It took a brave man to stand up to four car loads of men
bent on a lynching, but that's what Atticus did that night at the jail. Although he must
have expected Sheriff Tate to eventually appear, he soon found out from the men that the
sheriff had been sent on "a snipe hunt." Atticus realized then that he was on his own,
but even then, he seemed to be in control of the situation. Atticus told the men that
Tom was asleep and not to wake him, so the mob obeyed, speaking in whispers until the
arrival of the children. It took the appearance of Jem, Scout and Dill to calm the men,
who probably would not have allowed Atticus to talk them out of their murderous
intentions.
Dill announced that they were all heroes the
next morning.
"It's all over town... how we held off a hundred
folks with our bare
hands."
But perhaps the best
quotation of the courage displayed came from the always humble Atticus
himself.
Jem spoke. "(Mr. Cunningham would
have) killed you last night when he first went there."
"He might have
hurt me a little," Atticus conceded, "but, son, you'll understand folks a little better
when you're older. A mob's always made up of people, no matter what... Every mob in
every little Southern town is always made up of people you know--doesn't say much for
them, does it?"
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