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diff --git a/103-0.txt b/103-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3c34866 --- /dev/null +++ b/103-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7934 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 103 *** + +[Illustration] + + + + +Around the World in Eighty Days + +by Jules Verne + + +Contents + + CHAPTER I. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND PASSEPARTOUT ACCEPT EACH OTHER, THE ONE AS MASTER, THE OTHER AS MAN + CHAPTER II. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS CONVINCED THAT HE HAS AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL + CHAPTER III. IN WHICH A CONVERSATION TAKES PLACE WHICH SEEMS LIKELY TO COST PHILEAS FOGG DEAR + CHAPTER IV. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG ASTOUNDS PASSEPARTOUT, HIS SERVANT + CHAPTER V. IN WHICH A NEW SPECIES OF FUNDS, UNKNOWN TO THE MONEYED MEN, APPEARS ON ’CHANGE + CHAPTER VI. IN WHICH FIX, THE DETECTIVE, BETRAYS A VERY NATURAL IMPATIENCE + CHAPTER VII. WHICH ONCE MORE DEMONSTRATES THE USELESSNESS OF PASSPORTS AS AIDS TO DETECTIVES + CHAPTER VIII. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT TALKS RATHER MORE, PERHAPS, THAN IS PRUDENT + CHAPTER IX. IN WHICH THE RED SEA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN PROVE PROPITIOUS TO THE DESIGNS OF PHILEAS FOGG + CHAPTER X. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS ONLY TOO GLAD TO GET OFF WITH THE LOSS OF HIS SHOES + CHAPTER XI. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SECURES A CURIOUS MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AT A FABULOUS PRICE + CHAPTER XII. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND HIS COMPANIONS VENTURE ACROSS THE INDIAN FORESTS, AND WHAT ENSUED + CHAPTER XIII. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT RECEIVES A NEW PROOF THAT FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE + CHAPTER XIV. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG DESCENDS THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY OF THE GANGES WITHOUT EVER THINKING OF SEEING IT + CHAPTER XV. IN WHICH THE BAG OF BANKNOTES DISGORGES SOME THOUSANDS OF POUNDS MORE + CHAPTER XVI. IN WHICH FIX DOES NOT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND IN THE LEAST WHAT IS SAID TO HIM + CHAPTER XVII. SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO HONG KONG + CHAPTER XVIII. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG, PASSEPARTOUT, AND FIX GO EACH ABOUT HIS BUSINESS + CHAPTER XIX. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT TAKES A TOO GREAT INTEREST IN HIS MASTER, AND WHAT COMES OF IT + CHAPTER XX. IN WHICH FIX COMES FACE TO FACE WITH PHILEAS FOGG + CHAPTER XXI. IN WHICH THE MASTER OF THE “TANKADERE” RUNS GREAT RISK OF LOSING A REWARD OF TWO HUNDRED POUNDS + CHAPTER XXII. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT FINDS OUT THAT, EVEN AT THE ANTIPODES, IT IS CONVENIENT TO HAVE SOME MONEY IN ONE’S POCKET + CHAPTER XXIII. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT’S NOSE BECOMES OUTRAGEOUSLY LONG + CHAPTER XXIV. DURING WHICH MR. FOGG AND PARTY CROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN + CHAPTER XXV. IN WHICH A SLIGHT GLIMPSE IS HAD OF SAN FRANCISCO + CHAPTER XXVI. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND PARTY TRAVEL BY THE PACIFIC RAILROAD + CHAPTER XXVII. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT UNDERGOES, AT A SPEED OF TWENTY MILES AN HOUR, A COURSE OF MORMON HISTORY + CHAPTER XXVIII. IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT DOES NOT SUCCEED IN MAKING ANYBODY LISTEN TO REASON + CHAPTER XXIX. IN WHICH CERTAIN INCIDENTS ARE NARRATED WHICH ARE ONLY TO BE MET WITH ON AMERICAN RAILROADS + CHAPTER XXX. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SIMPLY DOES HIS DUTY + CHAPTER XXXI. IN WHICH FIX, THE DETECTIVE, CONSIDERABLY FURTHERS THE INTERESTS OF PHILEAS FOGG + CHAPTER XXXII. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG ENGAGES IN A DIRECT STRUGGLE WITH BAD FORTUNE + CHAPTER XXXIII. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SHOWS HIMSELF EQUAL TO THE OCCASION + CHAPTER XXXIV. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AT LAST REACHES LONDON + CHAPTER XXXV. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG DOES NOT HAVE TO REPEAT HIS ORDERS TO PASSEPARTOUT TWICE + CHAPTER XXXVI. IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG’S NAME IS ONCE MORE AT A PREMIUM ON ’CHANGE + CHAPTER XXXVII. IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT PHILEAS FOGG GAINED NOTHING BY HIS TOUR AROUND THE WORLD, UNLESS IT WERE HAPPINESS + + + + +CHAPTER I. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND PASSEPARTOUT ACCEPT EACH OTHER, THE ONE AS +MASTER, THE OTHER AS MAN + + +Mr. Phileas Fogg lived, in 1872, at No. 7, Saville Row, Burlington +Gardens, the house in which Sheridan died in 1814. He was one of the +most noticeable members of the Reform Club, though he seemed always to +avoid attracting attention; an enigmatical personage, about whom little +was known, except that he was a polished man of the world. People said +that he resembled Byron—at least that his head was Byronic; but he was +a bearded, tranquil Byron, who might live on a thousand years without +growing old. + +Certainly an Englishman, it was more doubtful whether Phileas Fogg was +a Londoner. He was never seen on ’Change, nor at the Bank, nor in the +counting-rooms of the “City”; no ships ever came into London docks of +which he was the owner; he had no public employment; he had never been +entered at any of the Inns of Court, either at the Temple, or Lincoln’s +Inn, or Gray’s Inn; nor had his voice ever resounded in the Court of +Chancery, or in the Exchequer, or the Queen’s Bench, or the +Ecclesiastical Courts. He certainly was not a manufacturer; nor was he +a merchant or a gentleman farmer. His name was strange to the +scientific and learned societies, and he never was known to take part +in the sage deliberations of the Royal Institution or the London +Institution, the Artisan’s Association, or the Institution of Arts and +Sciences. He belonged, in fact, to none of the numerous societies which +swarm in the English capital, from the Harmonic to that of the +Entomologists, founded mainly for the purpose of abolishing pernicious +insects. + +Phileas Fogg was a member of the Reform, and that was all. + +The way in which he got admission to this exclusive club was simple +enough. + +He was recommended by the Barings, with whom he had an open credit. His +cheques were regularly paid at sight from his account current, which +was always flush. + +Was Phileas Fogg rich? Undoubtedly. But those who knew him best could +not imagine how he had made his fortune, and Mr. Fogg was the last +person to whom to apply for the information. He was not lavish, nor, on +the contrary, avaricious; for, whenever he knew that money was needed +for a noble, useful, or benevolent purpose, he supplied it quietly and +sometimes anonymously. He was, in short, the least communicative of +men. He talked very little, and seemed all the more mysterious for his +taciturn manner. His daily habits were quite open to observation; but +whatever he did was so exactly the same thing that he had always done +before, that the wits of the curious were fairly puzzled. + +Had he travelled? It was likely, for no one seemed to know the world +more familiarly; there was no spot so secluded that he did not appear +to have an intimate acquaintance with it. He often corrected, with a +few clear words, the thousand conjectures advanced by members of the +club as to lost and unheard-of travellers, pointing out the true +probabilities, and seeming as if gifted with a sort of second sight, so +often did events justify his predictions. He must have travelled +everywhere, at least in the spirit. + +It was at least certain that Phileas Fogg had not absented himself from +London for many years. Those who were honoured by a better acquaintance +with him than the rest, declared that nobody could pretend to have ever +seen him anywhere else. His sole pastimes were reading the papers and +playing whist. He often won at this game, which, as a silent one, +harmonised with his nature; but his winnings never went into his purse, +being reserved as a fund for his charities. Mr. Fogg played, not to +win, but for the sake of playing. The game was in his eyes a contest, a +struggle with a difficulty, yet a motionless, unwearying struggle, +congenial to his tastes. + +Phileas Fogg was not known to have either wife or children, which may +happen to the most honest people; either relatives or near friends, +which is certainly more unusual. He lived alone in his house in Saville +Row, whither none penetrated. A single domestic sufficed to serve him. +He breakfasted and dined at the club, at hours mathematically fixed, in +the same room, at the same table, never taking his meals with other +members, much less bringing a guest with him; and went home at exactly +midnight, only to retire at once to bed. He never used the cosy +chambers which the Reform provides for its favoured members. He passed +ten hours out of the twenty-four in Saville Row, either in sleeping or +making his toilet. When he chose to take a walk it was with a regular +step in the entrance hall with its mosaic flooring, or in the circular +gallery with its dome supported by twenty red porphyry Ionic columns, +and illumined by blue painted windows. When he breakfasted or dined all +the resources of the club—its kitchens and pantries, its buttery and +dairy—aided to crowd his table with their most succulent stores; he was +served by the gravest waiters, in dress coats, and shoes with swan-skin +soles, who proffered the viands in special porcelain, and on the finest +linen; club decanters, of a lost mould, contained his sherry, his port, +and his cinnamon-spiced claret; while his beverages were refreshingly +cooled with ice, brought at great cost from the American lakes. + +If to live in this style is to be eccentric, it must be confessed that +there is something good in eccentricity. + +The mansion in Saville Row, though not sumptuous, was exceedingly +comfortable. The habits of its occupant were such as to demand but +little from the sole domestic, but Phileas Fogg required him to be +almost superhumanly prompt and regular. On this very 2nd of October he +had dismissed James Forster, because that luckless youth had brought +him shaving-water at eighty-four degrees Fahrenheit instead of +eighty-six; and he was awaiting his successor, who was due at the house +between eleven and half-past. + +Phileas Fogg was seated squarely in his armchair, his feet close +together like those of a grenadier on parade, his hands resting on his +knees, his body straight, his head erect; he was steadily watching a +complicated clock which indicated the hours, the minutes, the seconds, +the days, the months, and the years. At exactly half-past eleven Mr. +Fogg would, according to his daily habit, quit Saville Row, and repair +to the Reform. + +A rap at this moment sounded on the door of the cosy apartment where +Phileas Fogg was seated, and James Forster, the dismissed servant, +appeared. + +“The new servant,” said he. + +A young man of thirty advanced and bowed. + +“You are a Frenchman, I believe,” asked Phileas Fogg, “and your name is +John?” + +“Jean, if monsieur pleases,” replied the newcomer, “Jean Passepartout, +a surname which has clung to me because I have a natural aptness for +going out of one business into another. I believe I’m honest, monsieur, +but, to be outspoken, I’ve had several trades. I’ve been an itinerant +singer, a circus-rider, when I used to vault like Leotard, and dance on +a rope like Blondin. Then I got to be a professor of gymnastics, so as +to make better use of my talents; and then I was a sergeant fireman at +Paris, and assisted at many a big fire. But I quitted France five years +ago, and, wishing to taste the sweets of domestic life, took service as +a valet here in England. Finding myself out of place, and hearing that +Monsieur Phileas Fogg was the most exact and settled gentleman in the +United Kingdom, I have come to monsieur in the hope of living with him +a tranquil life, and forgetting even the name of Passepartout.” + +“Passepartout suits me,” responded Mr. Fogg. “You are well recommended +to me; I hear a good report of you. You know my conditions?” + +“Yes, monsieur.” + +“Good! What time is it?” + +“Twenty-two minutes after eleven,” returned Passepartout, drawing an +enormous silver watch from the depths of his pocket. + +“You are too slow,” said Mr. Fogg. + +“Pardon me, monsieur, it is impossible—” + +“You are four minutes too slow. No matter; it’s enough to mention the +error. Now from this moment, twenty-nine minutes after eleven, a.m., +this Wednesday, 2nd October, you are in my service.” + +Phileas Fogg got up, took his hat in his left hand, put it on his head +with an automatic motion, and went off without a word. + +Passepartout heard the street door shut once; it was his new master +going out. He heard it shut again; it was his predecessor, James +Forster, departing in his turn. Passepartout remained alone in the +house in Saville Row. + + + + +CHAPTER II. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS CONVINCED THAT HE HAS AT LAST FOUND HIS IDEAL + + +“Faith,” muttered Passepartout, somewhat flurried, “I’ve seen people at +Madame Tussaud’s as lively as my new master!” + +Madame Tussaud’s “people,” let it be said, are of wax, and are much +visited in London; speech is all that is wanting to make them human. + +During his brief interview with Mr. Fogg, Passepartout had been +carefully observing him. He appeared to be a man about forty years of +age, with fine, handsome features, and a tall, well-shaped figure; his +hair and whiskers were light, his forehead compact and unwrinkled, his +face rather pale, his teeth magnificent. His countenance possessed in +the highest degree what physiognomists call “repose in action,” a +quality of those who act rather than talk. Calm and phlegmatic, with a +clear eye, Mr. Fogg seemed a perfect type of that English composure +which Angelica Kauffmann has so skilfully represented on canvas. Seen +in the various phases of his daily life, he gave the idea of being +perfectly well-balanced, as exactly regulated as a Leroy chronometer. +Phileas Fogg was, indeed, exactitude personified, and this was betrayed +even in the expression of his very hands and feet; for in men, as well +as in animals, the limbs themselves are expressive of the passions. + +He was so exact that he was never in a hurry, was always ready, and was +economical alike of his steps and his motions. He never took one step +too many, and always went to his destination by the shortest cut; he +made no superfluous gestures, and was never seen to be moved or +agitated. He was the most deliberate person in the world, yet always +reached his destination at the exact moment. + +He lived alone, and, so to speak, outside of every social relation; and +as he knew that in this world account must be taken of friction, and +that friction retards, he never rubbed against anybody. + +As for Passepartout, he was a true Parisian of Paris. Since he had +abandoned his own country for England, taking service as a valet, he +had in vain searched for a master after his own heart. Passepartout was +by no means one of those pert dunces depicted by Molière with a bold +gaze and a nose held high in the air; he was an honest fellow, with a +pleasant face, lips a trifle protruding, soft-mannered and serviceable, +with a good round head, such as one likes to see on the shoulders of a +friend. His eyes were blue, his complexion rubicund, his figure almost +portly and well-built, his body muscular, and his physical powers fully +developed by the exercises of his younger days. His brown hair was +somewhat tumbled; for, while the ancient sculptors are said to have +known eighteen methods of arranging Minerva’s tresses, Passepartout was +familiar with but one of dressing his own: three strokes of a +large-tooth comb completed his toilet. + +It would be rash to predict how Passepartout’s lively nature would +agree with Mr. Fogg. It was impossible to tell whether the new servant +would turn out as absolutely methodical as his master required; +experience alone could solve the question. Passepartout had been a sort +of vagrant in his early years, and now yearned for repose; but so far +he had failed to find it, though he had already served in ten English +houses. But he could not take root in any of these; with chagrin, he +found his masters invariably whimsical and irregular, constantly +running about the country, or on the look-out for adventure. His last +master, young Lord Longferry, Member of Parliament, after passing his +nights in the Haymarket taverns, was too often brought home in the +morning on policemen’s shoulders. Passepartout, desirous of respecting +the gentleman whom he served, ventured a mild remonstrance on such +conduct; which, being ill-received, he took his leave. Hearing that Mr. +Phileas Fogg was looking for a servant, and that his life was one of +unbroken regularity, that he neither travelled nor stayed from home +overnight, he felt sure that this would be the place he was after. He +presented himself, and was accepted, as has been seen. + +At half-past eleven, then, Passepartout found himself alone in the +house in Saville Row. He began its inspection without delay, scouring +it from cellar to garret. So clean, well-arranged, solemn a mansion +pleased him; it seemed to him like a snail’s shell, lighted and warmed +by gas, which sufficed for both these purposes. When Passepartout +reached the second story he recognised at once the room which he was to +inhabit, and he was well satisfied with it. Electric bells and +speaking-tubes afforded communication with the lower stories; while on +the mantel stood an electric clock, precisely like that in Mr. Fogg’s +bedchamber, both beating the same second at the same instant. “That’s +good, that’ll do,” said Passepartout to himself. + +He suddenly observed, hung over the clock, a card which, upon +inspection, proved to be a programme of the daily routine of the house. +It comprised all that was required of the servant, from eight in the +morning, exactly at which hour Phileas Fogg rose, till half-past +eleven, when he left the house for the Reform Club—all the details of +service, the tea and toast at twenty-three minutes past eight, the +shaving-water at thirty-seven minutes past nine, and the toilet at +twenty minutes before ten. Everything was regulated and foreseen that +was to be done from half-past eleven a.m. till midnight, the hour at +which the methodical gentleman retired. + +Mr. Fogg’s wardrobe was amply supplied and in the best taste. Each pair +of trousers, coat, and vest bore a number, indicating the time of year +and season at which they were in turn to be laid out for wearing; and +the same system was applied to the master’s shoes. In short, the house +in Saville Row, which must have been a very temple of disorder and +unrest under the illustrious but dissipated Sheridan, was cosiness, +comfort, and method idealised. There was no study, nor were there +books, which would have been quite useless to Mr. Fogg; for at the +Reform two libraries, one of general literature and the other of law +and politics, were at his service. A moderate-sized safe stood in his +bedroom, constructed so as to defy fire as well as burglars; but +Passepartout found neither arms nor hunting weapons anywhere; +everything betrayed the most tranquil and peaceable habits. + +Having scrutinised the house from top to bottom, he rubbed his hands, a +broad smile overspread his features, and he said joyfully, “This is +just what I wanted! Ah, we shall get on together, Mr. Fogg and I! What +a domestic and regular gentleman! A real machine; well, I don’t mind +serving a machine.” + + + + +CHAPTER III. +IN WHICH A CONVERSATION TAKES PLACE WHICH SEEMS LIKELY TO COST PHILEAS +FOGG DEAR + + +Phileas Fogg, having shut the door of his house at half-past eleven, +and having put his right foot before his left five hundred and +seventy-five times, and his left foot before his right five hundred and +seventy-six times, reached the Reform Club, an imposing edifice in Pall +Mall, which could not have cost less than three millions. He repaired +at once to the dining-room, the nine windows of which open upon a +tasteful garden, where the trees were already gilded with an autumn +colouring; and took his place at the habitual table, the cover of which +had already been laid for him. His breakfast consisted of a side-dish, +a broiled fish with Reading sauce, a scarlet slice of roast beef +garnished with mushrooms, a rhubarb and gooseberry tart, and a morsel +of Cheshire cheese, the whole being washed down with several cups of +tea, for which the Reform is famous. He rose at thirteen minutes to +one, and directed his steps towards the large hall, a sumptuous +apartment adorned with lavishly-framed paintings. A flunkey handed him +an uncut _Times_, which he proceeded to cut with a skill which betrayed +familiarity with this delicate operation. The perusal of this paper +absorbed Phileas Fogg until a quarter before four, whilst the +_Standard_, his next task, occupied him till the dinner hour. Dinner +passed as breakfast had done, and Mr. Fogg re-appeared in the +reading-room and sat down to the _Pall Mall_ at twenty minutes before +six. Half an hour later several members of the Reform came in and drew +up to the fireplace, where a coal fire was steadily burning. They were +Mr. Fogg’s usual partners at whist: Andrew Stuart, an engineer; John +Sullivan and Samuel Fallentin, bankers; Thomas Flanagan, a brewer; and +Gauthier Ralph, one of the Directors of the Bank of England—all rich +and highly respectable personages, even in a club which comprises the +princes of English trade and finance. + +“Well, Ralph,” said Thomas Flanagan, “what about that robbery?” + +“Oh,” replied Stuart, “the Bank will lose the money.” + +“On the contrary,” broke in Ralph, “I hope we may put our hands