In Chapter 4 of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout is the first to find something in the knothole of an oak tree on the Radley lot. After that, walking home together, Scout and Jem jointly find another item in the knothole.
Walking home from school by herself soon before the start of summer, Scout sees some tinfoil shining in the knothole. When she goes to investigate, she discovers "two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers" and crams them in her mouth as quickly as possible. When she tells Jem about her discovery, he is aghast that she chewed the gum and reminds her, "Don't you know you're not supposed to even touch the trees over there? You'll get killed if you do!" (Ch. 4). Though Scout disagrees that there is any danger in her chewing the gum, she eventually obediently gargles for Jem.
Later, while walking home together on the last day of school, Scout and Jem both simultaneously see some more tinfoil shining in the knothole of the oak tree, as we can tell when Jem says, "I see it, Scout! I see it—" (Ch. 4). Disregarding his own advice, "Jem looked around, reached up, and gingerly pocketed a tiny shiny package." Once the children get home, they find they are holding a small jewelry box wrapped in "chewing-gum wrappers." Inside of the box are two very polished pennies dated 1906. Jem realizes they are somebody's treasures and must have been stored in the tree for safekeeping. He plans to hold on to them until they can find out who they belong to once school starts up again.
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