The three children in this story are left at home alone one evening when their parents have to attend a funeral. They are warned to not let any strangers into the house but they forget to put the latch on the door and a rather scary vagabond turn up and lets himself in. There is an authentic air of menace about this tramp, which initially frightens the three children in the story and children in the audience find exciting, although in the end he turns out to be merely eccentric in a way that all children find irresistible..