The novel begins with the narrator, an unnamed elderly man, going out for a walk at night. The narrator prefers walking at night because there are fewer crowds, making it easier to go wherever he pleases. As he walks, a lost little girl approaches him and asks for directions. He knows the street she mentions and walks her home to a shop full of assorted, curious items, including suits of armor, strange figurines, and other oddities. Upon arrival, he meets her grandfather and learns her name: Nell. As the narrator and Nell’s grandfather discuss her status as an orphan, Nell prepares supper; Kit Nubbles, the grandfather’s errand boy, stops by to join their meal. When Kit leaves, the narrator prepares to leave too. Nell fetches her grandfather’s cane and outerwear, and he leaves with the narrator. Nell stays behind in the shop alone. After parting ways with Nell’s grandfather, the narrator walks up and down the streets, worrying over what could befall Nell if she is left alone. Eventually, he returns to his own house and falls asleep, resolved to put the matter out of his mind.