Peter is settling in to the new house in Princeton—a very old house with fireplaces in every room, creaky wooden floors, and crooked windows. Peter’s parents find the house charming, but Peter finds it distasteful. He feels the same way about the neighborhood, which he describes as “a lot like [his] house” (52). Fudge is as obnoxious as ever, but the silver lining is that Peter meets a new friend named Alex. The two of them dig up worms and sell them to a lady down the street for five cents apiece. Alex is a laid back and fun-loving kid; he remarks how dramatic Peter’s family is when Peter’s mom gets angry at the sight of a worm in Fudge’s hand. The boys bond over their worm enterprise and the funny ideas they get about what the lady does with them.

Peter is still adjusting to his new life in Princeton and is having trouble falling asleep at night because “it was too quiet in Prince and [he] missed the sounds of the city” (64). He breaks a promise he made with Jimmy not to use his Crystal until he moved back, but it helps him fall asleep.