finch

Scout Finch

Jem Finch

Dill Harris

Sherif Heck Tate

Miss Maudie Atkinson

Mrs. Dubose

Tom robinson

Calpurnia

Judge Taylor

Mayella Ewell

Bob Ewell

Stephanie Crawford

Boo Radley

Gilmer

Walter Cunningham

Mr. Radley

Walter Cunningham, Jr.

Reverend Skyes

Narration (Jean Louise Finch)

FADE IN. EXTERIOR: MAYCOMB, ALABAMA. DAYBREAK.

It is just before dawn, and in the half-light cotton farms, pinewoods, the hills surrounding Maycomb, and the Courthouse Square are seen. A young woman's voice is heard.

Jean Louise (voice over). Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 . . . when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men’s stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning. Ladies bathed before noon and after their three o’clock naps. And by nightfall they were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There’s no hurry, for there’s nowhere to go and nothing to buy . . . and no money to buy it with. Although Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.

(The Finch house and yard are seen. It is a small frame house, built high off the ground and with a porch in the manner of Southern cottages of its day. The yard is a large one, filled with oaks, and it has an air of mystery about it in the early morning light.)

That summer, I was six years old.

(Walter Cunningham, a thin, raw-boned farmer in his late fifties, comes into view. He is carrying a crokersack full of hickory nuts. He passes under the oak tree at the side of the house. Scout, six, dressed in blue jeans, drops from one of its branches to the ground. She brushes herself off and goes toward Mr. Cunningham.) .

Scout. Good morning, Mr. Cunningham.

Cunningham. Mornin’ Miss.

Cunningham. No, Miss . . . I. . . don’t care to bother.

Scout. Why, it’s no bother, Mr. Cunningham. He’ll be happy to see you. Atticus. (Scout hurries up the steps and opens the door.) Atticus, here’s Mr. Cunningham.

(Scout steps back onto the porch as Atticus enters. Walter

Cunningham seems ill at ease and embarrassed.)

Atticus., Good morning, Walter.

Cunningham. Good morning, Mr. Finch. I . . . didn’t want to bother you none. I brung you these hickory nuts as part of my entailment.

Atticus (reaching for the sack of nuts). Well, I thank you. The collards we had last week were delicious.

Cunningham (gesturing, and then turning to leave). Well, good morning.

Atticus. Good morning, Walter.

(Atticus holds the sack of nuts. Scout is on the steps behind him. Scout leans on Atticus' shoulders as they watch Mr. Cunningham leave.)

Scout, I think maybe next time Mr. Cunningham comes, you better not call me.

Scout. Well, I thought you’d want to thank him.

Atticus. Oh, I do. I think it embarrasses him to be thanked.

(Atticus turns and puts the sack on the porch and starts for the

front yard to get the morning papers. Scout follows after him.)

Scout. Why does he bring you all this stuff?

Atticus. He is paying me for some legal work I did for him.

Scout. Why is he paying you like this?

Atticus. That’s the only way he can ... he has no money.

(Atticus comes back to the porch as Scout follows. He picks up the newspaper and reads.)

Scout. Is he poor?

Atticus. Yes.

Scout. Are we poor?

Atticus. We are indeed.

Scout. Are we as poor as the Cunninghams?

Atticus. No, not exacdy. The Cunninghams are country folks, farmers, and the crash hit them the hardest.

(Calpurnia, in her late fifties, appears at the screen door.)

Calpurnia. Scout, call your brother; (She goes back inside.)

Scout. Atticus, Jem is up in the tree. He says he won’t come down until you agree to play football for the Methodists.

(Atticus Walks toward the tree. In a treehouse, high up in the tree, sits Jem. He is ten, with a serious, manly little face. Right now, he is scowling.)

Atticus. Jem . . . Son, why don’t you come on down and have your breakfast? Calpurnia has a good one ... hot biscuits.

Jem. No Sir. Not until you agree to play football for the Methodists.

(Atticus is looking up. at Jem. Scout is swinging in the tire swing.)

Atticus. Oh, no, Son. I can’t do that. I explained to you I’m too old to get out there. After all, I’m the only father you have. You wouldn’t want me to get out there and get my head knocked off, would you?

Jem. I ain’t coming down.

Atticus. Suit yourself.

