began to patter down and splash upon the floor. Then there came a
resounding thump upstairs, just above them, and fragments of wet
plaster fell.

"The roof must be leaking," said Marjorie, beginning to be
alarmed.

"Couldn't be the roof," said Penrod. "Besides there ain't any
rain outdoors."

As he spoke, a second slender stream of water began to patter
upon the floor of the hall outside the door.

"Good gracious!" Marjorie cried, while the ceiling above them
shook as with earthquake--or as with boys in numbers jumping, and
a great uproar burst forth overhead.

"I believe the house IS falling down, Penrod!" she quavered.

"Well, they'll blame ME for it!" he said. "Anyways, we better get
out o' here. I guess sumpthing must be the matter."

His guess was accurate, so far as it went. The dance-music had
swung into "Home Sweet Home" some time before, the children were
preparing to leave, and Master Chitten had been the first boy to
ascend to the gentlemen's dressing-room for his cap, overcoat
and shoes, his motive being to avoid by departure any difficulty
in case his earlier activities should cause him to be suspected
by the other boys. But in the doorway he halted, aghast.