Something dropped on Tom Cameron’s plate. He glanced up, then down again at the object that had fallen. It was a piece of plaster from the ceiling.
Chess Copley likewise shot a glance ceilingward.
There was a wide gap—and growing wider—on his side of the chandelier. A great piece of the heavy plaster was breaking away from the ceiling, and it hung threateningly over his own and Ruth Fielding’s head.
“Look out, Ruth!” shouted Tom Cameron, jumping to his feet.
CHAPTER II
A RIFT IN HIS LUTE
Tom Cameron, no matter how desirous he might be of saving Ruth from hurt, could not possibly have got around the table in time. With a snarling, ripping noise the heavy patch of plaster tore away from the ceiling and fell directly upon the spot where the chairs of Ruth and Chess Copley had been placed!
The screams of the startled girls almost drowned the noise of the plaster’s fall, but Ruth Fielding did not join in the outcry.