(Atticus turns and starts for the kitchen door as he reads the newspaper. Jem moves out from behind the covering and watches. Scout starts to go across the street and stops by the tree. Miss Maudie Atkinson, a strong, warm-hearted woman, keenly interested in Atticus and the children, is working on her flowers in her yard across the street)

Maudie. Good morning.

Scout. Good morning, Miss Maudie.

Maudie. What’s going on over there?

Scout. I’m having a terrible time, Miss Maudie.' Jem is staying up in that tree until Atticus agrees to play football for the Methodists, and Atticus says he’s too old.

Jem. Every time I want him to do something . . . he’s too old . .. He’s too old for anything.

Maudie. He can do plenty of things.

Atticus (entering the yard from the house and walking over). You be good, children, and mind Cal. Good morning, Maudie.

Maudie. Good morning, Atticus.

(Church bells ring.)

Jem. He won’t let me have a gun. He’ll only play touch football with me . . . never tackle.

Maudie (glancing in Atticus' direction, then looking at Jem). He can make somebody’s will so airtight you can’t break it. You count your blessings and stop com­plaining . .. both of you.

(Atticus continues on out of the yard. Miss Maudie walks away. Scout climbs up into the tree.)

Scout Jem, he is pretty old.

Jem. I can’t help that.

(He swings down to the lower limb in disgust and looks down into Miss Stephanie Crawford's collard patch next door. A boy, Dill, is sitting among the collards. Sitting down, he is not much higher than the collards. He has a solemn, owlish face, a knowledge and imagination too old for his years. He looks up at Jem.)

Dill (tentatively). Hey ...

Jem. Hey, yourself.

Dill (standing up). I’m Charles Baker Harris. I can read; You got anything needs reading, I can do it.

Jem. How old are you? Four and a half?

Dill. Going on seven.

Jem. Well, no wonder then. Scout’s been reading since she was born and don’t start to school till next month. You look right puny for goin’ on seven.

Dill. I’m little, but I’m old. Folks call me Dill. I’m from ■ Meridian, Mississippi, and I’m spending two weeks next door with my Aunt Stephanie. My mama works for a photographer in Meridian. She entered my picture in the “Beautiful Child Contest” and won five dollars. She gave the money to me and I went to the picture show twenty times with it.

(Scout and Jem climb down from the treehouse. Scout climbs into the tire swing as Jem leans against the tree facing Dill.)

Scout. Our mama’s dead, but we got a daddy. Where’s your daddy?

Dill. I haven’t got one.

Scout. Is he dead?

Dill. No.

Scout. Well ... if he’s not dead, you’ve got one, haven’t you?

(Jem turns to Scout.)

Jem. Hush, Scout.

(Jem motions to her with his head as Scout whispers.)

Scout. What’s happened, what’s up?

(Calpurnia enters with a shirt, and starts to dress Scout.) .

Dill, this is Calpurnia.

Calpurnia. Pleased to know you, Dill.

Dill. Pleased to know you. My daddy owns the L and ' N Railroad. He’s going to let me run the engine all the way to New Orleans.

Calpurnia. 1$ that so?

(Calpurnia exits. Jem turns away. Scout finishes putting on her shirt.)

Dill. He says I can invite . . . anybody . . .

Jem. Shhh!

(Mr. Radley, in his seventies, a regal, austere man, walks by. Scout and Jem see him and become very subdued, as if they were afraid. Their attention leaves Dill, and he senses this and looks at them to see what is happening.)

There goes the meanest man that ever took a breath of life.

Dill. Why is he the meanest man?

Jem. Well, for one thing he has a boy named Boo that he keeps chained to a bed in that house over yonder. (Points to the house.) See, he lives over there.

(Moving shot As they start to move out of the yard, Scout follows behind them. They go down the sidewalk past Miss Stephanie's house, north to the Radley house.)

Boo only comes out at night when we are asleep and it’s pitch-dark. When you wake up at night you can hear him. Once I heard him scratching on our screen door, but he was gone by the time Atticus got there.

(They are standing by a light pole now, staring at the Radley house and yard. The house is low and was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters. But it darkened long ago to the color of the slate-gray yard around it Rain-spotted shingles droop over the eaves of the veranda. Oak trees keep the sun away The remains of a picket fence drunkenly guard the front yard. A "swept" yard that is never swept, where Johnson grass and rabbit tobacco grow in abundance. Dill's eyes have widened. He is becoming truly intrigued.)

Dill. Wonder what he does in there?

Scout. I wonder what he looks like?

