"Sir," said Billy, "I understood the last part of your sentence, but I don't think I heard the first part very well."
"A little sulphur—now I wonder if I'd better put any safety-matches in it this time—what do you think, boy?" And he looked at Billy as if he were a thousand miles off.
"I don't know, sir."
"Then why do you presume to offer advice? So you don't think safety-matches a safe thing to put in it? Neither do I."
"But I said I didn't know," said Billy.
"True, you did; I had forgotten. If that's the case, I'd better use sulphur-matches."
"Are you the Alchemist?"
"Let's see, am I? I've really forgotten. Ace of Spades," calling to the blackest stoker of them all, "come here."
"Yes, sir," said Ace, running up to them.
"Well, what do you want?" asked the old man, looking at Ace in surprise.