Chapter 5 Summary

The days at the mill wear on and the Baudelaires learn how to work in a lumbermill. After the arduous debarking is completed, the logs must then be sliced into boards. Once this is finished, a string-tying machine is started and the boards are bundled up and tied into groups.

One thing missing from their lives is the inevitable appearance of Count Olaf. For some reason, days have worn by without a single sighting. Violet, Klaus and Sunny begin to think that maybe this time they were able to elude him. They begin to rationalize that even though their work is hard, it is much better than having to fend off Count Olaf's evil plots.

After their lunch break, on one of the string tying days, Violet, Klaus and Sunny get up to go back to work. Klaus's progress is halted as Foreman...