Jem. Well, judging from his tracks, he’s about six and a half feet tall. He eats raw squirrels and all the cats he can catch. There’s a long, jagged. scar running all the way across his face. His teeth are yellow and rotten. His eyes are popped. And he drools most of the time.

Dill. Aw, I don’t believe you.

(Miss Stephanie, Dill's aunt, comes up behind them. She is in her late fifties—a spinster and the neighborhood gossip. She comes up without their hearing her. She has a habit of half­shouting when she talks.)

Stephanie. Dill, what are you doing here?

Dili. My Lord, Aunt Stephanie, you almost gave me a heart attack.

Stephanie. Dill, I don’t want you playing around that house over there. There’s a maniac living there and he’s dangerous.

Jem. See? I was just trying to warn him about Boo, and he wouldn’t believe me.

Stephanie. Well, you’d just better believe him, Mr. Dill Harris.

Jem. Tell him about the time Boo tried to kill his papa.

Stephanie. Well, I was standing in my yard one day when his mama come out yelling, “He’s killing us all.” Turned out that Boo was sitting in the living room cutting up the paper for his scrapbook, and . when his daddy come by, he reached over with his scissors, stabbed him in his leg, pulled them out, and went right on cutting the paper.

(Dill's eyes are popping with excitement)

They wanted to send him to an asylum, but his daddy said no Radley was going to any asylum. So they locked him up in the basement of the courthouse till he nearly died of the damp, and his daddy brought him home. And there he is to this day, sittin’ over there with his scissors . . . Lord knows what he’s doin’ or thinkin*

EXTERIOR: FINCH YARD. DAY.

Jem is swinging in the tire swing. In the distance the town dock is heard to strike five.

Jem. Come on, Scout, it’s five o’clock. (Jumps from the swinging tire and starts to run out of the yard.)

Dill. Where you going?

Scout. It’s time to meet Atticus.

(She runs after Jem; Dill follows her.)

(Moving shot. They run down the street)

Dill. Why do you call your daddy, “Atticus”?

Scout. ’Cause Jem does.

Dill. Why does he?

Scout. I don’t know. He just started to when he began talking.

(They run up the street toward town. Jem slows down.)

Jem. Mrs. Dubose is on her porch. (He gestures to Dill.) Listen, no matter what she says to you, don’t answer her back. There’s a Confederate pistol in her lap under her shawl and she’ll kill you quick as look at you. Come on.

(They walk cautiously on and start to pass the Dubose house. It is an old and run-down house. It has steep front steps and a dogtrot hall. Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose sits on the front porch in her wheelchair. Beside her is a Negro girl, Jessie, who takes care other.)

Scout. Hey, Mrs. Dubose.

Mrs. Dubose (snarling at the children). Don’t you say “hey” to me, you ugly girl. You say “good afternoon” to me. You come over here when I’m talking to you.

(Scout Jem, and Dill keep on going. They are made very uncomfortable by her. They see Atticus coming and run toward him.)

Jem. Atticus, this is Dill. He’s Miss Stephanie’s nephew.

Atticus. How do you do, Dili.

Mrs. Dubose. Listen to me when I’m talking to. you. Don’t your daddy teach you to respect old people? You come back here, Jean Louise Finch . . .

Atticus (taking the children and walking over to her porch). Good afternoon, Mrs. Dubose. My, you look like a picture this afternoon.

(The children are trying to hide behind Atticus. They begin to giggle nervously at each other.)

Scout (whispering). He don’t say a picture of what.

Atticus (turning to look at the yard). My goodness gracious, look at your flowers. Did you ever see anything more beautiful? (He gestures with hand holding hat). Mrs. Dubose, the gardens at Bellingrath have nothing to compare with your flowers.

Mrs. Dubose. Oh, I don’t think they’re as nice as last year.

Atticus. Oh, I can’t agree with you.

Jem (whispering). He gets her interested in something nice, and she forgets to be mean.

(The three children are standing behind Atticus. Atticus hits Jem with his hat.)

Atticus. I. think that your yard is going to be the showplace of the town.

(The children giggle.)

Well, grand seeing you, Mrs. Dubose.

(He puts on his hat They start on.)

INTERIOR: SCOUT'S ROOM. NIGHT.

She is undressed and in bed. Atticus is seated on the bed. Scout is reading to him from Robinson Crusoe.