on the +robber. Skilful detectives have been sent to all the principal ports of +America and the Continent, and he’ll be a clever fellow if he slips +through their fingers.” + +“But have you got the robber’s description?” asked Stuart. + +“In the first place, he is no robber at all,” returned Ralph, +positively. + +“What! a fellow who makes off with fifty-five thousand pounds, no +robber?” + +“No.” + +“Perhaps he’s a manufacturer, then.” + +“The _Daily Telegraph_ says that he is a gentleman.” + +It was Phileas Fogg, whose head now emerged from behind his newspapers, +who made this remark. He bowed to his friends, and entered into the +conversation. The affair which formed its subject, and which was town +talk, had occurred three days before at the Bank of England. A package +of banknotes, to the value of fifty-five thousand pounds, had been +taken from the principal cashier’s table, that functionary being at the +moment engaged in registering the receipt of three shillings and +sixpence. Of course, he could not have his eyes everywhere. Let it be +observed that the Bank of England reposes a touching confidence in the +honesty of the public. There are neither guards nor gratings to protect +its treasures; gold, silver, banknotes are freely exposed, at the mercy +of the first comer. A keen observer of English customs relates that, +being in one of the rooms of the Bank one day, he had the curiosity to +examine a gold ingot weighing some seven or eight pounds. He took it +up, scrutinised it, passed it to his neighbour, he to the next man, and +so on until the ingot, going from hand to hand, was transferred to the +end of a dark entry; nor did it return to its place for half an hour. +Meanwhile, the cashier had not so much as raised his head. But in the +present instance things had not gone so smoothly. The package of notes +not being found when five o’clock sounded from the ponderous clock in +the “drawing office,” the amount was passed to the account of profit +and loss. As soon as the robbery was discovered, picked detectives +hastened off to Liverpool, Glasgow, Havre, Suez, Brindisi, New York, +and other ports, inspired by the proffered reward of two thousand +pounds, and five per cent. on the sum that might be recovered. +Detectives were also charged with narrowly watching those who arrived +at or left London by rail, and a judicial examination was at once +entered upon. + +There were real grounds for supposing, as the _Daily Telegraph_ said, +that the thief did not belong to a professional band. On the day of the +robbery a well-dressed gentleman of polished manners, and with a +well-to-do air, had been observed going to and fro in the paying room +where the crime was committed. A description of him was easily procured +and sent to the detectives; and some hopeful spirits, of whom Ralph was +one, did not despair of his apprehension. The papers and clubs were +full of the affair, and everywhere people were discussing the +probabilities of a successful pursuit; and the Reform Club was +especially agitated, several of its members being Bank officials. + +Ralph would not concede that the work of the detectives was likely to +be in vain, for he thought that the prize offered would greatly +stimulate their zeal and activity. But Stuart was far from sharing this +confidence; and, as they placed themselves at the whist-table, they +continued to argue the matter. Stuart and Flanagan played together, +while Phileas Fogg had Fallentin for his partner. As the game proceeded +the conversation ceased, excepting between the rubbers, when it revived +again. + +“I maintain,” said Stuart, “that the chances are in favour of the +thief, who must be a shrewd fellow.” + +“Well, but where can he fly to?” asked Ralph. “No country is safe for +him.” + +“Pshaw!” + +“Where could he go, then?” + +“Oh, I don’t know that. The world is big enough.” + +“It was once,” said Phileas Fogg, in a low tone. “Cut, sir,” he added, +handing the cards to Thomas Flanagan. + +The discussion fell during the rubber, after which Stuart took up its +thread. + +“What do you mean by ‘once’? Has the world grown smaller?” + +“Certainly,” returned Ralph. “I agree with Mr. Fogg. The world has +grown smaller, since a man can now go round it ten times more quickly +than a hundred years ago. And that is why the search for this thief +will be more likely to succeed.” + +“And also why the thief can get away more easily.” + +“Be so good as to play, Mr. Stuart,” said Phileas Fogg. + +But the incredulous Stuart was not convinced, and when the hand was +finished, said eagerly: “You have a strange way, Ralph, of proving that +the world has grown smaller. So, because you can go round it in three +months—” + +“In eighty days,” interrupted Phileas Fogg. + +“That is true, gentlemen,” added John Sullivan. “Only eighty days, now +that the section between Rothal and Allahabad, on the Great Indian +Peninsula Railway, has been opened. Here is the estimate made by the +_Daily Telegraph:_— + +From London to Suez _viâ_ Mont Cenis and Brindisi, by rail and +steamboats ................. 7 days +From Suez to Bombay, by steamer .................... 13 ” +From Bombay to Calcutta, by rail ................... 3 ” +From Calcutta to Hong Kong, by steamer ............. 13 ” +From Hong Kong to Yokohama (Japan), by steamer ..... 6 ” +From Yokohama to San Francisco, by steamer ......... 22 ” +From San Francisco to New York, by rail ............. 7 ” +From New York to London, by steamer and rail ........ 9 ” +------- +Total ............................................ 80 days.” + + +“Yes, in eighty days!” exclaimed Stuart, who in his excitement made a +false deal. “But that doesn’t take into account bad weather, contrary +winds, shipwrecks, railway accidents, and so on.” + +“All included,” returned Phileas Fogg, continuing to play despite the +discussion. + +“But suppose the Hindoos or Indians pull up the rails,” replied Stuart; +“suppose they stop the trains, pillage the luggage-vans, and scalp the +passengers!” + +“All included,” calmly retorted Fogg; adding, as he threw down the +cards, “Two trumps.” + +Stuart, whose turn it was to deal, gathered them up, and went on: “You +are right, theoretically, Mr. Fogg, but practically—” + +“Practically also, Mr. Stuart.” + +“I’d like to see you do it in eighty days.” + +“It depends on you. Shall we go?” + +“Heaven preserve me! But I would wager four thousand pounds that such a +journey, made under these conditions, is impossible.” + +“Quite possible, on the contrary,” returned Mr. Fogg. + +“Well, make it, then!” + +“The journey round the world in eighty days?” + +“Yes.” + +“I should like nothing better.” + +“When?” + +“At once. Only I warn you that I shall do it at your expense.” + +“It’s absurd!” cried Stuart, who was beginning to be annoyed at the +persistency of his friend. “Come, let’s go on with the game.” + +“Deal over again, then,” said Phileas Fogg. “There’s a false deal.” + +Stuart took up the pack with a feverish hand; then suddenly put them +down again. + +“Well, Mr. Fogg,” said he, “it shall be so: I will wager the four +thousand on it.” + +“Calm yourself, my dear Stuart,” said Fallentin. “It’s only a joke.” + +“When I say I’ll wager,” returned Stuart, “I mean it.” + +“All right,” said Mr. Fogg; and, turning to the others, he continued: +“I have a deposit of twenty thousand at Baring’s which I will willingly +risk upon it.” + +“Twenty thousand pounds!” cried Sullivan. “Twenty thousand pounds, +which you would lose by a single accidental delay!” + +“The unforeseen does not exist,” quietly replied Phileas Fogg. + +“But, Mr. Fogg, eighty days are only the estimate of the least possible +time in which the journey can be made.” + +“A well-used minimum suffices for everything.” + +“But, in order not to exceed it, you must jump mathematically from the +trains upon the steamers, and from the steamers upon the trains again.” + +“I will jump—mathematically.” + +“You are joking.” + +“A true Englishman doesn’t joke when he is talking about so serious a +thing as a wager,” replied Phileas Fogg, solemnly. “I will bet twenty +thousand pounds against anyone who wishes that I will make the tour of +the world in eighty days or less; in nineteen hundred and twenty hours, +or a hundred and fifteen thousand two hundred minutes. Do you accept?” + +“We accept,” replied Messrs. Stuart, Fallentin, Sullivan, Flanagan, and +Ralph, after consulting each other. + +“Good,” said Mr. Fogg. “The train leaves for Dover at a quarter before +nine. I will take it.” + +“This very evening?” asked Stuart. + +“This very evening,” returned Phileas Fogg. He took out and consulted a +pocket almanac, and added, “As today is Wednesday, the 2nd of October, +I shall be due in London in this very room of the Reform Club, on +Saturday, the 21st of December, at a quarter before nine p.m.; or else +the twenty thousand pounds, now deposited in my name at Baring’s, will +belong to you, in fact and in right, gentlemen. Here is a cheque for +the amount.” + +A memorandum of the wager was at once drawn up and signed by the six +parties, during which Phileas Fogg preserved a stoical composure. He +certainly did not bet to win, and had only staked the twenty thousand +pounds, half of his fortune, because he foresaw that he might have to +expend the other half to carry out this difficult, not to say +unattainable, project. As for his antagonists, they seemed much +agitated; not so much by the value of their stake, as because they had +some scruples about betting under conditions so difficult to their +friend. + +The clock struck seven, and the party offered to suspend the game so +that Mr. Fogg might make his preparations for departure. + +“I am quite ready now,” was his tranquil response. “Diamonds are +trumps: be so good as to play, gentlemen.” + + + + +CHAPTER IV. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG ASTOUNDS PASSEPARTOUT, HIS SERVANT + + +Having won twenty guineas at whist, and taken leave of his friends, +Phileas Fogg, at twenty-five minutes past seven, left the Reform Club. + +Passepartout, who had conscientiously studied the programme of his +duties, was more than surprised to see his master guilty of the +inexactness of appearing at this unaccustomed hour; for, according to +rule, he was not due in Saville Row until precisely midnight. + +Mr. Fogg repaired to his bedroom, and called out, “Passepartout!” + +Passepartout did not reply. It could not be he who was called; it was +not the right hour. + +“Passepartout!” repeated Mr. Fogg, without raising his voice. + +Passepartout made his appearance. + +“I’ve called you twice,” observed his master. + +“But it is not midnight,” responded the other, showing his watch. + +“I know it; I don’t blame you. We start for Dover and Calais in ten +minutes.” + +A puzzled grin overspread Passepartout’s round face; clearly he had not +comprehended his master. + +“Monsieur is going to leave home?” + +“Yes,” returned Phileas Fogg. “We are going round the world.” + +Passepartout opened wide his eyes, raised his eyebrows, held up his +hands, and seemed about to collapse, so overcome was he with stupefied +astonishment. + +“Round the world!” he murmured. + +“In eighty days,” responded Mr. Fogg. “So we haven’t a moment to lose.” + +“But the trunks?” gasped Passepartout, unconsciously swaying his head +from right to left. + +“We’ll have no trunks; only a carpet-bag, with two shirts and three +pairs of stockings for me, and the same for you. We’ll buy our clothes +on the way. Bring down my mackintosh and traveling-cloak, and some +stout shoes, though we shall do little walking. Make haste!” + +Passepartout tried to reply, but could not. He went out, mounted to his +own room, fell into a chair, and muttered: “That’s good, that is! And +I, who wanted to remain quiet!” + +He mechanically set about making the preparations for departure. Around +the world in eighty days! Was his master a fool? No. Was this a joke, +then? They were going to Dover; good! To Calais; good again! After all, +Passepartout, who had been away from France five years, would not be +sorry to set foot on his native soil again. Perhaps they would go as +far as Paris, and it would do his eyes good to see Paris once more. But +surely a gentleman so chary of his steps would stop there; no +doubt—but, then, it was none the less true that he was going away, this +so domestic person hitherto! + +By eight o’clock Passepartout had packed the modest carpet-bag, +containing the wardrobes of his master and himself; then, still +troubled in mind, he carefully shut the door of his room, and descended +to Mr. Fogg. + +Mr. Fogg was quite ready. Under his arm might have been observed a +red-bound copy of Bradshaw’s Continental Railway Steam Transit and +General Guide, with its timetables showing the arrival and departure of +steamers and railways. He took the carpet-bag, opened it, and slipped +into it a goodly roll of Bank of England notes, which would pass +wherever he might go. + +“You have forgotten nothing?” asked he. + +“Nothing, monsieur.” + +“My mackintosh and cloak?” + +“Here they are.” + +“Good! Take this carpet-bag,” handing it to Passepartout. “Take good +care of it, for there are twenty thousand pounds in it.” + +Passepartout nearly dropped the bag, as if the twenty thousand pounds +were in gold, and weighed him down. + +Master and man then descended, the street-door was double-locked, and +at the end of Saville Row they took a cab and drove rapidly to Charing +Cross. The cab stopped before the railway station at twenty minutes +past eight. Passepartout jumped off the box and followed his master, +who, after paying the cabman, was about to enter the station, when a +poor beggar-woman, with a child in her arms, her naked feet smeared +with mud, her head covered with a wretched bonnet, from which hung a +tattered feather, and her shoulders shrouded in a ragged shawl, +approached, and mournfully asked for alms. + +Mr. Fogg took out the twenty guineas he had just won at whist, and +handed them to the beggar, saying, “Here, my good woman. I’m glad that +I met you;” and passed on. + +Passepartout had a moist sensation about the eyes; his master’s action +touched his susceptible heart. + +Two first-class tickets for Paris having been speedily purchased, Mr. +Fogg was crossing the station to the train, when he perceived his five +friends of the Reform. + +“Well, gentlemen,” said he, “I’m off, you see; and, if you will examine +my passport when I get back, you will be able to judge whether I have +accomplished the journey agreed upon.” + +“Oh, that would be quite unnecessary, Mr. Fogg,” said Ralph politely. +“We will trust your word, as a gentleman of honour.” + +“You do not forget when you are due in London again?” asked Stuart. + +“In eighty days; on Saturday, the 21st of December, 1872, at a quarter +before nine p.m. Good-bye, gentlemen.” + +Phileas Fogg and his servant seated themselves in a first-class +carriage at twenty minutes before nine; five minutes later the whistle +screamed, and the train slowly glided out of the station. + +The night was dark, and a fine, steady rain was falling. Phileas Fogg, +snugly ensconced in his corner, did not open his lips. Passepartout, +not yet recovered from his stupefaction, clung mechanically to the +carpet-bag, with its enormous treasure. + +Just as the train was whirling through Sydenham, Passepartout suddenly +uttered a cry of despair. + +“What’s the matter?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“Alas! In my hurry—I—I forgot—” + +“What?” + +“To turn off the gas in my room!” + +“Very well, young man,” returned Mr. Fogg, coolly; “it will burn—at +your expense.” + + + + +CHAPTER V. +IN WHICH A NEW SPECIES OF FUNDS, UNKNOWN TO THE MONEYED MEN, APPEARS ON +’CHANGE + + +Phileas Fogg rightly suspected that his departure from London would +create a lively sensation at the West End. The news of the bet spread +through the Reform Club, and afforded an exciting topic of conversation +to its members. From the club it soon got into the papers throughout +England. The boasted “tour of the world” was talked about, disputed, +argued with as much warmth as if the subject were another Alabama +claim. Some took sides with Phileas Fogg, but the large majority shook +their heads and declared against him; it was absurd, impossible, they +declared, that the tour of the world could be made, except +theoretically and on paper, in this minimum of time, and with the +existing means of travelling. The _Times, Standard, Morning Post_, and +_Daily News_, and twenty other highly respectable newspapers scouted +Mr. Fogg’s project as madness; the _Daily Telegraph_ alone hesitatingly +supported him. People in general thought him a lunatic, and blamed his +Reform Club friends for having accepted a wager which betrayed the +mental aberration of its proposer. + +Articles no less passionate than logical appeared on the question, for +geography is one of the pet subjects of the English; and the columns +devoted to Phileas Fogg’s venture were eagerly devoured by all classes +of readers. At first some rash individuals, principally of the gentler +sex, espoused his cause, which became still more popular when the +_Illustrated London News_ came out with his portrait, copied from a +photograph in the Reform Club. A few readers of the _Daily Telegraph_ +even dared to say, “Why not, after all? Stranger things have come to +pass.” + +At last a long article appeared, on the 7th of October, in the bulletin +of the Royal Geographical Society, which treated the question from +every point of view, and demonstrated the utter folly of the +enterprise. + +Everything, it said, was against the travellers, every obstacle imposed +alike by man and by nature. A miraculous agreement of the times of +departure and arrival, which was impossible, was absolutely necessary +to his success. He might, perhaps, reckon on the arrival of trains at +the designated hours, in Europe, where the distances were relatively +moderate; but when he calculated upon crossing India in three days, and +the United States in seven, could he rely beyond misgiving upon +accomplishing his task? There were accidents to machinery, the +liability of trains to run off the line, collisions, bad weather, the +blocking up by snow—were not all these against Phileas Fogg? Would he +not find himself, when travelling by steamer in winter, at the mercy of +the winds and fogs? Is it uncommon for the best ocean steamers to be +two or three days behind time? But a single delay would suffice to +fatally break the chain of communication; should Phileas Fogg once +miss, even by an hour; a steamer, he would have to wait for the next, +and that would irrevocably render his attempt vain. + +This article made a great deal of noise, and, being copied into all the +papers, seriously depressed the advocates of the rash tourist. + +Everybody knows that England is the world of betting men, who are of a +higher class than mere gamblers; to bet is in the English temperament. +Not only the members of the Reform, but the general public, made heavy +wagers for or against Phileas Fogg, who was set down in the betting +books as if he were a race-horse. Bonds were issued, and made their +appearance on ’Change; “Phileas Fogg bonds” were offered at par or at a +premium, and a great business was done in them. But five days after the +article in the bulletin of the Geographical Society appeared, the +demand began to subside: “Phileas Fogg” declined. They were offered by +packages, at first of five, then of ten, until at last nobody would +take less than twenty, fifty, a hundred! + +Lord Albemarle, an elderly paralytic gentleman, was now the only +advocate of Phileas Fogg left. This noble lord, who was fastened to his +chair, would have given his fortune to be able to make the tour of the +world, if it took ten years; and he bet five thousand pounds on Phileas +Fogg. When the folly as well as the uselessness of the adventure was +pointed out to him, he contented himself with replying, “If the thing +is feasible, the first to do it ought to be an Englishman.” + +The Fogg party dwindled more and more, everybody was going against him, +and the bets stood a hundred and fifty and two hundred to one; and a +week after his departure an incident occurred which deprived him of +backers at any price. + +The commissioner of police was sitting in his office at nine o’clock +one evening, when the following telegraphic dispatch was put into his +hands: + +_Suez to London._ + + +ROWAN, COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, SCOTLAND YARD: + I’ve found the bank robber, Phileas Fogg. Send without delay + warrant of arrest to Bombay. + + +FIX, _Detective_. + + +The effect of this dispatch was instantaneous. The polished gentleman +disappeared to give place to the bank robber. His photograph, which was +hung with those of the rest of the members at the Reform Club, was +minutely examined, and it betrayed, feature by feature, the description +of the robber which had been provided to the police. The mysterious +habits of Phileas Fogg were recalled; his solitary ways, his sudden +departure; and it seemed clear that, in undertaking a tour round the +world on the pretext of a wager, he had had no other end in view than +to elude the detectives, and throw them off his track. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. +IN WHICH FIX, THE DETECTIVE, BETRAYS A VERY NATURAL IMPATIENCE + + +The circumstances under which this telegraphic dispatch about Phileas +Fogg was sent were as follows: + +The steamer “Mongolia,” belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental +Company, built of iron, of two thousand eight hundred tons burden, and +five hundred horse-power, was due at eleven o’clock a.m. on Wednesday, +the 9th of October, at Suez. The “Mongolia” plied regularly between +Brindisi and Bombay _viâ_ the Suez Canal, and was one of the fastest +steamers belonging to the company, always making more than ten knots an +hour between Brindisi and Suez, and nine and a half between Suez and +Bombay. + +Two men were promenading up and down the wharves, among the crowd of +natives and strangers who were sojourning at this once straggling +village—now, thanks to the enterprise of M. Lesseps, a fast-growing +town. One was the British consul at Suez, who, despite the prophecies +of the English Government, and the unfavourable predictions of +Stephenson, was in the habit of seeing, from his office window, English +ships daily passing to and fro on the great canal, by which the old +roundabout route from England to India by the Cape of Good Hope was +abridged by at least a half. The other was a small, slight-built +personage, with a nervous, intelligent face, and bright eyes peering +out from under eyebrows which he was incessantly twitching. He was just +now manifesting unmistakable signs of impatience, nervously pacing up +and down, and unable to stand still for a moment. This was Fix, one of +the detectives who had been dispatched from England in search of the +bank robber; it was his task to narrowly watch every passenger who +arrived at Suez, and to follow up all who seemed to be suspicious +characters, or bore a resemblance to the description of the criminal, +which he had received two days before from the police headquarters at +London. The detective was evidently inspired by the hope of obtaining +the splendid reward which would be the prize of success, and awaited +with a feverish impatience, easy to understand, the arrival of the +steamer “Mongolia.” + +“So you say, consul,” asked he for the twentieth time, “that this +steamer is never behind time?” + +“No, Mr. Fix,” replied the consul. “She was bespoken yesterday at Port +Said, and the rest of the way is of no account to such a craft. I +repeat that the ‘Mongolia’ has been in advance of the time required by +the company’s regulations, and gained the prize awarded for excess of +speed.” + +“Does she come directly from Brindisi?” + +“Directly from Brindisi; she takes on the Indian mails there, and she +left there Saturday at five p.m. Have patience, Mr. Fix; she will not +be late. But really, I don’t see how, from the description you have, +you will be able to recognise your man, even if he is on board the +‘Mongolia.’” + +“A man rather feels the presence of these fellows, consul, than +recognises them. You must have a scent for them, and a scent is like a +sixth sense which combines hearing, seeing, and smelling. I’ve arrested +more than one of these gentlemen in my time, and, if my thief is on +board, I’ll answer for it; he’ll not slip through my fingers.” + +“I hope so, Mr. Fix, for it was a heavy robbery.” + +“A magnificent robbery, consul; fifty-five thousand pounds! We don’t +often have such windfalls. Burglars are getting to be so contemptible +nowadays! A fellow gets hung for a handful of shillings!” + +“Mr. Fix,” said the consul, “I like your way of talking, and hope +you’ll succeed; but I fear you will find it far from easy. Don’t you +see, the description which you have there has a singular resemblance to +an honest man?” + +“Consul,” remarked the detective, dogmatically, “great robbers always +resemble honest folks. Fellows who have rascally faces have only one +course to take, and that is to remain honest; otherwise they would be +arrested off-hand. The artistic thing is, to unmask honest +countenances; it’s no light task, I admit, but a real art.” + +Mr. Fix evidently was not wanting in a tinge of self-conceit. + +Little by little the scene on the quay became more animated; sailors of +various nations, merchants, ship-brokers, porters, fellahs, bustled to +and fro as if the steamer were immediately expected. The weather was +clear, and slightly chilly. The minarets of the town loomed above the +houses in the pale rays of the sun. A jetty pier, some two thousand +yards along, extended into the roadstead. A number of fishing-smacks +and coasting boats, some retaining the fantastic fashion of ancient +galleys, were discernible on the Red Sea. + +As he passed among the busy crowd, Fix, according to habit, scrutinised +the passers-by with a keen, rapid glance. + +It was now half-past ten. + +“The steamer doesn’t come!” he exclaimed, as the port clock struck. + +“She can’t be far off now,” returned his companion. + +“How long will she stop at Suez?” + +“Four hours; long enough to get in her coal. It is thirteen hundred and +ten miles from Suez to Aden, at the other end of the Red Sea, and she +has to take in a fresh coal supply.” + +“And does she go from Suez directly to Bombay?” + +“Without putting in anywhere.” + +“Good!” said Fix. “If the robber is on board he will no doubt get off +at Suez, so as to reach the Dutch or French colonies in Asia by some +other route. He ought to know that he would not be safe an hour in +India, which is English soil.” + +“Unless,” objected the consul, “he is exceptionally shrewd. An English +criminal, you know, is always better concealed in London than anywhere +else.” + +This observation furnished the detective food for thought, and +meanwhile the consul went away to his office. Fix, left alone, was more +impatient than ever, having a presentiment that the robber was on board +the “Mongolia.” If he had indeed left London intending to reach the New +World, he would naturally take the route _viâ_ India, which was less +watched and more difficult to watch than that of the Atlantic. But +Fix’s reflections were soon interrupted by a succession of sharp +whistles, which announced the arrival of the “Mongolia.” The porters +and fellahs rushed down the quay, and a dozen boats pushed off from the +shore to go and meet the steamer. Soon her gigantic hull appeared +passing along between the banks, and eleven o’clock struck as she +anchored in the road. She brought an unusual number of passengers, some +of whom remained on deck to scan the picturesque panorama of the town, +while the greater part disembarked in the boats, and landed on the +quay. + +Fix took up a position, and carefully examined each face and figure +which made its appearance. Presently one of the passengers, after +vigorously pushing his way through the importunate crowd of porters, +came up to him and politely asked if he could point out the English +consulate, at the same time showing a passport which he wished to have +_visaed_. Fix instinctively took the passport, and with a rapid glance +read the description of its bearer. An involuntary motion of surprise +nearly escaped him, for the description in the passport was identical +with that of the bank robber which he had received from Scotland Yard. + +“Is this your passport?” asked he. + +“No, it’s my master’s.” + +“And your master is—” + +“He stayed on board.” + +“But he must go to the consul’s in person, so as to establish his +identity.” + +“Oh, is that necessary?” + +“Quite indispensable.” + +“And where is the consulate?” + +“There, on the corner of the square,” said Fix, pointing to a house two +hundred steps off. + +“I’ll go and fetch my master, who won’t be much pleased, however, to be +disturbed.” + +The passenger bowed to Fix, and returned to the steamer. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. +WHICH ONCE MORE DEMONSTRATES THE USELESSNESS OF PASSPORTS AS AIDS TO +DETECTIVES + + +The detective passed down the quay, and rapidly made his way to the +consul’s office, where he was at once admitted to the presence of that +official. + +“Consul,” said he, without preamble, “I have strong reasons for +believing that my man is a passenger on the ‘Mongolia.’” And he +narrated what had just passed concerning the passport. + +“Well, Mr. Fix,” replied the consul, “I shall not be sorry to see the +rascal’s face; but perhaps he won’t come here—that is, if he is the +person you suppose him to be. A robber doesn’t quite like to leave +traces of his flight behind him; and, besides, he is not obliged to +have his passport countersigned.” + +“If he is as shrewd as I think he is, consul, he will come.” + +“To have his passport _visaed?_” + +“Yes. Passports are only good for annoying honest folks, and aiding in +the flight of rogues. I assure you it will be quite the thing for him +to do; but I hope you will not _visa_ the passport.” + +“Why not? If the passport is genuine I have no right to refuse.” + +“Still, I must keep this man here until I can get a warrant to arrest +him from London.” + +“Ah, that’s your look-out. But I cannot—” + +The consul did not finish his sentence, for as he spoke a knock was +heard at the door, and two strangers entered, one of whom was the +servant whom Fix had met on the quay. The other, who was his master, +held out his passport with the request that the consul would do him the +favour to _visa_ it. The consul took the document and carefully read +it, whilst Fix observed, or rather devoured, the stranger with his eyes +from a corner of the room. + +“You are Mr. Phileas Fogg?” said the consul, after reading the +passport. + +“I am.” + +“And this man is your servant?” + +“He is: a Frenchman, named Passepartout.” + +“You are from London?” + +“Yes.” + +“And you are going—” + +“To Bombay.” + +“Very good, sir. You know that a _visa_ is useless, and that no +passport is required?” + +“I know it, sir,” replied Phileas Fogg; “but I wish to prove, by your +_visa_, that I came by Suez.” + +“Very well, sir.” + +The consul proceeded to sign and date the passport, after which he +added his official seal. Mr. Fogg paid the customary fee, coldly bowed, +and went out, followed by his servant. + +“Well?” queried the detective. + +“Well, he looks and acts like a perfectly honest man,” replied the +consul. + +“Possibly; but that is not the question. Do you think, consul, that +this phlegmatic gentleman resembles, feature by feature, the robber +whose description I have received?” + +“I concede that; but then, you know, all descriptions—” + +“I’ll make certain of it,” interrupted Fix. “The servant seems to me +less mysterious than the master; besides, he’s a Frenchman, and can’t +help talking. Excuse me for a little while, consul.” + +Fix started off in search of Passepartout. + +Meanwhile Mr. Fogg, after leaving the consulate, repaired to the quay, +gave some orders to Passepartout, went off to the “Mongolia” in a boat, +and descended to his cabin. He took up his note-book, which contained +the following memoranda: + +“Left London, Wednesday, October 2nd, at 8.45 p.m. + +“Reached Paris, Thursday, October 3rd, at 7.20 a.m. + +“Left Paris, Thursday, at 8.40 a.m. + +“Reached Turin by Mont Cenis, Friday, October 4th, at 6.35 a.m. + +“Left Turin, Friday, at 7.20 a.m. + +“Arrived at Brindisi, Saturday, October 5th, at 4 p.m. + +“Sailed on the ‘Mongolia,’ Saturday, at 5 p.m. + +“Reached Suez, Wednesday, October 9th, at 11 a.m. + +“Total of hours spent, 158½; or, in days, six days and a half.” + +These dates were inscribed in an itinerary divided into columns, +indicating the month, the day of the month, and the day for the +stipulated and actual arrivals at each principal point Paris, Brindisi, +Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, +New York, and London—from the 2nd of October to the 21st of December; +and giving a space for setting down the gain made or the loss suffered +on arrival at each locality. This methodical record thus contained an +account of everything needed, and Mr. Fogg always knew whether he was +behind-hand or in advance of his time. On this Friday, October 9th, he +noted his arrival at Suez, and observed that he had as yet neither +gained nor lost. He sat down quietly to breakfast in his cabin, never +once thinking of inspecting the town, being one of those Englishmen who +are wont to see foreign countries through the eyes of their domestics. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT TALKS RATHER MORE, PERHAPS, THAN IS PRUDENT + + +Fix soon rejoined Passepartout, who was lounging and looking about on +the quay, as if he did not feel that he, at least, was obliged not to +see anything. + +“Well, my friend,” said the detective, coming up with him, “is your +passport _visaed?_” + +“Ah, it’s you, is it, monsieur?” responded Passepartout. “Thanks, yes, +the passport is all right.” + +“And you are looking about you?” + +“Yes; but we travel so fast that I seem to be journeying in a dream. So +this is Suez?” + +“Yes.” + +“In Egypt?” + +“Certainly, in Egypt.” + +“And in Africa?” + +“In Africa.” + +“In Africa!” repeated Passepartout. “Just think, monsieur, I had no +idea that we should go farther than Paris; and all that I saw of Paris +was between twenty minutes past seven and twenty minutes before nine in +the morning, between the Northern and the Lyons stations, through the +windows of a car, and in a driving rain! How I regret not having seen +once more Père la Chaise and the circus in the Champs Elysées!” + +“You are in a great hurry, then?” + +“I am not, but my master is. By the way, I must buy some shoes and +shirts. We came away without trunks, only with a carpet-bag.” + +“I will show you an excellent shop for getting what you want.” + +“Really, monsieur, you are very kind.” + +And they walked off together, Passepartout chatting volubly as they +went along. + +“Above all,” said he; “don’t let me lose the steamer.” + +“You have plenty of time; it’s only twelve o’clock.” + +Passepartout pulled out his big watch. “Twelve!” he exclaimed; “why, +it’s only eight minutes before ten.” + +“Your watch is slow.” + +“My watch? A family watch, monsieur, which has come down from my +great-grandfather! It doesn’t vary five minutes in the year. It’s a +perfect chronometer, look you.” + +“I see how it is,” said Fix. “You have kept London time, which is two +hours behind that of Suez. You ought to regulate your watch at noon in +each country.” + +“I regulate my watch? Never!” + +“Well, then, it will not agree with the sun.” + +“So much the worse for the sun, monsieur. The sun will be wrong, then!” + +And the worthy fellow returned the watch to its fob with a defiant +gesture. After a few minutes silence, Fix resumed: “You left London +hastily, then?” + +“I rather think so! Last Friday at eight o’clock in the evening, +Monsieur Fogg came home from his club, and three-quarters of an hour +afterwards we were off.” + +“But where is your master going?” + +“Always straight ahead. He is going round the world.” + +“Round the world?” cried Fix. + +“Yes, and in eighty days! He says it is on a wager; but, between us, I +don’t believe a word of it. That wouldn’t be common sense. There’s +something else in the wind.” + +“Ah! Mr. Fogg is a character, is he?” + +“I should say he was.” + +“Is he rich?” + +“No doubt, for he is carrying an enormous sum in brand new banknotes +with him. And he doesn’t spare the money on the way, either: he has +offered a large reward to the engineer of the ‘Mongolia’ if he gets us +to Bombay well in advance of time.” + +“And you have known your master a long time?” + +“Why, no; I entered his service the very day we left London.” + +The effect of these replies upon the already suspicious and excited +detective may be imagined. The hasty departure from London soon after +the robbery; the large sum carried by Mr. Fogg; his eagerness to reach +distant countries; the pretext of an eccentric and foolhardy bet—all +confirmed Fix in his theory. He continued to pump poor Passepartout, +and learned that he really knew little or nothing of his master, who +lived a solitary existence in London, was said to be rich, though no +one knew whence came his riches, and was mysterious and impenetrable in +his affairs and habits. Fix felt sure that Phileas Fogg would not land +at Suez, but was really going on to Bombay. + +“Is Bombay far from here?” asked Passepartout. + +“Pretty far. It is a ten days’ voyage by sea.” + +“And in what country is Bombay?” + +“India.” + +“In Asia?” + +“Certainly.” + +“The deuce! I was going to tell you there’s one thing that worries +me—my burner!” + +“What burner?” + +“My gas-burner, which I forgot to turn off, and which is at this moment +burning at my expense. I have calculated, monsieur, that I lose two +shillings every four and twenty hours, exactly sixpence more than I +earn; and you will understand that the longer our journey—” + +Did Fix pay any attention to Passepartout’s trouble about the gas? It +is not probable. He was not listening, but was cogitating a project. +Passepartout and he had now reached the shop, where Fix left his +companion to make his purchases, after recommending him not to miss the +steamer, and hurried back to the consulate. Now that he was fully +convinced, Fix had quite recovered his equanimity. + +“Consul,” said he, “I have no longer any doubt. I have spotted my man. +He passes himself off as an odd stick who is going round the world in +eighty days.” + +“Then he’s a sharp fellow,” returned the consul, “and counts on +returning to London after putting the police of the two countries off +his track.” + +“We’ll see about that,” replied Fix. + +“But are you not mistaken?” + +“I am not mistaken.” + +“Why was this robber so anxious to prove, by the _visa_, that he had +passed through Suez?” + +“Why? I have no idea; but listen to me.” + +He reported in a few words the most important parts of his conversation +with Passepartout. + +“In short,” said the consul, “appearances are wholly against this man. +And what are you going to do?” + +“Send a dispatch to London for a warrant of arrest to be dispatched +instantly to Bombay, take passage on board the ‘Mongolia,’ follow my +rogue to India, and there, on English ground, arrest him politely, with +my warrant in my hand, and my hand on his shoulder.” + +Having uttered these words with a cool, careless air, the detective +took leave of the consul, and repaired to the telegraph office, whence +he sent the dispatch which we have seen to the London police office. A +quarter of an hour later found Fix, with a small bag in his hand, +proceeding on board the “Mongolia;” and, ere many moments longer, the +noble steamer rode out at full steam upon the waters of the Red Sea. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. +IN WHICH THE RED SEA AND THE INDIAN OCEAN PROVE PROPITIOUS TO THE +DESIGNS OF PHILEAS FOGG + + +The distance between Suez and Aden is precisely thirteen hundred and +ten miles, and the regulations of the company allow the steamers one +hundred and thirty-eight hours in which to traverse it. The “Mongolia,” +thanks to the vigorous exertions of the engineer, seemed likely, so +rapid was her speed, to reach her destination considerably within that +time. The greater part of the passengers from Brindisi were bound for +India some for Bombay, others for Calcutta by way of Bombay, the +nearest route thither, now that a railway crosses the Indian peninsula. +Among the passengers was a number of officials and military officers of +various grades, the latter being either attached to the regular British +forces or commanding the Sepoy troops, and receiving high salaries ever +since the central government has assumed the powers of the East India +Company: for the sub-lieutenants get £280, brigadiers, £2,400, and +generals of divisions, £4,000. What with the military men, a number of +rich young Englishmen on their travels, and the hospitable efforts of +the purser, the time passed quickly on the “Mongolia.” The best of fare +was spread upon the cabin tables at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and the +eight o’clock supper, and the ladies scrupulously changed their toilets +twice a day; and the hours were whirled away, when the sea was +tranquil, with music, dancing, and games. + +But the Red Sea is full of caprice, and often boisterous, like most +long and narrow gulfs. When the wind came from the African or Asian +coast the “Mongolia,” with her long hull, rolled fearfully. Then the +ladies speedily disappeared below; the pianos were silent; singing and +dancing suddenly ceased. Yet the good ship ploughed straight on, +unretarded by wind or wave, towards the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. What +was Phileas Fogg doing all this time? It might be thought that, in his +anxiety, he would be constantly watching the changes of the wind, the +disorderly raging of the billows—every chance, in short, which might +force the “Mongolia” to slacken her speed, and thus interrupt his +journey. But, if he thought of these possibilities, he did not betray +the fact by any outward sign. + +Always the same impassible member of the Reform Club, whom no incident +could surprise, as unvarying as the ship’s chronometers, and seldom +having the curiosity even to go upon the deck, he passed through the +memorable scenes of the Red Sea with cold indifference; did not care to +recognise the historic towns and villages which, along its borders, +raised their picturesque outlines against the sky; and betrayed no fear +of the dangers of the Arabic Gulf, which the old historians always +spoke of with horror, and upon which the ancient navigators never +ventured without propitiating the gods by ample sacrifices. How did +this eccentric personage pass his time on the “Mongolia”? He made his +four hearty meals every day, regardless of the most persistent rolling +and pitching on the part of the steamer; and he played whist +indefatigably, for he had found partners as enthusiastic in the game as +himself. A tax-collector, on the way to his post at Goa; the Rev. +Decimus Smith, returning to his parish at Bombay; and a +brigadier-general of the English army, who was about to rejoin his +brigade at Benares, made up the party, and, with Mr. Fogg, played whist +by the hour together in absorbing silence. + +As for Passepartout, he, too, had escaped sea-sickness, and took his +meals conscientiously in the forward cabin. He rather enjoyed the +voyage, for he was well fed and well lodged, took a great interest in +the scenes through which they were passing, and consoled himself with +the delusion that his master’s whim would end at Bombay. He was +pleased, on the day after leaving Suez, to find on deck the obliging +person with whom he had walked and chatted on the quays. + +“If I am not mistaken,” said he, approaching this person, with his most +amiable smile, “you are the gentleman who so kindly volunteered to +guide me at Suez?” + +“Ah! I quite recognise you. You are the servant of the strange +Englishman—” + +“Just so, monsieur—” + +“Fix.” + +“Monsieur Fix,” resumed Passepartout, “I’m charmed to find you on +board. Where are