In which a weary traveller named Barbox Brothers, having abandoned a life of oppressive routine and shadowed memories, arrives at Mugby Junction and begins to acquaint himself with the bewildering tangle of railway lines and the curious characters thereabout. Amidst the bustle and confusion of the Junction, he discovers a quaint domestic scene where sweet children sing under the watchful guidance of a mysterious young woman named Phœbe, and he slowly settles into the rhythm of this new, strange place.