Scout “I had two cats which I brought ashore on my first raft, and I had a dog ...” (Holds the book to her face and looks at Atticus.) Atticus, do you think Boo Radley ever comes and looks in my window at night? Jem says he does. This afternoon when we were over by their house . . .

Atticus (interrupting), Scout, I told you and Jem to leave those poor people alone. I want you to stay away from their house and stop tormenting them.

Scout. Yes Sir.

Atticus (looking at his pocket watch). Well, I think that’s all the reading for tonight, honey... it’s getting late.

(She doses the book and he sits up and takes the book and puts it on the table.)

Scout. What time is it?

Atticus. Eight-thirty.

Scout May I see your watch?

(He gives it to her. She opens the case and reads the inscription.)

“To Atticus, my beloved husband.” Atticus, Jem says this watch is going to belong to him some day.

Atticus. That’s right.

Scout. Why?

Atticus. Well, it’s customary for the boy to have his father’s watch.

Scout. What are you going to give me?

Atticus. Well, I don’t know that I have much else of value that belongs to me. But there’s a pearl necklace . . . and there’s a ring that belonged to your mother . . . and I’ve put them away . . . and they’re to be yours. 1

(Scout stretches her arms and smiles. Attieus kisses her cheek. He takes his watch and gets up. He covers her and puts out the lamp.)

Good night, Scout.

Scout. Good night.

Atticus. Good night, Jem.

Jem (from his room). Good night.

(Atticus goes out.)

INTERIOR: JEM'S ROOM. NIGHT.

. Jem pulls the covers over himself in the darkness.

INTERIOR: SCOUT'S ROOM. NIGHT.

Scout lies in bed, thinking.

Scout. Jem?

Jem (off camera). Yes?

Scout. How old was I when Mama died? Jem (off camera). Two.

Scout And how old were you?

Jem (off camera). Six.

Scout Old as I am now?

Jem (off camera). Uh huh.

Scout. Was Mama pretty?

Jem (off camera). Uh huh.

EXTERIOR: FRONT PORCH. NIGHT.

Atticus is on the front porch. He can hear the children's conversation.

Scout (off camera). Was Mama nice?

Jem (off camera). Uh huh.

Scout (off camera). Did you love her?

Jem (off camera). Yes.

Scout (off camera). Did I love her?

Jem (off camera). Yes.

Scout (off camera). Do you miss her?

Jem (off camera). Uh huh.

(There is silence. Atticus listens to the night sounds. Judge Taylor, seventy-five, comes up on the porch.)

Judge. Evening, Atticus.

Atticus. Evening, Judge.

(The Judge walks over to him and pulls up a chair as he starts to sit)

Rather warm, isn’t it?

Judge. Yes, indeed. (Fans himself with his hat.)

Atticus. How’s Mrs. Taylor?

Judge. She’s fine . . . fine. Thank you. (A pause.) Atticus, you heard about Tom Robinson?

Atticus. Yes Sir.

Judge. Grand jury will get around -to chargin’ him tomorrow. (A pause.) I was thinking about appointing you to take the case. Though I realize you’re very busy these days with your practice. And your children need a great deal of your time.

Atticus. Yes Sir. (Reflects thoughtfully.) I’ll take the case.

Judge. I’ll send a boy for you tomorrow when his hearing comes up. (The Judge rises.) Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Atticus.

Atticus. Yes Sir.

Judge. And thank you.

Atticus. Yes Sir.

(Judge Taylor leaves. Again there is silence. Atticus rocks and

listens to the night sounds.)

EXTERIOR; FINCH PORCH. THE NEXT MORNING.

Jem, Dill, and Scout enter through the door. Dill turns to Jem.

Dill. Hey, Jem, I bet you a “Grey Ghost” against two “Tom Swifts,” you won’t go any farther than Boo Radley’s gate.

Jem. Aw . ..

CThey start down the steps, Jem in the lead.)

Dill. You’re scared to, ain’t you?

Jem. I ain’t scared. I go past Boo Radley’s house nearly every day of my life.

Scout Always running.

(Jem and Dill turn to her. Jem shoves her.)

Jem. You hush up, Scout. (Starts wheeling a rubber tire.) Come on, Dill.

Scout. Me first, me first... me first.

(Jem stops with the tire and turns to Scout.)

Jem. You’ve gotta let Dill go first.

Scout (jumping up and down angrily). No, no, me first. Dill. Oh, let her go.

