In good condition 

THERE WAS NOT DOUBT at all, the Conway family decided, that that new owner of the Charnworth estate was going to be a thorough nuisance. Their father had been agent to Lord Charnworth for eight years and he had regarded them as part of the family, letting them ride over the whole place as if it had been their own. But with Mr. Smithson, the new owner, things were not going to be the same. The estate was going to be run on strictly business lines and there was not going to be any question of children getting in the way or breaking down fences or gates.

However the five Conways - plus their new friend Nick - manage to have an extremely adventurous beginning to the Christmas holidays. Their father had told Douglas on his first meeting back from school: 'A lot may depend on your behaviour these holidays'. As things turned out, a lot did depend on it!