John Peerybingle a carrier lives with his young wife Dot their baby boy and their nanny Tilly Slowboy A cricket chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family One day a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingles house for a few days
The life of the Peerybingles intersects with that of Caleb Plummer a poor toymaker employed by the miser Mr Tackleton Caleb has a blind daughter Bertha and a son E...