The narrator of this story was a blind man whose eyes were sensitive to light and darkness. He was on his way to Mussoorie by train. He was alone in the train when a girl boarded towards his compartment.

The girl’s parents bid her goodbye at the station. They were anxious about her well-being and advised her a lot regarding where to keep her belongings, not to lean out of the windows and to avoid talking to strangers.

Once the train left the station, the narrator started a conversation asking if she too was going to Dehradun. The voice startled her as she thought her to be alone in the compartment. She told him that she was going to Saharanpur where her aunt would come to take her home. He informed her that he was going to Mussoorie.

After some more talking, the narrator told her, quite daringly that she had an interesting face. She was happy at this and replied that it was indeed a welcome deviation from the often repeated phrase: "You have a pretty face".

Soon it was time for the girl to bid goodbye as the train arrived at her destination. After her departure, a man entered the compartment and apologized, as a matter of fact, for not being as attractive a travelling companion as his predecessor. When the narrator asked him if the girl had her hair long or short, he replied with interest that he had noticed only her eyes, which were beautiful but of no use, as she was completely blind. It was only now that the narrator realised that the girl, too, was blind.