Jem. Scout, be still. All right, get in.

(Jem takes hold of the tire and Scout gets inside it.)

Hurry up.

Scout. All right.

Jem. You ready?

Scout. Uh huh. Let her go.

(When she is inside, Jem suddenly pushes it with all his might.)

(Moving shot. It leaves the sidewalk, goes across the gravel road to the sidewalk in front of the Radley place, through the gate, up the Radley sidewalk, hits the steps of the porch, and then rolls over on its side. Dill and Jem watch this with helpless terror. Scout, dizzy and nauseated, and unaware of where she is, lies on the ground.)

Jem (yelling frantically). Scout, get away from there. Scout, come on.

(Scout raises her head and sees where she is. She is-frozen ■with terror.)

Scout, don’t just lie there. Get up!

(Jem runs to Scout, seated on the ground in front of the house.)

Let’s go.

(He gets his sister by the hand\ then looks up at the house, drops her hand, runs up the steps to the front door, touches it, comes running down, grabs the tire, takes his sister by the hand, and starts running out of the yard.)

Run for your life, Scout. Come on, Dill!

(Moving shot They run out of the yard, up the sidewalk to their own yard. Dill runs fast behind them. When they get to the safety of their yard, they are all exhausted and fall on the ground. Jem is elated by his feat of touching the Radley house.)

Now who’s a coward? You tell them about this back in Meridian County, Mr. Dill Harris.

(Dill looks at Jem with new respect.)

Dill. I’ll tell you what let’s do. Let’s go down to the courthouse and see that room they locked Boo up in. My aunt says it’s bat-infested, and he almost died from the mildew. Come on. I bet they got chains and instruments of torture down there. Come on!

(Dill runs out of the yard, as Jem and Scout reluctantly follow.)

EXTERIOR: COURTHOUSE SQUARE. DAY.

A group of four idlers sit lounging under some live oak trees. They watch with eagle eyes whatever happens on the fauare and in the courthouse, i

Dill, followed by Scout and Jem, come by them.

• One of the men, Hiram Townsend, recognizes Scout and Jem. He is in his seventies and is dressed in work clothes.

Hiram. Jem Finch?

Jem. Yes Sin

Hiram. If you’re looking for your daddy, he’s inside the courthouse.

, Scout. Thank you, Sir, but we’re not looking for . . .

(Jem gives her a yank and a look and she shuts up, and they go on.)

Jem. Thank you, Mr. Townsend, Sir.

(They go toward the courthouse.)

Dili. What’s your daddy doin’ in the courthouse?

Jem. He’s a lawyer and he has a case. The grand jury is charging his client today. I heard somethin' about it when Judge Taylor came over last night.

Dill. Let’s go watch.

Jem. Oh, no, Dill... He wouldn’t like that. No, Dill

(Dill goes into the courthouse. Scout and Jem seem worried about following but reluctantly decide to.)

INTERIOR: COURTHOUSE HALL.

The three children enter They look around.

Dill. Where’s your daddy?

Jem. He’ll be in the courtroom. Up there.

(.Moving shot. Dill, Scout, and Jem solemnly climb the stairs

to the second floor.)

Dill, wait a minute.

{There is $ small foyer here and a door leading into the

courtroom. They go up to the courtroom door.)

Dill. Is that the courtroom?

Jem. Yeah. Ssh!

Dill (trying to look into the keyhole). I can’t see anything.

Jem. Ssh']

Dill. You lift me up so I can see what’s going on.

Jem. All right. Make a saddle, Scout.

(Jem and Scout make a packsaddle with their arms and Dill climbs up and peers in the glass at the top of the door.)

Dill. Not much is happening. The judge looks like he’s asleep. I see your daddy and a colored man. The colored man looks to me like he’s crying. I wonder what he’s done to cry about?

(Dill gets so absorbed in watching that he stops talking. Scout and Jem begin to feel the strain of holding him up.)

Scout. What’s going on?

Dill. There are a lot of men sitting together on one side and one man is pointing at the colored man and yelling. They’re taking the colored man away.

Jem. Where is Atticus?

Dill. I can’t see your daddy now, either. I wonder where in the world ...

Atticus {coming out of a side door and coming toward them). Scout. Jem. What in the world are you doing here?

(They whirl around, dropping the startled Dill.)

Jem. Hello, Atticus.

Atticus. What are you doing here?

Jem. We came down to find out where Boo Radley was locked up. We wanted to see the bats.

