I have always observed, that what is proposed as a little dance invariably ends in a great one; for from the time of proposing till the cards are about, it increases like a snowball; but that arises, perhaps, from the extreme difficulty of knowing when to draw the line between friends and acquaintances. I have also observed that when your wife and daughters intend such a thing, they always obtain permission for the ball first, and then tack on the supper afterwards; commencing with a mere stand-up affair,--sandwiches, cakes, and refreshments,--and ending with a regular sit-down affair, with Gunter presiding over all. The music from two fiddles and a piano also swells into Collinet's band, verifying the old adage, "In for a penny, in for a pound." But to all this I gave my consent; I could afford it well, and I liked to please my wife and daughters. The ball was given, and this house-warming ended in house-breaking; for just before the supper-quadrille, as it was termed, when about twenty-four young ladies and gentlemen were going the grand ronde, a loud noise below, with exclamations and shrieks, was heard, and soon afterwards the whole staircase was smothered with dust. "What _is_ the matter?" cried my wife, who had passed to the landing-place on the stairs before me. "Ma'am," said one of Mr Gunter's men, shaking the lappets of his blue coat, which were covered with white dust, "the whole ceiling of the dining-room has come down!" "Ceiling come down!" screamed my wife. "Yes, ma'am," replied our own servant; "and the supper and supper-tables are all smashed flat with the weight on it." Here was a catastrophe. My wife hastened down, and I followed. Sure enough the weight of mortar had crushed all beneath it--all was chaos and confusion. Jellies, blancmanges, pates, cold roasts, creams, trifles,--all in one mass of ruin, mixed up with lime, horse-hair, plaster of Paris, and stucco. It wore all the appearance of a Swiss avalanche in miniature. "Good heavens, how dreadful!" exclaimed my wife. "How much more so if there had been people in the room," replied I. "What could be the cause of it!" exclaimed my wife. "These new houses, sir, won't bear dancing in," observed Mr Gunter's head man. "So it appears," replied I. This unfortunate accident was the occasion of the party breaking up: they knew that there was no chance of supper, which they had looked forward to; so they put on their shawls and departed, leaving us to clear up the wreck at our leisure. In fact, as my daughters declared, it quite spoiled the ball as well as the supper. The next morning I sent for Mr Smithers, who made his appearance, and showed him what had taken place. "Dear me, I'm very sorry; but you had too many people above stairs--that is very clear." "Very clear, indeed, Mr Smithers. We had a ball last night." "A ball, sir! Oh, then no wonder." "No wonder! What! do you mean to say that balls are not to be given?"