Summary

In Chapter 8, Jonathan becomes angry and orders Lewis to stay away from the Hanchett house. He says Lewis does not need to know everything in an angry voice. Jonathan immediately calms down and apologizes, saying the woman's name is Mrs. O'Meagher, and that other people who have met her describe her as “kind of crabby” (Location 1129) and again warns Lewis to stay away from the house. In the middle of the night, the doorbell rings. Jonathan is a sound sleeper and does not get up, even when the bell rings again. Lewis opens the door to find his Aunt Mattie, “as she had been the last time he had seen her alive” (Location 1148). His Aunt Mattie is now dead, though Lewis imagines he catches the scene of kerosene, which he always associated with Aunt Mattie. She asks if he is happy to see...