To Kill a Mockingbird questions from chapter 15

Question

1. Why does Jem scream when the phone rings?

2. Why do the men ask if Tom Robinson is in jail?

If you can, please write what page you got the answer from.

Thank you!

Answer 1

1. Put simply, Jem is afraid for Atticus when he sees the men surrounding him, and shouting that the phone is ringing is meant to be a way of breaking some of the tension with the crowd and thus ending the conversation.
2. The men wanted to move Tom Robinson to their own jail, the night before the trial. (they were intoxicated so if they had succeeded then Tom may have been physically assaulted or even killed).