you bound?” + +“Like you, to Bombay.” + +“That’s capital! Have you made this trip before?” + +“Several times. I am one of the agents of the Peninsular Company.” + +“Then you know India?” + +“Why yes,” replied Fix, who spoke cautiously. + +“A curious place, this India?” + +“Oh, very curious. Mosques, minarets, temples, fakirs, pagodas, tigers, +snakes, elephants! I hope you will have ample time to see the sights.” + +“I hope so, Monsieur Fix. You see, a man of sound sense ought not to +spend his life jumping from a steamer upon a railway train, and from a +railway train upon a steamer again, pretending to make the tour of the +world in eighty days! No; all these gymnastics, you may be sure, will +cease at Bombay.” + +“And Mr. Fogg is getting on well?” asked Fix, in the most natural tone +in the world. + +“Quite well, and I too. I eat like a famished ogre; it’s the sea air.” + +“But I never see your master on deck.” + +“Never; he hasn’t the least curiosity.” + +“Do you know, Mr. Passepartout, that this pretended tour in eighty days +may conceal some secret errand—perhaps a diplomatic mission?” + +“Faith, Monsieur Fix, I assure you I know nothing about it, nor would I +give half a crown to find out.” + +After this meeting, Passepartout and Fix got into the habit of chatting +together, the latter making it a point to gain the worthy man’s +confidence. He frequently offered him a glass of whiskey or pale ale in +the steamer bar-room, which Passepartout never failed to accept with +graceful alacrity, mentally pronouncing Fix the best of good fellows. + +Meanwhile the “Mongolia” was pushing forward rapidly; on the 13th, +Mocha, surrounded by its ruined walls whereon date-trees were growing, +was sighted, and on the mountains beyond were espied vast +coffee-fields. Passepartout was ravished to behold this celebrated +place, and thought that, with its circular walls and dismantled fort, +it looked like an immense coffee-cup and saucer. The following night +they passed through the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb, which means in Arabic +“The Bridge of Tears,” and the next day they put in at Steamer Point, +north-west of Aden harbour, to take in coal. This matter of fuelling +steamers is a serious one at such distances from the coal-mines; it +costs the Peninsular Company some eight hundred thousand pounds a year. +In these distant seas, coal is worth three or four pounds sterling a +ton. + +The “Mongolia” had still sixteen hundred and fifty miles to traverse +before reaching Bombay, and was obliged to remain four hours at Steamer +Point to coal up. But this delay, as it was foreseen, did not affect +Phileas Fogg’s programme; besides, the “Mongolia,” instead of reaching +Aden on the morning of the 15th, when she was due, arrived there on the +evening of the 14th, a gain of fifteen hours. + +Mr. Fogg and his servant went ashore at Aden to have the passport again +_visaed;_ Fix, unobserved, followed them. The _visa_ procured, Mr. Fogg +returned on board to resume his former habits; while Passepartout, +according to custom, sauntered about among the mixed population of +Somalis, Banyans, Parsees, Jews, Arabs, and Europeans who comprise the +twenty-five thousand inhabitants of Aden. He gazed with wonder upon the +fortifications which make this place the Gibraltar of the Indian Ocean, +and the vast cisterns where the English engineers were still at work, +two thousand years after the engineers of Solomon. + +“Very curious, _very_ curious,” said Passepartout to himself, on +returning to the steamer. “I see that it is by no means useless to +travel, if a man wants to see something new.” At six p.m. the +“Mongolia” slowly moved out of the roadstead, and was soon once more on +the Indian Ocean. She had a hundred and sixty-eight hours in which to +reach Bombay, and the sea was favourable, the wind being in the +north-west, and all sails aiding the engine. The steamer rolled but +little, the ladies, in fresh toilets, reappeared on deck, and the +singing and dancing were resumed. The trip was being accomplished most +successfully, and Passepartout was enchanted with the congenial +companion which chance had secured him in the person of the delightful +Fix. On Sunday, October 20th, towards noon, they came in sight of the +Indian coast: two hours later the pilot came on board. A range of hills +lay against the sky in the horizon, and soon the rows of palms which +adorn Bombay came distinctly into view. The steamer entered the road +formed by the islands in the bay, and at half-past four she hauled up +at the quays of Bombay. + +Phileas Fogg was in the act of finishing the thirty-third rubber of the +voyage, and his partner and himself having, by a bold stroke, captured +all thirteen of the tricks, concluded this fine campaign with a +brilliant victory. + +The “Mongolia” was due at Bombay on the 22nd; she arrived on the 20th. +This was a gain to Phileas Fogg of two days since his departure from +London, and he calmly entered the fact in the itinerary, in the column +of gains. + + + + +CHAPTER X. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT IS ONLY TOO GLAD TO GET OFF WITH THE LOSS OF HIS +SHOES + + +Everybody knows that the great reversed triangle of land, with its base +in the north and its apex in the south, which is called India, embraces +fourteen hundred thousand square miles, upon which is spread unequally +a population of one hundred and eighty millions of souls. The British +Crown exercises a real and despotic dominion over the larger portion of +this vast country, and has a governor-general stationed at Calcutta, +governors at Madras, Bombay, and in Bengal, and a lieutenant-governor +at Agra. + +But British India, properly so called, only embraces seven hundred +thousand square miles, and a population of from one hundred to one +hundred and ten millions of inhabitants. A considerable portion of +India is still free from British authority; and there are certain +ferocious rajahs in the interior who are absolutely independent. The +celebrated East India Company was all-powerful from 1756, when the +English first gained a foothold on the spot where now stands the city +of Madras, down to the time of the great Sepoy insurrection. It +gradually annexed province after province, purchasing them of the +native chiefs, whom it seldom paid, and appointed the governor-general +and his subordinates, civil and military. But the East India Company +has now passed away, leaving the British possessions in India directly +under the control of the Crown. The aspect of the country, as well as +the manners and distinctions of race, is daily changing. + +Formerly one was obliged to travel in India by the old cumbrous methods +of going on foot or on horseback, in palanquins or unwieldy coaches; +now fast steamboats ply on the Indus and the Ganges, and a great +railway, with branch lines joining the main line at many points on its +route, traverses the peninsula from Bombay to Calcutta in three days. +This railway does not run in a direct line across India. The distance +between Bombay and Calcutta, as the bird flies, is only from one +thousand to eleven hundred miles; but the deflections of the road +increase this distance by more than a third. + +The general route of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway is as follows: +Leaving Bombay, it passes through Salcette, crossing to the continent +opposite Tannah, goes over the chain of the Western Ghauts, runs thence +north-east as far as Burhampoor, skirts the nearly independent +territory of Bundelcund, ascends to Allahabad, turns thence eastwardly, +meeting the Ganges at Benares, then departs from the river a little, +and, descending south-eastward by Burdivan and the French town of +Chandernagor, has its terminus at Calcutta. + +The passengers of the “Mongolia” went ashore at half-past four p.m.; at +exactly eight the train would start for Calcutta. + +Mr. Fogg, after bidding good-bye to his whist partners, left the +steamer, gave his servant several errands to do, urged it upon him to +be at the station promptly at eight, and, with his regular step, which +beat to the second, like an astronomical clock, directed his steps to +the passport office. As for the wonders of Bombay—its famous city hall, +its splendid library, its forts and docks, its bazaars, mosques, +synagogues, its Armenian churches, and the noble pagoda on Malabar +Hill, with its two polygonal towers—he cared not a straw to see them. +He would not deign to examine even the masterpieces of Elephanta, or +the mysterious hypogea, concealed south-east from the docks, or those +fine remains of Buddhist architecture, the Kanherian grottoes of the +island of Salcette. + +Having transacted his business at the passport office, Phileas Fogg +repaired quietly to the railway station, where he ordered dinner. Among +the dishes served up to him, the landlord especially recommended a +certain giblet of “native rabbit,” on which he prided himself. + +Mr. Fogg accordingly tasted the dish, but, despite its spiced sauce, +found it far from palatable. He rang for the landlord, and, on his +appearance, said, fixing his clear eyes upon him, “Is this rabbit, +sir?” + +“Yes, my lord,” the rogue boldly replied, “rabbit from the jungles.” + +“And this rabbit did not mew when he was killed?” + +“Mew, my lord! What, a rabbit mew! I swear to you—” + +“Be so good, landlord, as not to swear, but remember this: cats were +formerly considered, in India, as sacred animals. That was a good +time.” + +“For the cats, my lord?” + +“Perhaps for the travellers as well!” + +After which Mr. Fogg quietly continued his dinner. Fix had gone on +shore shortly after Mr. Fogg, and his first destination was the +headquarters of the Bombay police. He made himself known as a London +detective, told his business at Bombay, and the position of affairs +relative to the supposed robber, and nervously asked if a warrant had +arrived from London. It had not reached the office; indeed, there had +not yet been time for it to arrive. Fix was sorely disappointed, and +tried to obtain an order of arrest from the director of the Bombay +police. This the director refused, as the matter concerned the London +office, which alone could legally deliver the warrant. Fix did not +insist, and was fain to resign himself to await the arrival of the +important document; but he was determined not to lose sight of the +mysterious rogue as long as he stayed in Bombay. He did not doubt for a +moment, any more than Passepartout, that Phileas Fogg would remain +there, at least until it was time for the warrant to arrive. + +Passepartout, however, had no sooner heard his master’s orders on +leaving the “Mongolia” than he saw at once that they were to leave +Bombay as they had done Suez and Paris, and that the journey would be +extended at least as far as Calcutta, and perhaps beyond that place. He +began to ask himself if this bet that Mr. Fogg talked about was not +really in good earnest, and whether his fate was not in truth forcing +him, despite his love of repose, around the world in eighty days! + +Having purchased the usual quota of shirts and shoes, he took a +leisurely promenade about the streets, where crowds of people of many +nationalities—Europeans, Persians with pointed caps, Banyas with round +turbans, Sindes with square bonnets, Parsees with black mitres, and +long-robed Armenians—were collected. It happened to be the day of a +Parsee festival. These descendants of the sect of Zoroaster—the most +thrifty, civilised, intelligent, and austere of the East Indians, among +whom are counted the richest native merchants of Bombay—were +celebrating a sort of religious carnival, with processions and shows, +in the midst of which Indian dancing-girls, clothed in rose-coloured +gauze, looped up with gold and silver, danced airily, but with perfect +modesty, to the sound of viols and the clanging of tambourines. It is +needless to say that Passepartout watched these curious ceremonies with +staring eyes and gaping mouth, and that his countenance was that of the +greenest booby imaginable. + +Unhappily for his master, as well as himself, his curiosity drew him +unconsciously farther off than he intended to go. At last, having seen +the Parsee carnival wind away in the distance, he was turning his steps +towards the station, when he happened to espy the splendid pagoda on +Malabar Hill, and was seized with an irresistible desire to see its +interior. He was quite ignorant that it is forbidden to Christians to +enter certain Indian temples, and that even the faithful must not go in +without first leaving their shoes outside the door. It may be said here +that the wise policy of the British Government severely punishes a +disregard of the practices of the native religions. + +Passepartout, however, thinking no harm, went in like a simple tourist, +and was soon lost in admiration of the splendid Brahmin ornamentation +which everywhere met his eyes, when of a sudden he found himself +sprawling on the sacred flagging. He looked up to behold three enraged +priests, who forthwith fell upon him; tore off his shoes, and began to +beat him with loud, savage exclamations. The agile Frenchman was soon +upon his feet again, and lost no time in knocking down two of his +long-gowned adversaries with his fists and a vigorous application of +his toes; then, rushing out of the pagoda as fast as his legs could +carry him, he soon escaped the third priest by mingling with the crowd +in the streets. + +At five minutes before eight, Passepartout, hatless, shoeless, and +having in the squabble lost his package of shirts and shoes, rushed +breathlessly into the station. + +Fix, who had followed Mr. Fogg to the station, and saw that he was +really going to leave Bombay, was there, upon the platform. He had +resolved to follow the supposed robber to Calcutta, and farther, if +necessary. Passepartout did not observe the detective, who stood in an +obscure corner; but Fix heard him relate his adventures in a few words +to Mr. Fogg. + +“I hope that this will not happen again,” said Phileas Fogg coldly, as +he got into the train. Poor Passepartout, quite crestfallen, followed +his master without a word. Fix was on the point of entering another +carriage, when an idea struck him which induced him to alter his plan. + +“No, I’ll stay,” muttered he. “An offence has been committed on Indian +soil. I’ve got my man.” + +Just then the locomotive gave a sharp screech, and the train passed out +into the darkness of the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SECURES A CURIOUS MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AT A +FABULOUS PRICE + + +The train had started punctually. Among the passengers were a number of +officers, Government officials, and opium and indigo merchants, whose +business called them to the eastern coast. Passepartout rode in the +same carriage with his master, and a third passenger occupied a seat +opposite to them. This was Sir Francis Cromarty, one of Mr. Fogg’s +whist partners on the “Mongolia,” now on his way to join his corps at +Benares. Sir Francis was a tall, fair man of fifty, who had greatly +distinguished himself in the last Sepoy revolt. He made India his home, +only paying brief visits to England at rare intervals; and was almost +as familiar as a native with the customs, history, and character of +India and its people. But Phileas Fogg, who was not travelling, but +only describing a circumference, took no pains to inquire into these +subjects; he was a solid body, traversing an orbit around the +terrestrial globe, according to the laws of rational mechanics. He was +at this moment calculating in his mind the number of hours spent since +his departure from London, and, had it been in his nature to make a +useless demonstration, would have rubbed his hands for satisfaction. +Sir Francis Cromarty had observed the oddity of his travelling +companion—although the only opportunity he had for studying him had +been while he was dealing the cards, and between two rubbers—and +questioned himself whether a human heart really beat beneath this cold +exterior, and whether Phileas Fogg had any sense of the beauties of +nature. The brigadier-general was free to mentally confess that, of all +the eccentric persons he had ever met, none was comparable to this +product of the exact sciences. + +Phileas Fogg had not concealed from Sir Francis his design of going +round the world, nor the circumstances under which he set out; and the +general only saw in the wager a useless eccentricity and a lack of +sound common sense. In the way this strange gentleman was going on, he +would leave the world without having done any good to himself or +anybody else. + +An hour after leaving Bombay the train had passed the viaducts and the +Island of Salcette, and had got into the open country. At Callyan they +reached the junction of the branch line which descends towards +south-eastern India by Kandallah and Pounah; and, passing Pauwell, they +entered the defiles of the mountains, with their basalt bases, and +their summits crowned with thick and verdant forests. Phileas Fogg and +Sir Francis Cromarty exchanged a few words from time to time, and now +Sir Francis, reviving the conversation, observed, “Some years ago, Mr. +Fogg, you would have met with a delay at this point which would +probably have lost you your wager.” + +“How so, Sir Francis?” + +“Because the railway stopped at the base of these mountains, which the +passengers were obliged to cross in palanquins or on ponies to +Kandallah, on the other side.” + +“Such a delay would not have deranged my plans in the least,” said Mr. +Fogg. “I have constantly foreseen the likelihood of certain obstacles.” + +“But, Mr. Fogg,” pursued Sir Francis, “you run the risk of having some +difficulty about this worthy fellow’s adventure at the pagoda.” +Passepartout, his feet comfortably wrapped in his travelling-blanket, +was sound asleep and did not dream that anybody was talking about him. +“The Government is very severe upon that kind of offence. It takes +particular care that the religious customs of the Indians should be +respected, and if your servant were caught—” + +“Very well, Sir Francis,” replied Mr. Fogg; “if he had been caught he +would have been condemned and punished, and then would have quietly +returned to Europe. I don’t see how this affair could have delayed his +master.” + +The conversation fell again. During the night the train left the +mountains behind, and passed Nassik, and the next day proceeded over +the flat, well-cultivated country of the Khandeish, with its straggling +villages, above which rose the minarets of the pagodas. This fertile +territory is watered by numerous small rivers and limpid streams, +mostly tributaries of the Godavery. + +Passepartout, on waking and looking out, could not realise that he was +actually crossing India in a railway train. The locomotive, guided by +an English engineer and fed with English coal, threw out its smoke upon +cotton, coffee, nutmeg, clove, and pepper plantations, while the steam +curled in spirals around groups of palm-trees, in the midst of which +were seen picturesque bungalows, viharis (sort of abandoned +monasteries), and marvellous temples enriched by the exhaustless +ornamentation of Indian architecture. Then they came upon vast tracts +extending to the horizon, with jungles inhabited by snakes and tigers, +which fled at the noise of the train; succeeded by forests penetrated +by the railway, and still haunted by elephants which, with pensive +eyes, gazed at the train as it passed. The travellers crossed, beyond +Milligaum, the fatal country so often stained with blood by the +sectaries of the goddess Kali. Not far off rose Ellora, with its +graceful pagodas, and the famous Aurungabad, capital of the ferocious +Aureng-Zeb, now the chief town of one of the detached provinces of the +kingdom of the Nizam. It was thereabouts that Feringhea, the Thuggee +chief, king of the stranglers, held his sway. These ruffians, united by +a secret bond, strangled victims of every age in honour of the goddess +Death, without ever shedding blood; there was a period when this part +of the country could scarcely be travelled over without corpses being +found in every direction. The English Government has succeeded in +greatly diminishing these murders, though the Thuggees still exist, and +pursue the exercise of their horrible rites. + +At half-past twelve the train stopped at Burhampoor where Passepartout +was able to purchase some Indian slippers, ornamented with false +pearls, in which, with evident vanity, he proceeded to encase his feet. +The travellers made a hasty breakfast and started off for Assurghur, +after skirting for a little the banks of the small river Tapty, which +empties into the Gulf of Cambray, near Surat. + +Passepartout was now plunged into absorbing reverie. Up to his arrival +at Bombay, he had entertained hopes that their journey would end there; +but, now that they were plainly whirling across India at full speed, a +sudden change had come over the spirit of his dreams. His old vagabond +nature returned to him; the fantastic ideas of his youth once more took +possession of him. He came to regard his master’s project as intended +in good earnest, believed in the reality of the bet, and therefore in +the tour of the world and the necessity of making it without fail +within the designated period. Already he began to worry about possible +delays, and accidents which might happen on the way. He recognised +himself as being personally interested in the wager, and trembled at +the thought that he might have been the means of losing it by his +unpardonable folly of the night before. Being much less cool-headed +than Mr. Fogg, he was much more restless, counting and recounting the +days passed over, uttering maledictions when the train stopped, and +accusing it of sluggishness, and mentally blaming Mr. Fogg for not +having bribed the engineer. The worthy fellow was ignorant that, while +it was possible by such means to hasten the rate of a steamer, it could +not be done on the railway. + +The train entered the defiles of the Sutpour Mountains, which separate +the