"Why did Bumbus leave so suddenly?" asked Drone, waking up. "Let Bumbus look out for himself," said Nickel Plate, ignoring the question; "what I want now is my plating." "Ace of Spades," called the Coal Man, "bring out the nickel-plating furnace." Ace of Spades and his helper rolled a great portable furnace, glowing red with heat, into the middle of the floor. "Step in, please," said the Coal Man, and Nickel Plate opened the door and walked in. "Please hurry up with that two dollars in nickels, Alchemist," said the Coal Man. "I don't seem to find any nickels," called back the Alchemist; "I suppose a two-dollar bill won't do?" "You know it won't," said Nickel Plate. "You got up the formula yourself--and please hurry, it's getting warm in here." "That's true," said the Alchemist, hurrying up with a handful of nickels; "Ace of Spades had forgotten what we wanted them for." "I didn't say anything about it," said Ace, sulkily. "That's just the trouble with you absent-minded people," said the Alchemist, pouring the nickels into the top of the furnace, "if you had spoken about it I should have known you were wrong, and saved all this time." Quickly the nickels melted and down poured the plating onto Nickel Plate. And in a jiffy out he stepped as bright and shiny as a new coin. "Ha-ha!" he cried, patting himself on the chest, "I feel brighter already--_now_ I'll find Billy Bounce and Honey Girl without a bit of trouble." And much to Billy's dismay he walked straight over to the vault in which he was hid. But instead of looking in as Billy expected, he leaned against the grating and putting his hands in his pockets looked about him complacently. The Coal Man too was worried by this move, and did all he could to distract his attention and call him away from the door. "Come here, quick!" cried he. "Can't do it--I'm Nickel Plate, not quick-silver--besides I want to cool off." "How can I rust his new suit," said Billy to himself. "If I can do that without his knowing it he will be as badly off as ever." And looking down at the floor to think, he saw a large piece of sulphur that had been blown in when the explosion occurred. "Sulphur tarnishes the silverware at home," he thought, "I wonder if it would affect nickel plating." He softly picked it up and made a mark on Nickel Plate's back. Sure enough it made a long black streak. "Good," he exclaimed under his breath. "If I put a lot of black marks on his back it will not only destroy his power, but everyone who sees them will know that he is a villain. I know that black marks were what teachers used to give us to show that our deportment wasn't good," and in a jiffy Billy had covered Nickel Plate's back with black marks.