The orphans aren’t old enough to remember Stone-in-the-Glen before the Library burned, and since they are rarely permitted to wander outside, they spend much of their time thinking about the town’s problems. Anthea, the eldest, believes the town was once the loveliest town in the world because she has pictures of how it used to look, while Bartleby, the second oldest, wonders how the town became unlovely. Neither believes the Ogress caused the town to lose its loveliness. Two twins think the town has never been lovely, and the youngest orphans feel it’s unfair that they can’t go beyond the Orphan House’s fence to play.

Cass, Bartleby’s sister and third oldest, doesn’t speak much, and she doesn’t care whether the town was ever lovely or not. While Anthea believes in logic and Bartleby philosophizes, Cass lives in the moment, believing all that matters is that the Orphan House is a good place. Its people are good people who look out for one another, and it will always be this way. The chapter ends with the stone proclaiming, "Cass was right. Until she wasn’t” (28).