Khandeish from Bundelcund, towards evening. The next day Sir +Francis Cromarty asked Passepartout what time it was; to which, on +consulting his watch, he replied that it was three in the morning. This +famous timepiece, always regulated on the Greenwich meridian, which was +now some seventy-seven degrees westward, was at least four hours slow. +Sir Francis corrected Passepartout’s time, whereupon the latter made +the same remark that he had done to Fix; and upon the general insisting +that the watch should be regulated in each new meridian, since he was +constantly going eastward, that is in the face of the sun, and +therefore the days were shorter by four minutes for each degree gone +over, Passepartout obstinately refused to alter his watch, which he +kept at London time. It was an innocent delusion which could harm no +one. + +The train stopped, at eight o’clock, in the midst of a glade some +fifteen miles beyond Rothal, where there were several bungalows, and +workmen’s cabins. The conductor, passing along the carriages, shouted, +“Passengers will get out here!” + +Phileas Fogg looked at Sir Francis Cromarty for an explanation; but the +general could not tell what meant a halt in the midst of this forest of +dates and acacias. + +Passepartout, not less surprised, rushed out and speedily returned, +crying: “Monsieur, no more railway!” + +“What do you mean?” asked Sir Francis. + +“I mean to say that the train isn’t going on.” + +The general at once stepped out, while Phileas Fogg calmly followed +him, and they proceeded together to the conductor. + +“Where are we?” asked Sir Francis. + +“At the hamlet of Kholby.” + +“Do we stop here?” + +“Certainly. The railway isn’t finished.” + +“What! not finished?” + +“No. There’s still a matter of fifty miles to be laid from here to +Allahabad, where the line begins again.” + +“But the papers announced the opening of the railway throughout.” + +“What would you have, officer? The papers were mistaken.” + +“Yet you sell tickets from Bombay to Calcutta,” retorted Sir Francis, +who was growing warm. + +“No doubt,” replied the conductor; “but the passengers know that they +must provide means of transportation for themselves from Kholby to +Allahabad.” + +Sir Francis was furious. Passepartout would willingly have knocked the +conductor down, and did not dare to look at his master. + +“Sir Francis,” said Mr. Fogg quietly, “we will, if you please, look +about for some means of conveyance to Allahabad.” + +“Mr. Fogg, this is a delay greatly to your disadvantage.” + +“No, Sir Francis; it was foreseen.” + +“What! You knew that the way—” + +“Not at all; but I knew that some obstacle or other would sooner or +later arise on my route. Nothing, therefore, is lost. I have two days, +which I have already gained, to sacrifice. A steamer leaves Calcutta +for Hong Kong at noon, on the 25th. This is the 22nd, and we shall +reach Calcutta in time.” + +There was nothing to say to so confident a response. + +It was but too true that the railway came to a termination at this +point. The papers were like some watches, which have a way of getting +too fast, and had been premature in their announcement of the +completion of the line. The greater part of the travellers were aware +of this interruption, and, leaving the train, they began to engage such +vehicles as the village could provide four-wheeled palkigharis, waggons +drawn by zebus, carriages that looked like perambulating pagodas, +palanquins, ponies, and what not. + +Mr. Fogg and Sir Francis Cromarty, after searching the village from end +to end, came back without having found anything. + +“I shall go afoot,” said Phileas Fogg. + +Passepartout, who had now rejoined his master, made a wry grimace, as +he thought of his magnificent, but too frail Indian shoes. Happily he +too had been looking about him, and, after a moment’s hesitation, said, +“Monsieur, I think I have found a means of conveyance.” + +“What?” + +“An elephant! An elephant that belongs to an Indian who lives but a +hundred steps from here.” + +“Let’s go and see the elephant,” replied Mr. Fogg. + +They soon reached a small hut, near which, enclosed within some high +palings, was the animal in question. An Indian came out of the hut, +and, at their request, conducted them within the enclosure. The +elephant, which its owner had reared, not for a beast of burden, but +for warlike purposes, was half domesticated. The Indian had begun +already, by often irritating him, and feeding him every three months on +sugar and butter, to impart to him a ferocity not in his nature, this +method being often employed by those who train the Indian elephants for +battle. Happily, however, for Mr. Fogg, the animal’s instruction in +this direction had not gone far, and the elephant still preserved his +natural gentleness. Kiouni—this was the name of the beast—could +doubtless travel rapidly for a long time, and, in default of any other +means of conveyance, Mr. Fogg resolved to hire him. But elephants are +far from cheap in India, where they are becoming scarce, the males, +which alone are suitable for circus shows, are much sought, especially +as but few of them are domesticated. When therefore Mr. Fogg proposed +to the Indian to hire Kiouni, he refused point-blank. Mr. Fogg +persisted, offering the excessive sum of ten pounds an hour for the +loan of the beast to Allahabad. Refused. Twenty pounds? Refused also. +Forty pounds? Still refused. Passepartout jumped at each advance; but +the Indian declined to be tempted. Yet the offer was an alluring one, +for, supposing it took the elephant fifteen hours to reach Allahabad, +his owner would receive no less than six hundred pounds sterling. + +Phileas Fogg, without getting in the least flurried, then proposed to +purchase the animal outright, and at first offered a thousand pounds +for him. The Indian, perhaps thinking he was going to make a great +bargain, still refused. + +Sir Francis Cromarty took Mr. Fogg aside, and begged him to reflect +before he went any further; to which that gentleman replied that he was +not in the habit of acting rashly, that a bet of twenty thousand pounds +was at stake, that the elephant was absolutely necessary to him, and +that he would secure him if he had to pay twenty times his value. +Returning to the Indian, whose small, sharp eyes, glistening with +avarice, betrayed that with him it was only a question of how great a +price he could obtain. Mr. Fogg offered first twelve hundred, then +fifteen hundred, eighteen hundred, two thousand pounds. Passepartout, +usually so rubicund, was fairly white with suspense. + +At two thousand pounds the Indian yielded. + +“What a price, good heavens!” cried Passepartout, “for an elephant.” + +It only remained now to find a guide, which was comparatively easy. A +young Parsee, with an intelligent face, offered his services, which Mr. +Fogg accepted, promising so generous a reward as to materially +stimulate his zeal. The elephant was led out and equipped. The Parsee, +who was an accomplished elephant driver, covered his back with a sort +of saddle-cloth, and attached to each of his flanks some curiously +uncomfortable howdahs. Phileas Fogg paid the Indian with some banknotes +which he extracted from the famous carpet-bag, a proceeding that seemed +to deprive poor Passepartout of his vitals. Then he offered to carry +Sir Francis to Allahabad, which the brigadier gratefully accepted, as +one traveller the more would not be likely to fatigue the gigantic +beast. Provisions were purchased at Kholby, and, while Sir Francis and +Mr. Fogg took the howdahs on either side, Passepartout got astride the +saddle-cloth between them. The Parsee perched himself on the elephant’s +neck, and at nine o’clock they set out from the village, the animal +marching off through the dense forest of palms by the shortest cut. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND HIS COMPANIONS VENTURE ACROSS THE INDIAN +FORESTS, AND WHAT ENSUED + + +In order to shorten the journey, the guide passed to the left of the +line where the railway was still in process of being built. This line, +owing to the capricious turnings of the Vindhia Mountains, did not +pursue a straight course. The Parsee, who was quite familiar with the +roads and paths in the district, declared that they would gain twenty +miles by striking directly through the forest. + +Phileas Fogg and Sir Francis Cromarty, plunged to the neck in the +peculiar howdahs provided for them, were horribly jostled by the swift +trotting of the elephant, spurred on as he was by the skilful Parsee; +but they endured the discomfort with true British phlegm, talking +little, and scarcely able to catch a glimpse of each other. As for +Passepartout, who was mounted on the beast’s back, and received the +direct force of each concussion as he trod along, he was very careful, +in accordance with his master’s advice, to keep his tongue from between +his teeth, as it would otherwise have been bitten off short. The worthy +fellow bounced from the elephant’s neck to his rump, and vaulted like a +clown on a spring-board; yet he laughed in the midst of his bouncing, +and from time to time took a piece of sugar out of his pocket, and +inserted it in Kiouni’s trunk, who received it without in the least +slackening his regular trot. + +After two hours the guide stopped the elephant, and gave him an hour +for rest, during which Kiouni, after quenching his thirst at a +neighbouring spring, set to devouring the branches and shrubs round +about him. Neither Sir Francis nor Mr. Fogg regretted the delay, and +both descended with a feeling of relief. “Why, he’s made of iron!” +exclaimed the general, gazing admiringly on Kiouni. + +“Of forged iron,” replied Passepartout, as he set about preparing a +hasty breakfast. + +At noon the Parsee gave the signal of departure. The country soon +presented a very savage aspect. Copses of dates and dwarf-palms +succeeded the dense forests; then vast, dry plains, dotted with scanty +shrubs, and sown with great blocks of syenite. All this portion of +Bundelcund, which is little frequented by travellers, is inhabited by a +fanatical population, hardened in the most horrible practices of the +Hindoo faith. The English have not been able to secure complete +dominion over this territory, which is subjected to the influence of +rajahs, whom it is almost impossible to reach in their inaccessible +mountain fastnesses. The travellers several times saw bands of +ferocious Indians, who, when they perceived the elephant striding +across-country, made angry and threatening motions. The Parsee avoided +them as much as possible. Few animals were observed on the route; even +the monkeys hurried from their path with contortions and grimaces which +convulsed Passepartout with laughter. + +In the midst of his gaiety, however, one thought troubled the worthy +servant. What would Mr. Fogg do with the elephant when he got to +Allahabad? Would he carry him on with him? Impossible! The cost of +transporting him would make him ruinously expensive. Would he sell him, +or set him free? The estimable beast certainly deserved some +consideration. Should Mr. Fogg choose to make him, Passepartout, a +present of Kiouni, he would be very much embarrassed; and these +thoughts did not cease worrying him for a long time. + +The principal chain of the Vindhias was crossed by eight in the +evening, and another halt was made on the northern slope, in a ruined +bungalow. They had gone nearly twenty-five miles that day, and an equal +distance still separated them from the station of Allahabad. + +The night was cold. The Parsee lit a fire in the bungalow with a few +dry branches, and the warmth was very grateful, provisions purchased at +Kholby sufficed for supper, and the travellers ate ravenously. The +conversation, beginning with a few disconnected phrases, soon gave +place to loud and steady snores. The guide watched Kiouni, who slept +standing, bolstering himself against the trunk of a large tree. Nothing +occurred during the night to disturb the slumberers, although +occasional growls from panthers and chatterings of monkeys broke the +silence; the more formidable beasts made no cries or hostile +demonstration against the occupants of the bungalow. Sir Francis slept +heavily, like an honest soldier overcome with fatigue. Passepartout was +wrapped in uneasy dreams of the bouncing of the day before. As for Mr. +Fogg, he slumbered as peacefully as if he had been in his serene +mansion in Saville Row. + +The journey was resumed at six in the morning; the guide hoped to reach +Allahabad by evening. In that case, Mr. Fogg would only lose a part of +the forty-eight hours saved since the beginning of the tour. Kiouni, +resuming his rapid gait, soon descended the lower spurs of the +Vindhias, and towards noon they passed by the village of Kallenger, on +the Cani, one of the branches of the Ganges. The guide avoided +inhabited places, thinking it safer to keep the open country, which +lies along the first depressions of the basin of the great river. +Allahabad was now only twelve miles to the north-east. They stopped +under a clump of bananas, the fruit of which, as healthy as bread and +as succulent as cream, was amply partaken of and appreciated. + +At two o’clock the guide entered a thick forest which extended several +miles; he preferred to travel under cover of the woods. They had not as +yet had any unpleasant encounters, and the journey seemed on the point +of being successfully accomplished, when the elephant, becoming +restless, suddenly stopped. + +It was then four o’clock. + +“What’s the matter?” asked Sir Francis, putting out his head. + +“I don’t know, officer,” replied the Parsee, listening attentively to a +confused murmur which came through the thick branches. + +The murmur soon became more distinct; it now seemed like a distant +concert of human voices accompanied by brass instruments. Passepartout +was all eyes and ears. Mr. Fogg patiently waited without a word. The +Parsee jumped to the ground, fastened the elephant to a tree, and +plunged into the thicket. He soon returned, saying: + +“A procession of Brahmins is coming this way. We must prevent their +seeing us, if possible.” + +The guide unloosed the elephant and led him into a thicket, at the same +time asking the travellers not to stir. He held himself ready to +bestride the animal at a moment’s notice, should flight become +necessary; but he evidently thought that the procession of the faithful +would pass without perceiving them amid the thick foliage, in which +they were wholly concealed. + +The discordant tones of the voices and instruments drew nearer, and now +droning songs mingled with the sound of the tambourines and cymbals. +The head of the procession soon appeared beneath the trees, a hundred +paces away; and the strange figures who performed the religious +ceremony were easily distinguished through the branches. First came the +priests, with mitres on their heads, and clothed in long lace robes. +They were surrounded by men, women, and children, who sang a kind of +lugubrious psalm, interrupted at regular intervals by the tambourines +and cymbals; while behind them was drawn a car with large wheels, the +spokes of which represented serpents entwined with each other. Upon the +car, which was drawn by four richly caparisoned zebus, stood a hideous +statue with four arms, the body coloured a dull red, with haggard eyes, +dishevelled hair, protruding tongue, and lips tinted with betel. It +stood upright upon the figure of a prostrate and headless giant. + +Sir Francis, recognising the statue, whispered, “The goddess Kali; the +goddess of love and death.” + +“Of death, perhaps,” muttered back Passepartout, “but of love—that ugly +old hag? Never!” + +The Parsee made a motion to keep silence. + +A group of old fakirs were capering and making a wild ado round the +statue; these were striped with ochre, and covered with cuts whence +their blood issued drop by drop—stupid fanatics, who, in the great +Indian ceremonies, still throw themselves under the wheels of +Juggernaut. Some Brahmins, clad in all the sumptuousness of Oriental +apparel, and leading a woman who faltered at every step, followed. This +woman was young, and as fair as a European. Her head and neck, +shoulders, ears, arms, hands, and toes were loaded down with jewels and +gems with bracelets, earrings, and rings; while a tunic bordered with +gold, and covered with a light muslin robe, betrayed the outline of her +form. + +The guards who followed the young woman presented a violent contrast to +her, armed as they were with naked sabres hung at their waists, and +long damascened pistols, and bearing a corpse on a palanquin. It was +the body of an old man, gorgeously arrayed in the habiliments of a +rajah, wearing, as in life, a turban embroidered with pearls, a robe of +tissue of silk and gold, a scarf of cashmere sewed with diamonds, and +the magnificent weapons of a Hindoo prince. Next came the musicians and +a rearguard of capering fakirs, whose cries sometimes drowned the noise +of the instruments; these closed the procession. + +Sir Francis watched the procession with a sad countenance, and, turning +to the guide, said, “A suttee.” + +The Parsee nodded, and put his finger to his lips. The procession +slowly wound under the trees, and soon its last ranks disappeared in +the depths of the wood. The songs gradually died away; occasionally +cries were heard in the distance, until at last all was silence again. + +Phileas Fogg had heard what Sir Francis said, and, as soon as the +procession had disappeared, asked: “What is a suttee?” + +“A suttee,” returned the general, “is a human sacrifice, but a +voluntary one. The woman you have just seen will be burned to-morrow at +the dawn of day.” + +“Oh, the scoundrels!” cried Passepartout, who could not repress his +indignation. + +“And the corpse?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“Is that of the prince, her husband,” said the guide; “an independent +rajah of Bundelcund.” + +“Is it possible,” resumed Phileas Fogg, his voice betraying not the +least emotion, “that these barbarous customs still exist in India, and +that the English have been unable to put a stop to them?” + +“These sacrifices do not occur in the larger portion of India,” replied +Sir Francis; “but we have no power over these savage territories, and +especially here in Bundelcund. The whole district north of the Vindhias +is the theatre of incessant murders and pillage.” + +“The poor wretch!” exclaimed Passepartout, “to be burned alive!” + +“Yes,” returned Sir Francis, “burned alive. And, if she were not, you +cannot conceive what treatment she would be obliged to submit to from +her relatives. They would shave off her hair, feed her on a scanty +allowance of rice, treat her with contempt; she would be looked upon as +an unclean creature, and would die in some corner, like a scurvy dog. +The prospect of so frightful an existence drives these poor creatures +to the sacrifice much more than love or religious fanaticism. +Sometimes, however, the sacrifice is really voluntary, and it requires +the active interference of the Government to prevent it. Several years +ago, when I was living at Bombay, a young widow asked permission of the +governor to be burned along with her husband’s body; but, as you may +imagine, he refused. The woman left the town, took refuge with an +independent rajah, and there carried out her self-devoted purpose.” + +While Sir Francis was speaking, the guide shook his head several times, +and now said: “The sacrifice which will take place to-morrow at dawn is +not a voluntary one.” + +“How do you know?” + +“Everybody knows about this affair in Bundelcund.” + +“But the wretched creature did not seem to be making any resistance,” +observed Sir Francis. + +“That was because they had intoxicated her with fumes of hemp and +opium.” + +“But where are they taking her?” + +“To the pagoda of Pillaji, two miles from here; she will pass the night +there.” + +“And the sacrifice will take place—” + +“To-morrow, at the first light of dawn.” + +The guide now led the elephant out of the thicket, and leaped upon his +neck. Just at the moment that he was about to urge Kiouni forward with +a peculiar whistle, Mr. Fogg stopped him, and, turning to Sir Francis +Cromarty, said, “Suppose we save this woman.” + +“Save the woman, Mr. Fogg!” + +“I have yet twelve hours to spare; I can devote them to that.” + +“Why, you are a man of heart!” + +“Sometimes,” replied Phileas Fogg, quietly; “when I have the time.” