Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire go by train to Paltryville to meet their new guardian at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill. When they arrive there, they find that it's a very boring place and that rather than being cared for by their new guardian, Sir, they must work in his sawmill with his mistraught and underpayed employees. After breaking his glasses, Klaus is sent to the optometrist (eye doctor) Dr. Orwell. He becomes hypnotized by Dr. Orwell, and causes an “accident.” Sir therefore threatens that if they cause any more accidents they will be sent to live with Shirley, who is really Count Olaf in disguise. Olaf’s plans fail, because Violet learns the word that undoes Klaus’s hypnosis. In the end, the Baudelaire orphans must go to the boarding school Prufrock Prep.