How do the children plan to spend Dill's last night Maycomb in To Kill a Mockingbird?

On Dill's last night in Maycomb, Jem and Dill try to deceive to Scout into believing that they are just going for a walk down the street, but by persisting she gets them to reveal their plan to look into a back window of the Radleys' house.

In order to accomplish this, the boys decide that they must enter through the back yard by going under "the high wire fence" where they are less likely to be discovered. However, they find themselves dodging chicken manure and avoiding the garden of collards before reaching the back porch. There Jem and Scout hold their arms together and lift little Dill onto the porch, but Dill cannot see anything through a curtained window. "Let's try the back window," Dill suggests. This time Jem tries. He puts his foot on the porch, teeters a bit, then drops to his knees and crawls to a window. As he does so, Scout notices a shadow of a man with a hat on. It crosses Jem, who cringes. But the shadow stops, turns, and goes back around the side of the house. The quiet of the night is shattered by the sound of a shotgun blast.

It is a terrified Jem who leaps swiftly from the porch and equally frightened Dill and Scout who follow him toward the fence by the school yard. Once there, Dill and Scout notice that Jem is not with them; they perceive through the darkness that Jem struggles with the fence, kicks off his pants, and runs to the oak tree in his underwear. "We gotta get home, they'll miss us," he whispers. So, they race until they reach their front yard. Looking down the street, they see the neighbors gathered outside. True to her reputation, Miss Stephanie has the full story of Nathan Radley's account of shooting at "a Negro in his collard patch." Then, in response to Miss Stephanie's screeching of Jem's name, Atticus asks his son what has happened to his pants.

Quickly, Dill fabricates a story about how he and Jem were playing strip poker. Hearing the word "poker" sets off Miss Rachel who tells Dill, "I'll strip poker you, sir!" Atticus calms her by saying that he has never known them to play poker. "Were you all playing cards?" he quickly asks. Jem lies to his father: "No sir, just with matches."  His eyes are closed while he says this.

Later, it is because of his having lied that Jem insists upon retrieving his pants; he explains to his sister that he cannot let Atticus know that he has deceived him. He tells Scout that he wants to maintain his relationship with his father and not have him disappointed in him. So, he is willing to risk the danger of getting his pants off that fence despite all of Scout's protests. Defeated in her argument, Scout loyally insists upon accompanying Jem part of the way. She waits anxiously for him, but soon sees his white shirt in the dark. At home, having resumed their positions on the back porch, Scout hears Jem's trembling cot.