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT RECEIVES A NEW PROOF THAT FORTUNE FAVORS THE +BRAVE + + +The project was a bold one, full of difficulty, perhaps impracticable. +Mr. Fogg was going to risk life, or at least liberty, and therefore the +success of his tour. But he did not hesitate, and he found in Sir +Francis Cromarty an enthusiastic ally. + +As for Passepartout, he was ready for anything that might be proposed. +His master’s idea charmed him; he perceived a heart, a soul, under that +icy exterior. He began to love Phileas Fogg. + +There remained the guide: what course would he adopt? Would he not take +part with the Indians? In default of his assistance, it was necessary +to be assured of his neutrality. + +Sir Francis frankly put the question to him. + +“Officers,” replied the guide, “I am a Parsee, and this woman is a +Parsee. Command me as you will.” + +“Excellent!” said Mr. Fogg. + +“However,” resumed the guide, “it is certain, not only that we shall +risk our lives, but horrible tortures, if we are taken.” + +“That is foreseen,” replied Mr. Fogg. “I think we must wait till night +before acting.” + +“I think so,” said the guide. + +The worthy Indian then gave some account of the victim, who, he said, +was a celebrated beauty of the Parsee race, and the daughter of a +wealthy Bombay merchant. She had received a thoroughly English +education in that city, and, from her manners and intelligence, would +be thought an European. Her name was Aouda. Left an orphan, she was +married against her will to the old rajah of Bundelcund; and, knowing +the fate that awaited her, she escaped, was retaken, and devoted by the +rajah’s relatives, who had an interest in her death, to the sacrifice +from which it seemed she could not escape. + +The Parsee’s narrative only confirmed Mr. Fogg and his companions in +their generous design. It was decided that the guide should direct the +elephant towards the pagoda of Pillaji, which he accordingly approached +as quickly as possible. They halted, half an hour afterwards, in a +copse, some five hundred feet from the pagoda, where they were well +concealed; but they could hear the groans and cries of the fakirs +distinctly. + +They then discussed the means of getting at the victim. The guide was +familiar with the pagoda of Pillaji, in which, as he declared, the +young woman was imprisoned. Could they enter any of its doors while the +whole party of Indians was plunged in a drunken sleep, or was it safer +to attempt to make a hole in the walls? This could only be determined +at the moment and the place themselves; but it was certain that the +abduction must be made that night, and not when, at break of day, the +victim was led to her funeral pyre. Then no human intervention could +save her. + +As soon as night fell, about six o’clock, they decided to make a +reconnaissance around the pagoda. The cries of the fakirs were just +ceasing; the Indians were in the act of plunging themselves into the +drunkenness caused by liquid opium mingled with hemp, and it might be +possible to slip between them to the temple itself. + +The Parsee, leading the others, noiselessly crept through the wood, and +in ten minutes they found themselves on the banks of a small stream, +whence, by the light of the rosin torches, they perceived a pyre of +wood, on the top of which lay the embalmed body of the rajah, which was +to be burned with his wife. The pagoda, whose minarets loomed above the +trees in the deepening dusk, stood a hundred steps away. + +“Come!” whispered the guide. + +He slipped more cautiously than ever through the brush, followed by his +companions; the silence around was only broken by the low murmuring of +the wind among the branches. + +Soon the Parsee stopped on the borders of the glade, which was lit up +by the torches. The ground was covered by groups of the Indians, +motionless in their drunken sleep; it seemed a battlefield strewn with +the dead. Men, women, and children lay together. + +In the background, among the trees, the pagoda of Pillaji loomed +distinctly. Much to the guide’s disappointment, the guards of the +rajah, lighted by torches, were watching at the doors and marching to +and fro with naked sabres; probably the priests, too, were watching +within. + +The Parsee, now convinced that it was impossible to force an entrance +to the temple, advanced no farther, but led his companions back again. +Phileas Fogg and Sir Francis Cromarty also saw that nothing could be +attempted in that direction. They stopped, and engaged in a whispered +colloquy. + +“It is only eight now,” said the brigadier, “and these guards may also +go to sleep.” + +“It is not impossible,” returned the Parsee. + +They lay down at the foot of a tree, and waited. + +The time seemed long; the guide ever and anon left them to take an +observation on the edge of the wood, but the guards watched steadily by +the glare of the torches, and a dim light crept through the windows of +the pagoda. + +They waited till midnight; but no change took place among the guards, +and it became apparent that their yielding to sleep could not be +counted on. The other plan must be carried out; an opening in the walls +of the pagoda must be made. It remained to ascertain whether the +priests were watching by the side of their victim as assiduously as +were the soldiers at the door. + +After a last consultation, the guide announced that he was ready for +the attempt, and advanced, followed by the others. They took a +roundabout way, so as to get at the pagoda on the rear. They reached +the walls about half-past twelve, without having met anyone; here there +was no guard, nor were there either windows or doors. + +The night was dark. The moon, on the wane, scarcely left the horizon, +and was covered with heavy clouds; the height of the trees deepened the +darkness. + +It was not enough to reach the walls; an opening in them must be +accomplished, and to attain this purpose the party only had their +pocket-knives. Happily the temple walls were built of brick and wood, +which could be penetrated with little difficulty; after one brick had +been taken out, the rest would yield easily. + +They set noiselessly to work, and the Parsee on one side and +Passepartout on the other began to loosen the bricks so as to make an +aperture two feet wide. They were getting on rapidly, when suddenly a +cry was heard in the interior of the temple, followed almost instantly +by other cries replying from the outside. Passepartout and the guide +stopped. Had they been heard? Was the alarm being given? Common +prudence urged them to retire, and they did so, followed by Phileas +Fogg and Sir Francis. They again hid themselves in the wood, and waited +till the disturbance, whatever it might be, ceased, holding themselves +ready to resume their attempt without delay. But, awkwardly enough, the +guards now appeared at the rear of the temple, and there installed +themselves, in readiness to prevent a surprise. + +It would be difficult to describe the disappointment of the party, thus +interrupted in their work. They could not now reach the victim; how, +then, could they save her? Sir Francis shook his fists, Passepartout +was beside himself, and the guide gnashed his teeth with rage. The +tranquil Fogg waited, without betraying any emotion. + +“We have nothing to do but to go away,” whispered Sir Francis. + +“Nothing but to go away,” echoed the guide. + +“Stop,” said Fogg. “I am only due at Allahabad tomorrow before noon.” + +“But what can you hope to do?” asked Sir Francis. “In a few hours it +will be daylight, and—” + +“The chance which now seems lost may present itself at the last +moment.” + +Sir Francis would have liked to read Phileas Fogg’s eyes. What was this +cool Englishman thinking of? Was he planning to make a rush for the +young woman at the very moment of the sacrifice, and boldly snatch her +from her executioners? + +This would be utter folly, and it was hard to admit that Fogg was such +a fool. Sir Francis consented, however, to remain to the end of this +terrible drama. The guide led them to the rear of the glade, where they +were able to observe the sleeping groups. + +Meanwhile Passepartout, who had perched himself on the lower branches +of a tree, was resolving an idea which had at first struck him like a +flash, and which was now firmly lodged in his brain. + +He had commenced by saying to himself, “What folly!” and then he +repeated, “Why not, after all? It’s a chance,—perhaps the only one; and +with such sots!” Thinking thus, he slipped, with the suppleness of a +serpent, to the lowest branches, the ends of which bent almost to the +ground. + +The hours passed, and the lighter shades now announced the approach of +day, though it was not yet light. This was the moment. The slumbering +multitude became animated, the tambourines sounded, songs and cries +arose; the hour of the sacrifice had come. The doors of the pagoda +swung open, and a bright light escaped from its interior, in the midst +of which Mr. Fogg and Sir Francis espied the victim. She seemed, having +shaken off the stupor of intoxication, to be striving to escape from +her executioner. Sir Francis’s heart throbbed; and, convulsively +seizing Mr. Fogg’s hand, found in it an open knife. Just at this moment +the crowd began to move. The young woman had again fallen into a stupor +caused by the fumes of hemp, and passed among the fakirs, who escorted +her with their wild, religious cries. + +Phileas Fogg and his companions, mingling in the rear ranks of the +crowd, followed; and in two minutes they reached the banks of the +stream, and stopped fifty paces from the pyre, upon which still lay the +rajah’s corpse. In the semi-obscurity they saw the victim, quite +senseless, stretched out beside her husband’s body. Then a torch was +brought, and the wood, heavily soaked with oil, instantly took fire. + +At this moment Sir Francis and the guide seized Phileas Fogg, who, in +an instant of mad generosity, was about to rush upon the pyre. But he +had quickly pushed them aside, when the whole scene suddenly changed. A +cry of terror arose. The whole multitude prostrated themselves, +terror-stricken, on the ground. + +The old rajah was not dead, then, since he rose of a sudden, like a +spectre, took up his wife in his arms, and descended from the pyre in +the midst of the clouds of smoke, which only heightened his ghostly +appearance. + +Fakirs and soldiers and priests, seized with instant terror, lay there, +with their faces on the ground, not daring to lift their eyes and +behold such a prodigy. + +The inanimate victim was borne along by the vigorous arms which +supported her, and which she did not seem in the least to burden. Mr. +Fogg and Sir Francis stood erect, the Parsee bowed his head, and +Passepartout was, no doubt, scarcely less stupefied. + +The resuscitated rajah approached Sir Francis and Mr. Fogg, and, in an +abrupt tone, said, “Let us be off!” + +It was Passepartout himself, who had slipped upon the pyre in the midst +of the smoke and, profiting by the still overhanging darkness, had +delivered the young woman from death! It was Passepartout who, playing +his part with a happy audacity, had passed through the crowd amid the +general terror. + +A moment after all four of the party had disappeared in the woods, and +the elephant was bearing them away at a rapid pace. But the cries and +noise, and a ball which whizzed through Phileas Fogg’s hat, apprised +them that the trick had been discovered. + +The old rajah’s body, indeed, now appeared upon the burning pyre; and +the priests, recovered from their terror, perceived that an abduction +had taken place. They hastened into the forest, followed by the +soldiers, who fired a volley after the fugitives; but the latter +rapidly increased the distance between them, and ere long found +themselves beyond the reach of the bullets and arrows. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG DESCENDS THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE BEAUTIFUL VALLEY +OF THE GANGES WITHOUT EVER THINKING OF SEEING IT + + +The rash exploit had been accomplished; and for an hour Passepartout +laughed gaily at his success. Sir Francis pressed the worthy fellow’s +hand, and his master said, “Well done!” which, from him, was high +commendation; to which Passepartout replied that all the credit of the +affair belonged to Mr. Fogg. As for him, he had only been struck with a +“queer” idea; and he laughed to think that for a few moments he, +Passepartout, the ex-gymnast, ex-sergeant fireman, had been the spouse +of a charming woman, a venerable, embalmed rajah! As for the young +Indian woman, she had been unconscious throughout of what was passing, +and now, wrapped up in a travelling-blanket, was reposing in one of the +howdahs. + +The elephant, thanks to the skilful guidance of the Parsee, was +advancing rapidly through the still darksome forest, and, an hour after +leaving the pagoda, had crossed a vast plain. They made a halt at seven +o’clock, the young woman being still in a state of complete +prostration. The guide made her drink a little brandy and water, but +the drowsiness which stupefied her could not yet be shaken off. Sir +Francis, who was familiar with the effects of the intoxication produced +by the fumes of hemp, reassured his companions on her account. But he +was more disturbed at the prospect of her future fate. He told Phileas +Fogg that, should Aouda remain in India, she would inevitably fall +again into the hands of her executioners. These fanatics were scattered +throughout the county, and would, despite the English police, recover +their victim at Madras, Bombay, or Calcutta. She would only be safe by +quitting India for ever. + +Phileas Fogg replied that he would reflect upon the matter. + +The station at Allahabad was reached about ten o’clock, and, the +interrupted line of railway being resumed, would enable them to reach +Calcutta in less than twenty-four hours. Phileas Fogg would thus be +able to arrive in time to take the steamer which left Calcutta the next +day, October 25th, at noon, for Hong Kong. + +The young woman was placed in one of the waiting-rooms of the station, +whilst Passepartout was charged with purchasing for her various +articles of toilet, a dress, shawl, and some furs; for which his master +gave him unlimited credit. Passepartout started off forthwith, and +found himself in the streets of Allahabad, that is, the City of God, +one of the most venerated in India, being built at the junction of the +two sacred rivers, Ganges and Jumna, the waters of which attract +pilgrims from every part of the peninsula. The Ganges, according to the +legends of the Ramayana, rises in heaven, whence, owing to Brahma’s +agency, it descends to the earth. + +Passepartout made it a point, as he made his purchases, to take a good +look at the city. It was formerly defended by a noble fort, which has +since become a state prison; its commerce has dwindled away, and +Passepartout in vain looked about him for such a bazaar as he used to +frequent in Regent Street. At last he came upon an elderly, crusty Jew, +who sold second-hand articles, and from whom he purchased a dress of +Scotch stuff, a large mantle, and a fine otter-skin pelisse, for which +he did not hesitate to pay seventy-five pounds. He then returned +triumphantly to the station. + +The influence to which the priests of Pillaji had subjected Aouda began +gradually to yield, and she became more herself, so that her fine eyes +resumed all their soft Indian expression. + +When the poet-king, Ucaf Uddaul, celebrates the charms of the queen of +Ahmehnagara, he speaks thus: + +“Her shining tresses, divided in two parts, encircle the harmonious +contour of her white and delicate cheeks, brilliant in their glow and +freshness. Her ebony brows have the form and charm of the bow of Kama, +the god of love, and beneath her long silken lashes the purest +reflections and a celestial light swim, as in the sacred lakes of +Himalaya, in the black pupils of her great clear eyes. Her teeth, fine, +equal, and white, glitter between her smiling lips like dewdrops in a +passion-flower’s half-enveloped breast. Her delicately formed ears, her +vermilion hands, her little feet, curved and tender as the lotus-bud, +glitter with the brilliancy of the loveliest pearls of Ceylon, the most +dazzling diamonds of Golconda. Her narrow and supple waist, which a +hand may clasp around, sets forth the outline of her rounded figure and +the beauty of her bosom, where youth in its flower displays the wealth +of its treasures; and beneath the silken folds of her tunic she seems +to have been modelled in pure silver by the godlike hand of +Vicvarcarma, the immortal sculptor.” + +It is enough to say, without applying this poetical rhapsody to Aouda, +that she was a charming woman, in all the European acceptation of the +phrase. She spoke English with great purity, and the guide had not +exaggerated in saying that the young Parsee had been transformed by her +bringing up. + +The train was about to start from Allahabad, and Mr. Fogg proceeded to +pay the guide the price agreed upon for his service, and not a farthing +more; which astonished Passepartout, who remembered all that his master +owed to the guide’s devotion. He had, indeed, risked his life in the +adventure at Pillaji, and, if he should be caught afterwards by the +Indians, he would with difficulty escape their vengeance. Kiouni, also, +must be disposed of. What should be done with the elephant, which had +been so dearly purchased? Phileas Fogg had already determined this +question. + +“Parsee,” said he to the guide, “you have been serviceable and devoted. +I have paid for your service, but not for your devotion. Would you like +to have this elephant? He is yours.” + +The guide’s eyes glistened. + +“Your honour is giving me a fortune!” cried he. + +“Take him, guide,” returned Mr. Fogg, “and I shall still be your +debtor.” + +“Good!” exclaimed Passepartout. “Take him, friend. Kiouni is a brave +and faithful beast.” And, going up to the elephant, he gave him several +lumps of sugar, saying, “Here, Kiouni, here, here.” + +The elephant grunted out his satisfaction, and, clasping Passepartout +around the waist with his trunk, lifted him as high as his head. +Passepartout, not in the least alarmed, caressed the animal, which +replaced him gently on the ground. + +Soon after, Phileas Fogg, Sir Francis Cromarty, and Passepartout, +installed in a carriage with Aouda, who had the best seat, were +whirling at full speed towards Benares. It was a run of eighty miles, +and was accomplished in two hours. During the journey, the young woman +fully recovered her senses. What was her astonishment to find herself +in this carriage, on the railway, dressed in European habiliments, and +with travellers who were quite strangers to her! Her companions first +set about fully reviving her with a little liquor, and then Sir Francis +narrated to her what had passed, dwelling upon the courage with which +Phileas Fogg had not hesitated to risk his life to save her, and +recounting the happy sequel of the venture, the result of +Passepartout’s rash idea. Mr. Fogg said nothing; while Passepartout, +abashed, kept repeating that “it wasn’t worth telling.” + +Aouda pathetically thanked her deliverers, rather with tears than +words; her fine eyes interpreted her gratitude better than her lips. +Then, as her thoughts strayed back to the scene of the sacrifice, and +recalled the dangers which still menaced her, she shuddered with +terror. + +Phileas Fogg understood what was passing in Aouda’s mind, and offered, +in order to reassure her, to escort her to Hong Kong, where she might +remain safely until the affair was hushed up—an offer which she eagerly +and gratefully accepted. She had, it seems, a Parsee relation, who was +one of the principal merchants of Hong Kong, which is wholly an English +city, though on an island on the Chinese coast. + +At half-past twelve the train stopped at Benares. The Brahmin legends +assert that this city is built on the site of the ancient Casi, which, +like Mahomet’s tomb, was once suspended between heaven and earth; +though the Benares of to-day, which the Orientalists call the Athens of +India, stands quite unpoetically on the solid earth, Passepartout +caught glimpses of its brick houses and clay huts, giving an aspect of +desolation to the place, as the train entered it. + +Benares was Sir Francis Cromarty’s destination, the troops he was +rejoining being encamped some miles northward of the city. He bade +adieu to Phileas Fogg, wishing him all success, and expressing the hope +that he would come that way again in a less original but more +profitable fashion. Mr. Fogg lightly pressed him by the hand. The +parting of Aouda, who did not forget what she owed to Sir Francis, +betrayed more warmth; and, as for Passepartout, he received a hearty +shake of the hand from the gallant general. + +The railway, on leaving Benares, passed for a while along the valley of +the Ganges. Through the windows of their carriage the travellers had +glimpses of the diversified landscape of Behar, with its mountains +clothed in verdure, its fields of barley, wheat, and corn, its jungles +peopled with green alligators, its neat villages, and its still +thickly-leaved forests. Elephants were bathing in the waters of the +sacred river, and groups of Indians, despite the advanced season and +chilly air, were performing solemnly their pious ablutions. These were +fervent Brahmins, the bitterest foes of Buddhism, their deities being +Vishnu, the solar god, Shiva, the divine impersonation of natural +forces, and Brahma, the supreme ruler of priests and legislators. What +would these divinities think of India, anglicised as it is to-day, with +steamers whistling and scudding along the Ganges, frightening the gulls +which float upon its surface, the turtles swarming along its banks, and +the faithful dwelling upon its borders? + +The panorama passed before their eyes like a flash, save when the steam +concealed it fitfully from the view; the travellers could scarcely +discern the fort of Chupenie, twenty miles south-westward from Benares, +the ancient stronghold of the rajahs of Behar; or Ghazipur and its +famous rose-water factories; or the tomb of Lord Cornwallis, rising on +the left bank of the Ganges; the fortified town of Buxar, or Patna, a +large manufacturing and trading-place, where is held the principal +opium market of India; or Monghir, a more than European town, for it is +as English as Manchester or Birmingham, with its iron foundries, +edgetool factories, and high chimneys puffing clouds of black smoke +heavenward. + +Night came on; the train passed on at full speed, in the midst of the +roaring of the tigers, bears, and wolves which fled before the +locomotive; and the marvels of Bengal, Golconda ruined Gour, +Murshedabad, the ancient capital, Burdwan, Hugly, and the French town +of Chandernagor, where Passepartout would have been proud to see his +country’s flag flying, were hidden from their view in the darkness. + +Calcutta was reached at seven in the morning, and the packet left for +Hong Kong at noon; so that Phileas Fogg had five hours before him. + +According to his journal, he was due at Calcutta on the 25th of +October, and that was the exact date of his actual arrival. He was +therefore neither behind-hand nor ahead of time. The two days gained +between London and Bombay had been lost, as has been seen, in the +journey across India. But it is not to be supposed that Phileas Fogg +regretted them. