Billy's heart sank way, way down into his boots.
"You have captured Honey Girl?" he asked in a trembling voice.
"Yes, even now she languishes in a donjon cell, ha-ha. To-morrow she goes to work in the factory, while Glucose takes her place in the Queen Bee Palace."
"You villain," cried Billy.
"Thank you, thank you most kindly, me boy, not only a villain, but a polished villain."
"She won't stay there long after I have seen Bogie Man."
Nickel Plate snapped his fingers in Billy's face. "That for you, I do not fear your threats, I have you in me power now."
"That for you," cried all the Aztecs and the Gillies, snapping their fingers and treading on Billy's toes, just to show that they didn't fear him.
"The note—the note, or I shall strike you to the gr-r-ound," cried Nickel Plate, and raising his cane he stepped back to strike. But it was a fatal step, for he stumbled over Big Gillie and fell flat on his back. In falling he let go of Billy's collar, and you may be sure Billy didn't waste any time in jumping up and away.