Sending telegrams was formerly a very fast method of communication. Using telegraph offices in stores, people paid clerks to type and transmit their messages. In the Cage is concerned with one such office, located in London; the its protagonist is a young woman who sends telegrams, working within a "cage" or enclosure. As she sees people coming and going, all far wealthier than she is, she speculates about their lives. Reading the messages that they send, she also gains some understanding of their affairs-but not, as it turns out, as much as she imagines. This young woman, who remains an unnamed protagonist, has become engaged to a former coworker, Mr. Mudge; he has gotten a promotion and transfer, and he is encouraging her to move and marry him so they can begin their life together. She cannot muster much enthusiasm, however; Mudge seems very dull to her and she is not eager to leave the city.