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. +IN WHICH THE BAG OF BANKNOTES DISGORGES SOME THOUSANDS OF POUNDS MORE + + +The train entered the station, and Passepartout jumping out first, was +followed by Mr. Fogg, who assisted his fair companion to descend. +Phileas Fogg intended to proceed at once to the Hong Kong steamer, in +order to get Aouda comfortably settled for the voyage. He was unwilling +to leave her while they were still on dangerous ground. + +Just as he was leaving the station a policeman came up to him, and +said, “Mr. Phileas Fogg?” + +“I am he.” + +“Is this man your servant?” added the policeman, pointing to +Passepartout. + +“Yes.” + +“Be so good, both of you, as to follow me.” + +Mr. Fogg betrayed no surprise whatever. The policeman was a +representative of the law, and law is sacred to an Englishman. +Passepartout tried to reason about the matter, but the policeman tapped +him with his stick, and Mr. Fogg made him a signal to obey. + +“May this young lady go with us?” asked he. + +“She may,” replied the policeman. + +Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Passepartout were conducted to a palkigahri, a +sort of four-wheeled carriage, drawn by two horses, in which they took +their places and were driven away. No one spoke during the twenty +minutes which elapsed before they reached their destination. They first +passed through the “black town,” with its narrow streets, its +miserable, dirty huts, and squalid population; then through the +“European town,” which presented a relief in its bright brick mansions, +shaded by coconut-trees and bristling with masts, where, although it +was early morning, elegantly dressed horsemen and handsome equipages +were passing back and forth. + +The carriage stopped before a modest-looking house, which, however, did +not have the appearance of a private mansion. The policeman having +requested his prisoners—for so, truly, they might be called—to descend, +conducted them into a room with barred windows, and said: “You will +appear before Judge Obadiah at half-past eight.” + +He then retired, and closed the door. + +“Why, we are prisoners!” exclaimed Passepartout, falling into a chair. + +Aouda, with an emotion she tried to conceal, said to Mr. Fogg: “Sir, +you must leave me to my fate! It is on my account that you receive this +treatment, it is for having saved me!” + +Phileas Fogg contented himself with saying that it was impossible. It +was quite unlikely that he should be arrested for preventing a suttee. +The complainants would not dare present themselves with such a charge. +There was some mistake. Moreover, he would not, in any event, abandon +Aouda, but would escort her to Hong Kong. + +“But the steamer leaves at noon!” observed Passepartout, nervously. + +“We shall be on board by noon,” replied his master, placidly. + +It was said so positively that Passepartout could not help muttering to +himself, “Parbleu that’s certain! Before noon we shall be on board.” +But he was by no means reassured. + +At half-past eight the door opened, the policeman appeared, and, +requesting them to follow him, led the way to an adjoining hall. It was +evidently a court-room, and a crowd of Europeans and natives already +occupied the rear of the apartment. + +Mr. Fogg and his two companions took their places on a bench opposite +the desks of the magistrate and his clerk. Immediately after, Judge +Obadiah, a fat, round man, followed by the clerk, entered. He proceeded +to take down a wig which was hanging on a nail, and put it hurriedly on +his head. + +“The first case,” said he. Then, putting his hand to his head, he +exclaimed, “Heh! This is not my wig!” + +“No, your worship,” returned the clerk, “it is mine.” + +“My dear Mr. Oysterpuff, how can a judge give a wise sentence in a +clerk’s wig?” + +The wigs were exchanged. + +Passepartout was getting nervous, for the hands on the face of the big +clock over the judge seemed to go around with terrible rapidity. + +“The first case,” repeated Judge Obadiah. + +“Phileas Fogg?” demanded Oysterpuff. + +“I am here,” replied Mr. Fogg. + +“Passepartout?” + +“Present,” responded Passepartout. + +“Good,” said the judge. “You have been looked for, prisoners, for two +days on the trains from Bombay.” + +“But of what are we accused?” asked Passepartout, impatiently. + +“You are about to be informed.” + +“I am an English subject, sir,” said Mr. Fogg, “and I have the right—” + +“Have you been ill-treated?” + +“Not at all.” + +“Very well; let the complainants come in.” + +A door was swung open by order of the judge, and three Indian priests +entered. + +“That’s it,” muttered Passepartout; “these are the rogues who were +going to burn our young lady.” + +The priests took their places in front of the judge, and the clerk +proceeded to read in a loud voice a complaint of sacrilege against +Phileas Fogg and his servant, who were accused of having violated a +place held consecrated by the Brahmin religion. + +“You hear the charge?” asked the judge. + +“Yes, sir,” replied Mr. Fogg, consulting his watch, “and I admit it.” + +“You admit it?” + +“I admit it, and I wish to hear these priests admit, in their turn, +what they were going to do at the pagoda of Pillaji.” + +The priests looked at each other; they did not seem to understand what +was said. + +“Yes,” cried Passepartout, warmly; “at the pagoda of Pillaji, where +they were on the point of burning their victim.” + +The judge stared with astonishment, and the priests were stupefied. + +“What victim?” said Judge Obadiah. “Burn whom? In Bombay itself?” + +“Bombay?” cried Passepartout. + +“Certainly. We are not talking of the pagoda of Pillaji, but of the +pagoda of Malabar Hill, at Bombay.” + +“And as a proof,” added the clerk, “here are the desecrator’s very +shoes, which he left behind him.” + +Whereupon he placed a pair of shoes on his desk. + +“My shoes!” cried Passepartout, in his surprise permitting this +imprudent exclamation to escape him. + +The confusion of master and man, who had quite forgotten the affair at +Bombay, for which they were now detained at Calcutta, may be imagined. + +Fix the detective, had foreseen the advantage which Passepartout’s +escapade gave him, and, delaying his departure for twelve hours, had +consulted the priests of Malabar Hill. Knowing that the English +authorities dealt very severely with this kind of misdemeanour, he +promised them a goodly sum in damages, and sent them forward to +Calcutta by the next train. Owing to the delay caused by the rescue of +the young widow, Fix and the priests reached the Indian capital before +Mr. Fogg and his servant, the magistrates having been already warned by +a dispatch to arrest them should they arrive. Fix’s disappointment when +he learned that Phileas Fogg had not made his appearance in Calcutta +may be imagined. He made up his mind that the robber had stopped +somewhere on the route and taken refuge in the southern provinces. For +twenty-four hours Fix watched the station with feverish anxiety; at +last he was rewarded by seeing Mr. Fogg and Passepartout arrive, +accompanied by a young woman, whose presence he was wholly at a loss to +explain. He hastened for a policeman; and this was how the party came +to be arrested and brought before Judge Obadiah. + +Had Passepartout been a little less preoccupied, he would have espied +the detective ensconced in a corner of the court-room, watching the +proceedings with an interest easily understood; for the warrant had +failed to reach him at Calcutta, as it had done at Bombay and Suez. + +Judge Obadiah had unfortunately caught Passepartout’s rash exclamation, +which the poor fellow would have given the world to recall. + +“The facts are admitted?” asked the judge. + +“Admitted,” replied Mr. Fogg, coldly. + +“Inasmuch,” resumed the judge, “as the English law protects equally and +sternly the religions of the Indian people, and as the man Passepartout +has admitted that he violated the sacred pagoda of Malabar Hill, at +Bombay, on the 20th of October, I condemn the said Passepartout to +imprisonment for fifteen days and a fine of three hundred pounds.” + +“Three hundred pounds!” cried Passepartout, startled at the largeness +of the sum. + +“Silence!” shouted the constable. + +“And inasmuch,” continued the judge, “as it is not proved that the act +was not done by the connivance of the master with the servant, and as +the master in any case must be held responsible for the acts of his +paid servant, I condemn Phileas Fogg to a week’s imprisonment and a +fine of one hundred and fifty pounds.” + +Fix rubbed his hands softly with satisfaction; if Phileas Fogg could be +detained in Calcutta a week, it would be more than time for the warrant +to arrive. Passepartout was stupefied. This sentence ruined his master. +A wager of twenty thousand pounds lost, because he, like a precious +fool, had gone into that abominable pagoda! + +Phileas Fogg, as self-composed as if the judgment did not in the least +concern him, did not even lift his eyebrows while it was being +pronounced. Just as the clerk was calling the next case, he rose, and +said, “I offer bail.” + +“You have that right,” returned the judge. + +Fix’s blood ran cold, but he resumed his composure when he heard the +judge announce that the bail required for each prisoner would be one +thousand pounds. + +“I will pay it at once,” said Mr. Fogg, taking a roll of bank-bills +from the carpet-bag, which Passepartout had by him, and placing them on +the clerk’s desk. + +“This sum will be restored to you upon your release from prison,” said +the judge. “Meanwhile, you are liberated on bail.” + +“Come!” said Phileas Fogg to his servant. + +“But let them at least give me back my shoes!” cried Passepartout +angrily. + +“Ah, these are pretty dear shoes!” he muttered, as they were handed to +him. “More than a thousand pounds apiece; besides, they pinch my feet.” + +Mr. Fogg, offering his arm to Aouda, then departed, followed by the +crestfallen Passepartout. Fix still nourished hopes that the robber +would not, after all, leave the two thousand pounds behind him, but +would decide to serve out his week in jail, and issued forth on Mr. +Fogg’s traces. That gentleman took a carriage, and the party were soon +landed on one of the quays. + +The “Rangoon” was moored half a mile off in the harbour, its signal of +departure hoisted at the mast-head. Eleven o’clock was striking; Mr. +Fogg was an hour in advance of time. Fix saw them leave the carriage +and push off in a boat for the steamer, and stamped his feet with +disappointment. + +“The rascal is off, after all!” he exclaimed. “Two thousand pounds +sacrificed! He’s as prodigal as a thief! I’ll follow him to the end of +the world if necessary; but, at the rate he is going on, the stolen +money will soon be exhausted.” + +The detective was not far wrong in making this conjecture. Since +leaving London, what with travelling expenses, bribes, the purchase of +the elephant, bails, and fines, Mr. Fogg had already spent more than +five thousand pounds on the way, and the percentage of the sum +recovered from the bank robber promised to the detectives, was rapidly +diminishing. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. +IN WHICH FIX DOES NOT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND IN THE LEAST WHAT IS SAID TO +HIM + + +The “Rangoon”—one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s boats plying +in the Chinese and Japanese seas—was a screw steamer, built of iron, +weighing about seventeen hundred and seventy tons, and with engines of +four hundred horse-power. She was as fast, but not as well fitted up, +as the “Mongolia,” and Aouda was not as comfortably provided for on +board of her as Phileas Fogg could have wished. However, the trip from +Calcutta to Hong Kong only comprised some three thousand five hundred +miles, occupying from ten to twelve days, and the young woman was not +difficult to please. + +During the first days of the journey Aouda became better acquainted +with her protector, and constantly gave evidence of her deep gratitude +for what he had done. The phlegmatic gentleman listened to her, +apparently at least, with coldness, neither his voice nor his manner +betraying the slightest emotion; but he seemed to be always on the +watch that nothing should be wanting to Aouda’s comfort. He visited her +regularly each day at certain hours, not so much to talk himself, as to +sit and hear her talk. He treated her with the strictest politeness, +but with the precision of an automaton, the movements of which had been +arranged for this purpose. Aouda did not quite know what to make of +him, though Passepartout had given her some hints of his master’s +eccentricity, and made her smile by telling her of the wager which was +sending him round the world. After all, she owed Phileas Fogg her life, +and she always regarded him through the exalting medium of her +gratitude. + +Aouda confirmed the Parsee guide’s narrative of her touching history. +She did, indeed, belong to the highest of the native races of India. +Many of the Parsee merchants have made great fortunes there by dealing +in cotton; and one of them, Sir Jametsee Jeejeebhoy, was made a baronet +by the English government. Aouda was a relative of this great man, and +it was his cousin, Jeejeeh, whom she hoped to join at Hong Kong. +Whether she would find a protector in him she could not tell; but Mr. +Fogg essayed to calm her anxieties, and to assure her that everything +would be mathematically—he used the very word—arranged. Aouda fastened +her great eyes, “clear as the sacred lakes of the Himalaya,” upon him; +but the intractable Fogg, as reserved as ever, did not seem at all +inclined to throw himself into this lake. + +The first few days of the voyage passed prosperously, amid favourable +weather and propitious winds, and they soon came in sight of the great +Andaman, the principal of the islands in the Bay of Bengal, with its +picturesque Saddle Peak, two thousand four hundred feet high, looming +above the waters. The steamer passed along near the shores, but the +savage Papuans, who are in the lowest scale of humanity, but are not, +as has been asserted, cannibals, did not make their appearance. + +The panorama of the islands, as they steamed by them, was superb. Vast +forests of palms, arecs, bamboo, teakwood, of the gigantic mimosa, and +tree-like ferns covered the foreground, while behind, the graceful +outlines of the mountains were traced against the sky; and along the +coasts swarmed by thousands the precious swallows whose nests furnish a +luxurious dish to the tables of the Celestial Empire. The varied +landscape afforded by the Andaman Islands was soon passed, however, and +the “Rangoon” rapidly approached the Straits of Malacca, which gave +access to the China seas. + +What was detective Fix, so unluckily drawn on from country to country, +doing all this while? He had managed to embark on the “Rangoon” at +Calcutta without being seen by Passepartout, after leaving orders that, +if the warrant should arrive, it should be forwarded to him at Hong +Kong; and he hoped to conceal his presence to the end of the voyage. It +would have been difficult to explain why he was on board without +awakening Passepartout’s suspicions, who thought him still at Bombay. +But necessity impelled him, nevertheless, to renew his acquaintance +with the worthy servant, as will be seen. + +All the detective’s hopes and wishes were now centred on Hong Kong; for +the steamer’s stay at Singapore would be too brief to enable him to +take any steps there. The arrest must be made at Hong Kong, or the +robber would probably escape him for ever. Hong Kong was the last +English ground on which he would set foot; beyond, China, Japan, +America offered to Fogg an almost certain refuge. If the warrant should +at last make its appearance at Hong Kong, Fix could arrest him and give +him into the hands of the local police, and there would be no further +trouble. But beyond Hong Kong, a simple warrant would be of no avail; +an extradition warrant would be necessary, and that would result in +delays and obstacles, of which the rascal would take advantage to elude +justice. + +Fix thought over these probabilities during the long hours which he +spent in his cabin, and kept repeating to himself, “Now, either the +warrant will be at Hong Kong, in which case I shall arrest my man, or +it will not be there; and this time it is absolutely necessary that I +should delay his departure. I have failed at Bombay, and I have failed +at Calcutta; if I fail at Hong Kong, my reputation is lost: Cost what +it may, I _must_ succeed! But how shall I prevent his departure, if +that should turn out to be my last resource?” + +Fix made up his mind that, if worst came to worst, he would make a +confidant of Passepartout, and tell him what kind of a fellow his +master really was. That Passepartout was not Fogg’s accomplice, he was +very certain. The servant, enlightened by his disclosure, and afraid of +being himself implicated in the crime, would doubtless become an ally +of the detective. But this method was a dangerous one, only to be +employed when everything else had failed. A word from Passepartout to +his master would ruin all. The detective was therefore in a sore +strait. But suddenly a new idea struck him. The presence of Aouda on +the “Rangoon,” in company with Phileas Fogg, gave him new material for +reflection. + +Who was this woman? What combination of events had made her Fogg’s +travelling companion? They had evidently met somewhere between Bombay +and Calcutta; but where? Had they met accidentally, or had Fogg gone +into the interior purposely in quest of this charming damsel? Fix was +fairly puzzled. He asked himself whether there had not been a wicked +elopement; and this idea so impressed itself upon his mind that he +determined to make use of the supposed intrigue. Whether the young +woman were married or not, he would be able to create such difficulties +for Mr. Fogg at Hong Kong that he could not escape by paying any amount +of money. + +But could he even wait till they reached Hong Kong? Fogg had an +abominable way of jumping from one boat to another, and, before +anything could be effected, might get full under way again for +Yokohama. + +Fix decided that he must warn the English authorities, and signal the +“Rangoon” before her arrival. This was easy to do, since the steamer +stopped at Singapore, whence there is a telegraphic wire to Hong Kong. +He finally resolved, moreover, before acting more positively, to +question Passepartout. It would not be difficult to make him talk; and, +as there was no time to lose, Fix prepared to make himself known. + +It was now the 30th of October, and on the following day the “Rangoon” +was due at Singapore. + +Fix emerged from his cabin and went on deck. Passepartout was +promenading up and down in the forward part of the steamer. The +detective rushed forward with every appearance of extreme surprise, and +exclaimed, “You here, on the ‘Rangoon’?” + +“What, Monsieur Fix, are you on board?” returned the really astonished +Passepartout, recognising his crony of the “Mongolia.” “Why, I left you +at Bombay, and here you are, on the way to Hong Kong! Are you going +round the world too?” + +“No, no,” replied Fix; “I shall stop at Hong Kong—at least for some +days.” + +“Hum!” said Passepartout, who seemed for an instant perplexed. “But how +is it I have not seen you on board since we left Calcutta?” + +“Oh, a trifle of sea-sickness—I’ve been staying in my berth. The Gulf +of Bengal does not agree with me as well as the Indian Ocean. And how +is Mr. Fogg?” + +“As well and as punctual as ever, not a day behind time! But, Monsieur +Fix, you don’t know that we have a young lady with us.” + +“A young lady?” replied the detective, not seeming to comprehend what +was said. + +Passepartout thereupon recounted Aouda’s history, the affair at the +Bombay pagoda, the purchase of the elephant for two thousand pounds, +the rescue, the arrest, and sentence of the Calcutta court, and the +restoration of Mr. Fogg and himself to liberty on bail. Fix, who was +familiar with the last events, seemed to be equally ignorant of all +that Passepartout related; and the later was charmed to find so +interested a listener. + +“But does your master propose to carry this young woman to Europe?” + +“Not at all. We are simply going to place her under the protection of +one of her relatives, a rich merchant at Hong Kong.” + +“Nothing to be done there,” said Fix to himself, concealing his +disappointment. “A glass of gin, Mr. Passepartout?” + +“Willingly, Monsieur Fix. We must at least have a friendly glass on +board the ‘Rangoon.’” + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. +SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO HONG KONG + + +The detective and Passepartout met often on deck after this interview, +though Fix was reserved, and did not attempt to induce his companion to +divulge any more facts concerning Mr. Fogg. He caught a glimpse of that +mysterious gentleman once or twice; but Mr. Fogg usually confined +himself to the cabin, where he kept Aouda company, or, according to his +inveterate habit, took a hand at whist. + +Passepartout began very seriously to conjecture what strange chance +kept Fix still on the route that his master was pursuing. It was really +worth considering why this certainly very amiable and complacent +person, whom he had first met at Suez, had then encountered on board +the “Mongolia,” who disembarked at Bombay, which he announced as his +destination, and now turned up so unexpectedly on the “Rangoon,” was +following Mr. Fogg’s tracks step by step. What was Fix’s object? +Passepartout was ready to wager his Indian shoes—which he religiously +preserved—that Fix would also leave Hong Kong at the same time with +them, and probably on the same steamer. + +Passepartout might have cudgelled his brain for a century without +hitting upon the real object which the detective had in view. He never +could have imagined that Phileas Fogg was being tracked as a robber +around the globe. But, as it is in human nature to attempt the solution +of every mystery, Passepartout suddenly discovered an explanation of +Fix’s movements, which was in truth far from unreasonable. Fix, he +thought, could only be an agent of Mr. Fogg’s friends at the Reform +Club, sent to follow him up, and to ascertain that he really went round +the