In which Mr Brass, with his customary officiousness and keen eye for potential gain, takes keen interest in the affairs of his new lodger, whose protracted slumber causes considerable consternation in the Brass household. Mr Swiveller, caught between dutiful clerkship and the whims of this queer occupant, witnesses an extraordinary breakfast ritual and becomes privy to the lodger’s eccentric hopes for peace and privacy amidst the humours of his peculiar domestic sphere.