- Billy wakes up early on the day he's going to be shipped to Dresden.
- In the hospital beds next to him, Edgar Derby and Paul Lazzaro are sleeping.
- Billy wakes up because he feels a sudden animal magnetism.
- This animal magnetism seems to be coming from behind Billy's bed.
- Billy finds its source: his bizarre, fur-collared little coat.
- The coat has two little lumps in the lining that seem to be the source of this animal magnetism.
- Something tells Billy to leave these lumps alone. As long as he does not attempt to figure out what the lumps are, they will bring him good luck.