Atticus. I want you all back home right away.

Jem. Yes Sir.

Atticus. Run along, now. I’ll see you there for dinner.

{The three children exit down the steps.)

(Robert E. Lee Ewell, a short, bantam cock of a man, approaches Atticus and blocks his way.)

Mr. Ewell.

Ewell. Cap’n, I. . . I’m real sorry they picked you to defend that nigger that raped my Mayella. I don’t know why I didn’t kill him myself instead of goin’ for the sheriff. That would have saved you and the sheriff and the taxpayers a lot of trouble.

Atticus. Excuse me, Mr. Ewell, I’m very busy.

Ewell. Hey, Cap’n, somebody told me just now that they thought you believed Tom Robinson’s story agin ours. Do you know what I said? I said you’re wrong, man . . . you’re clear wrong. Mr. Finch ain’t takin’ his story agin ours.

(Atticus eyes him impassively.)

Well, they was wrong, wasn’t they?

Atticus. I’ve been appointed to defend Tom Robinson and now that he’s been charged that’s what I intend to do.

Ewell. You’re takin’ his . . .

Atticus. If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Ewell. . .

(Atticus exits as Ewell turns, watching him, astounded.)

Ewell. What kind of a man are you? You got chillun of your own.

EXTERIOR: FINCH PORCH. NIGHT.

Scout and Jem are sitting there. Dill comes running into the yard and over to them.

Dill. Hey, Jem ... Jem.

(Jem goes running toward him. Scout follows. The two boys run toward Miss Stephanie's yard. Scout, Dill, and Jem leap over.the wall separating Miss Stephanie's and Atticus'yards.)

Scout (cautiously). I think we ought to stay right here in Miss Stephanie’s yard.

Jem. You don’t have to come along, Angel May.

(The boys start to go out of Miss Stephanie's yard. Scout follows.)

(Moving shot. They walk down the sidewalk silently. They can hear the porch swings creaking with the weight of the 'neighborhood and the night murmurs of the grown people on the street. They come to the sidewalk in front of the Radley house, and Jem looks at the house. Dill and Scout stand beside him, looking too.)

Scout What are you going to do?

Jem. We’re going to look in the window of the Radley house and see if we can get a look at Boo Radley. Come on, Dill.

Scout Jem, please, I’m scared.

Jem (angrily). Then go home if you’re scared. I sw Scout, you act more like a girl all the time. Dill, come on.

(Jem and Dill start on. Scout watches for a moment, then runs after them.)

Scout Wait for me. I’m coming.

Jem (whispering). Ssh! We’ll go around the back and crawl under the high wire fence at the rear of the Radley lot. I don’t believe we can be seen from there.

(The children go on quietly to the back of the Radley property.)

Come on!

EXTERIOR: THE BACK OF THE RADLEY PROPERTY

The fence encloses a large garden. Jem,

Scout, and Dill come in. Jem holds the bottom wire up and motions Dill to crawl under. He does so. Scout follows. Then Scout holds up the wire for Jem. It is a very tight squeeze for him, but he manages to make it.

Jem (whispering). Come on. Now help me. Don’t make a sound.

(The children cautiously approach the house. Scout is so intimidated by Jem's warning that she moves barely a step a minute; then, when she looks up and sees Jem quite a distance ahead, she begins to move faster. They reach the gate which divides the garden from the backyard. Jem touches it. The gate squeaks.)

Dill (whispering). Spit on it!

(The three spit on the gate hinges until they have no spit left.)

Jem. All right.

(The gate squeaks again.)

Scout Jem.

Jem. Ssh! Spit some more.

{They try to muster up more spit, and then Jem opens the gate slowly, lifting it aside and resting it on the fence.)

All right.

{The backyard is even less inviting thah the front. A ramshackle porch runs the width of the house. There are two doors and two dark windows between the doors. Instead of a column, a rough two-by-four supports one end of the porch. Above it a hat rack catches the moon and shines eerily.)

Come on.

