My memory was revived as I saw Mrs. Radley occasionally opening the front door, walking to the edge of the porch, and pouring water on her reeds. But every day Jem and I saw Mr. Radley going to and from town. He was a thin, leathery man, with colorless eyes, so colorless that they did not reflect light. His cheekbones were sharp and his mouth was wide, with a thin upper lip and a full lower lip. Miss Stephanie Crawford said he was so righteous that he took God's word as his only law, and we believed her, because Mr. Radley's posture was straight as a spindle. He never spoke to us. When he passed we would look at the ground and say, "Good morning, sir," and he would cough in response. Mr. Radley's eldest son lived in Pensacola; he came home at Christmas and was one of the few people we ever saw in or out of that place. From the day Mr. Radley brought Arthur home, people said the house was dead. But the day came when Atticus told us he would wear us out if we made any noise in the yard, and charged Calpurnia to serve in his absence if she heard a sound outside us. Mr. Radley was dying. He took all the time he needed. Wooden trestles blocked the road at each end of the Radley lot, straw was placed on the sidewalk and traffic was diverted onto the secondary road. Dr. Reynolds parked his car in front of our house and walked to the Radleys whenever he called. Jem and I crawled around the yard for days. Finally the easels were taken away, and we watched from the porch as Mr. Radley made his final journey past our house. courtyard. We looked at her in surprise, because Calpurnia rarely commented on the ways of white people. The neighborhood thought ... middle of paper ... guest against two Tom Swifts that Jem would not go beyond the Radley door. In his entire life, Jem had never turned down a challenge. Jem thought about it for three days. I suppose he loved his honor more than his head, for Dill wore him down easily: "You're afraid," Dill said on the first day. “I'm not afraid, I'm just respectful,” Jem said. The next day Dill said, "You're too scared to even put your toe in the yard." Jem said he didn't think so, he had passed Radley Place every school day of his life. "Always in a rush," I said. But Dill got it on the third day, when he told Jem that the people of Meridian certainly weren't as scared as the people of Maycomb, that he had never seen people as scary as the people of Maycomb. This was enough to march Jem to the corner, where he stopped and leaned against the light pole, watching the gate. hanging madly on its homemade hinge.