Description 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 Peerybingle's 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 Edward, who travelled to South America and is thought to be dead.
