meets and joins the local gang, the Black Hands, led by a twelve-year-old named Henry Oates. Though they consider him too young to join and accuse him of spying, Jim begs to be accepted. The next Saturday, as a hailstorm begins, Jim follows a dog into a drain pipe around a wharf's barge-loading area for shelter. Once the pipe is loaded on the barge Jim climbs aboard, hides in the pipe and is carried down the river to the seaport Salthaven. He is still in the pipe when it is loaded directly from the barge into a waiting ship. A man on the ship angrily returns him to the land, and the surrounding dock workers help him to get home. John, the younger twin, is a car fan and regularly visits Otwell Castle's car park. A wealthy couple called the Lawrences arrive at the castle, and allow him to "mind" their car. The same hailstorm which sends Jim into the pipe on the wharf for shelter catches John, and he climbs into the car for shelter. When the Lawrences return, they drive away without checking the back seat, and John does not awaken until they have driven some miles. Instead of turning around and taking him home, they invite him to their son's birthday party, and send a telegram to John's family to let them know that he is safe. William, the youngest Ruggles child, is entered in the Annual Baby Show, but the family is concerned as he is a late teether. He wins his age category (6–12 months) but an older competitor wins the Grand Challenge Cup as William has no teeth. The Ruggles return home only to find that William now has a tooth. Jo Ruggles junior, the fifth child, a Mickey Mouse fan, enjoys watching cartoons at the cinema. On Saturday morning he sneaks inside the empty building and hides in the orchestra pit to see the first colour Mickey Mouse film, where he soon falls asleep; several hours later, several cinema musicians find him. Jo explains why he sneaked in, and the men give him sixpence for the show, and a warning not to do it again. Mr Ruggles receives a reward of £2 for returning some lost money, which he uses to take his family to the Cart Horse Parade in London's Regent's Park, where Mr Ruggles' brother has entered his horse in the