Tim Johnson is the rabid dog who strolls down the main
street of Maycomb in one of To Kill a Mockingbird's most memorable
moments (in Chapter 10). Calpurnia alerts the neighbors and Eula
May, the town's telephone operator, and soon both Atticus and Sheriff Heck Tate arrive.
Since both Atticus and Tate show up in a "black Ford"--Atticus drives a Chevy--we can
assume that the sheriff deliberately picked up Atticus on his way there. Tate is aware
of the secret that Atticus has withheld from his children--that he was the best marksman
in the county as a youth--and the sheriff probably decided to have a better shot handy,
if necessary. Atticus probably does not recognize Tate's motives, since he does not want
to take the shot. But Tate insists, and he
... handed the rifle to Atticus. Jem and I nearly
fainted.
Tate, who "can't
shoot that well and you know it!", merely recognizes that Atticus,
who
"... if he
shot fifteen times and hit fourteen doves he'd complain about wasting
ammunition..."
was the better
choice to kill the dog. Had Atticus not been present, Sheriff Tate would no doubt have
killed Tim Johnson himself.
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