{They cross the yard and go to the back porch. Jem puts his foot on the bottom step; the step squeaks. He stands still, then tries his weight by degrees. The step is silent. Jem skips two steps, puts his foot on the porch, heaves himself to it, and teeters a long moment. He regains his balance and drops onto his knees. He crawls to a window, raises his head,- and looks in. Scout suddenly looks up and sees a shadow. It is the shadow of a man. The back porch is bathed in moonlight, and the shadow moves across the porch toward Jem. Dill sees it next. He puts his hands to his face. The shadow crosses Jem. Jem sees it. He puts his arms over his head and goes rigid. The shadow stops about a foot beyond Jem. Its arms come out from its sides, drop, and are still. Then it turns and moves back across Jem, walks along the porch and off the side of the house, returning as it had come. Jem leaps off the porch and gallops toward Scout and Dill. He pushes Dill and Scout through the gate and the collards.)

Move, move!

(Jem holds the bottom wire of the fence, and Scout and Dill roll through. Jem starts under the fence and is caught. He struggles as the wire holds his pants. Jem looks up, terrified, as he tries to pull free.)

Scout!

' (Scout and Dill run to him.)

Scout!

(Jem is on his hands and knees under the fence. Scout kneels down and tries to free Jem's pants. Scout and Dill remove Jem's pants as he kicks and struggles. Then he rises.)

{Moving shot They run.)

Scout. Quick—over here.

(Jem, Scout, and Dill continue running through the bushes behind their garage. They are frightened and breathing hard. They all fall to their knees and huddle against the garage wall. They look at one another but are unable to speak. Dill cannot get his breath and starts to cough.)

Ssh! Ssh!

(Dill buries his head in his knees. Jem finally gets up and peers around the comer of the garage. Scout watches him.)

Scout {whispering). What are you going to do for pants, Jem?

Jem. I don’t know.

Stephanie (calling off camera). Dill! Dill! You come on . in npw.

{They ail jump. Dill turns to the others, very frightened.)

Dill. I’d better go.

Stephanie (shouting off camera). Dill!

Dill (calling). Coming, Aunt Stephanie. (Whispering to Jem and Scout.) So long. Til see you next summer.

Jem. So long.

Scout. So long.

(Dill runs across the driveway and climbs the fence into Miss Stephanie's yard.)

Stephanie (calling). Dill!

Dill. I’m coming.

Jem. I’m going back after my pants.

Scout. Oh, please, Jem, come on in the house.

Jem. I can’t go in without my pants. (He starts to go.)

Scout. Well, Fm going to call Atticus.

Jem (grabbing her collar and wrenching it tight). No, you’re not. Now listen. Atticus ain’t never whipped me since I can remember, and I plan to keep it that way.

Scout. Then Fm going with you.

Jem. No, you ain’t. You stay right here. I’ll be back . before you can count to ten.

(Scout watches Jem vault over the low fence and disappear in the high bushes. She starts counting.)

Scout. One . . . two . . . three . . . four . . .

Atticus (calling). Jem. Scout. Come on in.

Scout (counting).... five ... six ... seven ... eight... nine .. . ten . . . eleven .. . twelve .. . thirteen ... fourteen...

(There is a sound of a shotgun blast Scout stands there stunned. Suddenly she shuts her eyes and presses her hands over her ears. She looks as if she's about to scream. At that moment Jem bursts through the bushes and jumps the fence, crashing into Scout.)

Jem!

Jem (clapping his hand over her mouth). Ssh! (He begins frantically to pull on his pants.)

(There is the sound of dogs barking.)

EXTERIOR: STREET IN FRONT OF THE RADLEY HOUSE.

Atticus and Miss Maudie are there talking to Mr. Radley, who is holding a shotgun.

They both start up the street toward Miss Stephanie's house. Miss Stephanie comes running off her front porch, pulling on a robe over her nightgown.

Stephanie. What’s going on? What happened? What’s going on? What is it? Atticus, what is it? Will somebody please tell me what’s going on?

Atticus. Mr. Radley shot at a prowler out in his collard patch.

Stephanie. A prowler. Oh, Maudie . . . (Moves to Maudie, who comforts her.)

Maudie. Well, whoever it was won’t be back any time soon. Mr. Radley must have scared them out of their wits.

Atticus. Well, good night.

Stephanie. Good night.

Maudie. Good night, Atticus.

(Atticus goes toward his house, and Maudie and Stephanie go toward Stephanie's house.)

Stephanie. Oh, it scared the living daylights out of me.

(Atticus sees Scout and Jem in the yard.)

Atticus. Come on in the house. The excitement is over. Time for bed. Scout. Jem.

(Scout and Jem look at each other. Then they start for the house. As they climb the steps, Jem looks back over his shoulder toward the Radley house.)