world as had been agreed upon. + +“It’s clear!” repeated the worthy servant to himself, proud of his +shrewdness. “He’s a spy sent to keep us in view! That isn’t quite the +thing, either, to be spying Mr. Fogg, who is so honourable a man! Ah, +gentlemen of the Reform, this shall cost you dear!” + +Passepartout, enchanted with his discovery, resolved to say nothing to +his master, lest he should be justly offended at this mistrust on the +part of his adversaries. But he determined to chaff Fix, when he had +the chance, with mysterious allusions, which, however, need not betray +his real suspicions. + +During the afternoon of Wednesday, 30th October, the “Rangoon” entered +the Strait of Malacca, which separates the peninsula of that name from +Sumatra. The mountainous and craggy islets intercepted the beauties of +this noble island from the view of the travellers. The “Rangoon” +weighed anchor at Singapore the next day at four a.m., to receive coal, +having gained half a day on the prescribed time of her arrival. Phileas +Fogg noted this gain in his journal, and then, accompanied by Aouda, +who betrayed a desire for a walk on shore, disembarked. + +Fix, who suspected Mr. Fogg’s every movement, followed them cautiously, +without being himself perceived; while Passepartout, laughing in his +sleeve at Fix’s manœuvres, went about his usual errands. + +The island of Singapore is not imposing in aspect, for there are no +mountains; yet its appearance is not without attractions. It is a park +checkered by pleasant highways and avenues. A handsome carriage, drawn +by a sleek pair of New Holland horses, carried Phileas Fogg and Aouda +into the midst of rows of palms with brilliant foliage, and of +clove-trees, whereof the cloves form the heart of a half-open flower. +Pepper plants replaced the prickly hedges of European fields; +sago-bushes, large ferns with gorgeous branches, varied the aspect of +this tropical clime; while nutmeg-trees in full foliage filled the air +with a penetrating perfume. Agile and grinning bands of monkeys skipped +about in the trees, nor were tigers wanting in the jungles. + +After a drive of two hours through the country, Aouda and Mr. Fogg +returned to the town, which is a vast collection of heavy-looking, +irregular houses, surrounded by charming gardens rich in tropical +fruits and plants; and at ten o’clock they re-embarked, closely +followed by the detective, who had kept them constantly in sight. + +Passepartout, who had been purchasing several dozen mangoes—a fruit as +large as good-sized apples, of a dark-brown colour outside and a bright +red within, and whose white pulp, melting in the mouth, affords +gourmands a delicious sensation—was waiting for them on deck. He was +only too glad to offer some mangoes to Aouda, who thanked him very +gracefully for them. + +At eleven o’clock the “Rangoon” rode out of Singapore harbour, and in a +few hours the high mountains of Malacca, with their forests, inhabited +by the most beautifully-furred tigers in the world, were lost to view. +Singapore is distant some thirteen hundred miles from the island of +Hong Kong, which is a little English colony near the Chinese coast. +Phileas Fogg hoped to accomplish the journey in six days, so as to be +in time for the steamer which would leave on the 6th of November for +Yokohama, the principal Japanese port. + +The “Rangoon” had a large quota of passengers, many of whom disembarked +at Singapore, among them a number of Indians, Ceylonese, Chinamen, +Malays, and Portuguese, mostly second-class travellers. + +The weather, which had hitherto been fine, changed with the last +quarter of the moon. The sea rolled heavily, and the wind at intervals +rose almost to a storm, but happily blew from the south-west, and thus +aided the steamer’s progress. The captain as often as possible put up +his sails, and under the double action of steam and sail the vessel +made rapid progress along the coasts of Anam and Cochin China. Owing to +the defective construction of the “Rangoon,” however, unusual +precautions became necessary in unfavourable weather; but the loss of +time which resulted from this cause, while it nearly drove Passepartout +out of his senses, did not seem to affect his master in the least. +Passepartout blamed the captain, the engineer, and the crew, and +consigned all who were connected with the ship to the land where the +pepper grows. Perhaps the thought of the gas, which was remorselessly +burning at his expense in Saville Row, had something to do with his hot +impatience. + +“You are in a great hurry, then,” said Fix to him one day, “to reach +Hong Kong?” + +“A very great hurry!” + +“Mr. Fogg, I suppose, is anxious to catch the steamer for Yokohama?” + +“Terribly anxious.” + +“You believe in this journey around the world, then?” + +“Absolutely. Don’t you, Mr. Fix?” + +“I? I don’t believe a word of it.” + +“You’re a sly dog!” said Passepartout, winking at him. + +This expression rather disturbed Fix, without his knowing why. Had the +Frenchman guessed his real purpose? He knew not what to think. But how +could Passepartout have discovered that he was a detective? Yet, in +speaking as he did, the man evidently meant more than he expressed. + +Passepartout went still further the next day; he could not hold his +tongue. + +“Mr. Fix,” said he, in a bantering tone, “shall we be so unfortunate as +to lose you when we get to Hong Kong?” + +“Why,” responded Fix, a little embarrassed, “I don’t know; perhaps—” + +“Ah, if you would only go on with us! An agent of the Peninsular +Company, you know, can’t stop on the way! You were only going to +Bombay, and here you are in China. America is not far off, and from +America to Europe is only a step.” + +Fix looked intently at his companion, whose countenance was as serene +as possible, and laughed with him. But Passepartout persisted in +chaffing him by asking him if he made much by his present occupation. + +“Yes, and no,” returned Fix; “there is good and bad luck in such +things. But you must understand that I don’t travel at my own expense.” + +“Oh, I am quite sure of that!” cried Passepartout, laughing heartily. + +Fix, fairly puzzled, descended to his cabin and gave himself up to his +reflections. He was evidently suspected; somehow or other the Frenchman +had found out that he was a detective. But had he told his master? What +part was he playing in all this: was he an accomplice or not? Was the +game, then, up? Fix spent several hours turning these things over in +his mind, sometimes thinking that all was lost, then persuading himself +that Fogg was ignorant of his presence, and then undecided what course +it was best to take. + +Nevertheless, he preserved his coolness of mind, and at last resolved +to deal plainly with Passepartout. If he did not find it practicable to +arrest Fogg at Hong Kong, and if Fogg made preparations to leave that +last foothold of English territory, he, Fix, would tell Passepartout +all. Either the servant was the accomplice of his master, and in this +case the master knew of his operations, and he should fail; or else the +servant knew nothing about the robbery, and then his interest would be +to abandon the robber. + +Such was the situation between Fix and Passepartout. Meanwhile Phileas +Fogg moved about above them in the most majestic and unconscious +indifference. He was passing methodically in his orbit around the +world, regardless of the lesser stars which gravitated around him. Yet +there was near by what the astronomers would call a disturbing star, +which might have produced an agitation in this gentleman’s heart. But +no! the charms of Aouda failed to act, to Passepartout’s great +surprise; and the disturbances, if they existed, would have been more +difficult to calculate than those of Uranus which led to the discovery +of Neptune. + +It was every day an increasing wonder to Passepartout, who read in +Aouda’s eyes the depths of her gratitude to his master. Phileas Fogg, +though brave and gallant, must be, he thought, quite heartless. As to +the sentiment which this journey might have awakened in him, there was +clearly no trace of such a thing; while poor Passepartout existed in +perpetual reveries. + +One day he was leaning on the railing of the engine-room, and was +observing the engine, when a sudden pitch of the steamer threw the +screw out of the water. The steam came hissing out of the valves; and +this made Passepartout indignant. + +“The valves are not sufficiently charged!” he exclaimed. “We are not +going. Oh, these English! If this was an American craft, we should blow +up, perhaps, but we should at all events go faster!” + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG, PASSEPARTOUT, AND FIX GO EACH ABOUT HIS BUSINESS + + +The weather was bad during the latter days of the voyage. The wind, +obstinately remaining in the north-west, blew a gale, and retarded the +steamer. The “Rangoon” rolled heavily and the passengers became +impatient of the long, monstrous waves which the wind raised before +their path. A sort of tempest arose on the 3rd of November, the squall +knocking the vessel about with fury, and the waves running high. The +“Rangoon” reefed all her sails, and even the rigging proved too much, +whistling and shaking amid the squall. The steamer was forced to +proceed slowly, and the captain estimated that she would reach Hong +Kong twenty hours behind time, and more if the storm lasted. + +Phileas Fogg gazed at the tempestuous sea, which seemed to be +struggling especially to delay him, with his habitual tranquillity. He +never changed countenance for an instant, though a delay of twenty +hours, by making him too late for the Yokohama boat, would almost +inevitably cause the loss of the wager. But this man of nerve +manifested neither impatience nor annoyance; it seemed as if the storm +were a part of his programme, and had been foreseen. Aouda was amazed +to find him as calm as he had been from the first time she saw him. + +Fix did not look at the state of things in the same light. The storm +greatly pleased him. His satisfaction would have been complete had the +“Rangoon” been forced to retreat before the violence of wind and waves. +Each delay filled him with hope, for it became more and more probable +that Fogg would be obliged to remain some days at Hong Kong; and now +the heavens themselves became his allies, with the gusts and squalls. +It mattered not that they made him sea-sick—he made no account of this +inconvenience; and, whilst his body was writhing under their effects, +his spirit bounded with hopeful exultation. + +Passepartout was enraged beyond expression by the unpropitious weather. +Everything had gone so well till now! Earth and sea had seemed to be at +his master’s service; steamers and railways obeyed him; wind and steam +united to speed his journey. Had the hour of adversity come? +Passepartout was as much excited as if the twenty thousand pounds were +to come from his own pocket. The storm exasperated him, the gale made +him furious, and he longed to lash the obstinate sea into obedience. +Poor fellow! Fix carefully concealed from him his own satisfaction, +for, had he betrayed it, Passepartout could scarcely have restrained +himself from personal violence. + +Passepartout remained on deck as long as the tempest lasted, being +unable to remain quiet below, and taking it into his head to aid the +progress of the ship by lending a hand with the crew. He overwhelmed +the captain, officers, and sailors, who could not help laughing at his +impatience, with all sorts of questions. He wanted to know exactly how +long the storm was going to last; whereupon he was referred to the +barometer, which seemed to have no intention of rising. Passepartout +shook it, but with no perceptible effect; for neither shaking nor +maledictions could prevail upon it to change its mind. + +On the 4th, however, the sea became more calm, and the storm lessened +its violence; the wind veered southward, and was once more favourable. +Passepartout cleared up with the weather. Some of the sails were +unfurled, and the “Rangoon” resumed its most rapid speed. The time lost +could not, however, be regained. Land was not signalled until five +o’clock on the morning of the 6th; the steamer was due on the 5th. +Phileas Fogg was twenty-four hours behind-hand, and the Yokohama +steamer would, of course, be missed. + +The pilot went on board at six, and took his place on the bridge, to +guide the “Rangoon” through the channels to the port of Hong Kong. +Passepartout longed to ask him if the steamer had left for Yokohama; +but he dared not, for he wished to preserve the spark of hope, which +still remained till the last moment. He had confided his anxiety to Fix +who—the sly rascal!—tried to console him by saying that Mr. Fogg would +be in time if he took the next boat; but this only put Passepartout in +a passion. + +Mr. Fogg, bolder than his servant, did not hesitate to approach the +pilot, and tranquilly ask him if he knew when a steamer would leave +Hong Kong for Yokohama. + +“At high tide to-morrow morning,” answered the pilot. + +“Ah!” said Mr. Fogg, without betraying any astonishment. + +Passepartout, who heard what passed, would willingly have embraced the +pilot, while Fix would have been glad to twist his neck. + +“What is the steamer’s name?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“The ‘Carnatic.’” + +“Ought she not to have gone yesterday?” + +“Yes, sir; but they had to repair one of her boilers, and so her +departure was postponed till to-morrow.” + +“Thank you,” returned Mr. Fogg, descending mathematically to the +saloon. + +Passepartout clasped the pilot’s hand and shook it heartily in his +delight, exclaiming, “Pilot, you are the best of good fellows!” + +The pilot probably does not know to this day why his responses won him +this enthusiastic greeting. He remounted the bridge, and guided the +steamer through the flotilla of junks, tankas, and fishing boats which +crowd the harbour of Hong Kong. + +At one o’clock the “Rangoon” was at the quay, and the passengers were +going ashore. + +Chance had strangely favoured Phileas Fogg, for had not the “Carnatic” +been forced to lie over for repairing her boilers, she would have left +on the 6th of November, and the passengers for Japan would have been +obliged to await for a week the sailing of the next steamer. Mr. Fogg +was, it is true, twenty-four hours behind his time; but this could not +seriously imperil the remainder of his tour. + +The steamer which crossed the Pacific from Yokohama to San Francisco +made a direct connection with that from Hong Kong, and it could not +sail until the latter reached Yokohama; and if Mr. Fogg was twenty-four +hours late on reaching Yokohama, this time would no doubt be easily +regained in the voyage of twenty-two days across the Pacific. He found +himself, then, about twenty-four hours behind-hand, thirty-five days +after leaving London. + +The “Carnatic” was announced to leave Hong Kong at five the next +morning. Mr. Fogg had sixteen hours in which to attend to his business +there, which was to deposit Aouda safely with her wealthy relative. + +On landing, he conducted her to a palanquin, in which they repaired to +the Club Hotel. A room was engaged for the young woman, and Mr. Fogg, +after seeing that she wanted for nothing, set out in search of her +cousin Jeejeeh. He instructed Passepartout to remain at the hotel until +his return, that Aouda might not be left entirely alone. + +Mr. Fogg repaired to the Exchange, where, he did not doubt, every one +would know so wealthy and considerable a personage as the Parsee +merchant. Meeting a broker, he made the inquiry, to learn that Jeejeeh +had left China two years before, and, retiring from business with an +immense fortune, had taken up his residence in Europe—in Holland the +broker thought, with the merchants of which country he had principally +traded. Phileas Fogg returned to the hotel, begged a moment’s +conversation with Aouda, and without more ado, apprised her that +Jeejeeh was no longer at Hong Kong, but probably in Holland. + +Aouda at first said nothing. She passed her hand across her forehead, +and reflected a few moments. Then, in her sweet, soft voice, she said: +“What ought I to do, Mr. Fogg?” + +“It is very simple,” responded the gentleman. “Go on to Europe.” + +“But I cannot intrude—” + +“You do not intrude, nor do you in the least embarrass my project. +Passepartout!” + +“Monsieur.” + +“Go to the ‘Carnatic,’ and engage three cabins.” + +Passepartout, delighted that the young woman, who was very gracious to +him, was going to continue the journey with them, went off at a brisk +gait to obey his master’s order. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT TAKES A TOO GREAT INTEREST IN HIS MASTER, AND +WHAT COMES OF IT + + +Hong Kong is an island which came into the possession of the English by +the Treaty of Nankin, after the war of 1842; and the colonising genius +of the English has created upon it an important city and an excellent +port. The island is situated at the mouth of the Canton River, and is +separated by about sixty miles from the Portuguese town of Macao, on +the opposite coast. Hong Kong has beaten Macao in the struggle for the +Chinese trade, and now the greater part of the transportation of +Chinese goods finds its depot at the former place. Docks, hospitals, +wharves, a Gothic cathedral, a government house, macadamised streets, +give to Hong Kong the appearance of a town in Kent or Surrey +transferred by some strange magic to the antipodes. + +Passepartout wandered, with his hands in his pockets, towards the +Victoria port, gazing as he went at the curious palanquins and other +modes of conveyance, and the groups of Chinese, Japanese, and Europeans +who passed to and fro in the streets. Hong Kong seemed to him not +unlike Bombay, Calcutta, and Singapore, since, like them, it betrayed +everywhere the evidence of English supremacy. At the Victoria port he +found a confused mass of ships of all nations: English, French, +American, and Dutch, men-of-war and trading vessels, Japanese and +Chinese junks, sempas, tankas, and flower-boats, which formed so many +floating parterres. Passepartout noticed in the crowd a number of the +natives who seemed very old and were dressed in yellow. On going into a +barber’s to get shaved he learned that these ancient men were all at +least eighty years old, at which age they are permitted to wear yellow, +which is the Imperial colour. Passepartout, without exactly knowing +why, thought this very funny. + +On reaching the quay where they were to embark on the “Carnatic,” he +was not astonished to find Fix walking up and down. The detective +seemed very much disturbed and disappointed. + +“This is bad,” muttered Passepartout, “for the gentlemen of the Reform +Club!” He accosted Fix with a merry smile, as if he had not perceived +that gentleman’s chagrin. The detective had, indeed, good reasons to +inveigh against the bad luck which pursued him. The warrant had not +come! It was certainly on the way, but as certainly it could not now +reach Hong Kong for several days; and, this being the last English +territory on Mr. Fogg’s route, the robber would escape, unless he could +manage to detain him. + +“Well, Monsieur Fix,” said Passepartout, “have you decided to go with +us so far as America?” + +“Yes,” returned Fix, through his set teeth. + +“Good!” exclaimed Passepartout, laughing heartily. “I knew you could +not persuade yourself to separate from us. Come and engage your berth.” + +They entered the steamer office and secured cabins for four persons. +The clerk, as he gave them the tickets, informed them that, the repairs +on the “Carnatic” having been completed, the steamer would leave that +very evening, and not next morning, as had been announced. + +“That will suit my master all the better,” said Passepartout. “I will +go and let him know.” + +Fix now decided to make a bold move; he resolved to tell Passepartout +all. It seemed to be the only possible means of keeping Phileas Fogg +several days longer at Hong Kong. He accordingly invited his companion +into a tavern which caught his eye on the quay. On entering, they found +themselves in a large room handsomely decorated, at the end of which +was a large camp-bed furnished with cushions. Several persons lay upon +this bed in a deep sleep. At the small tables which were arranged about +the room some thirty customers were drinking English beer, porter, gin, +and brandy; smoking, the while, long red clay pipes stuffed with little +balls of opium mingled with essence of rose. From time to time one of +the smokers, overcome with the narcotic, would slip under the table, +whereupon the waiters, taking him by the head and feet, carried and +laid him upon the bed. The bed already supported twenty of these +stupefied sots. + +Fix and Passepartout saw that they were in a smoking-house haunted by +those wretched, cadaverous, idiotic creatures to whom the English +merchants sell every year the miserable drug called opium, to the +amount of one million four hundred thousand pounds—thousands devoted to +one of the most despicable vices which afflict humanity! The Chinese +government has in vain attempted to deal with the evil by stringent +laws. It passed gradually from the rich, to whom it was at first +exclusively reserved, to the lower classes, and then its ravages could +not be arrested. Opium is smoked everywhere, at all times, by men and +women, in the Celestial Empire; and, once accustomed to it, the victims +cannot dispense with it, except by suffering horrible bodily +contortions and agonies. A great smoker can smoke as many as eight +pipes a day; but he dies in five years. It was in one of these dens +that Fix and Passepartout, in search of a friendly glass, found +themselves. Passepartout had no money, but willingly accepted Fix’s +invitation in the hope of returning the obligation at some future time. + +They ordered two bottles of port, to which the Frenchman did ample +justice, whilst Fix observed him with close attention. They chatted +about the journey, and Passepartout was especially merry at the idea +that Fix was going to continue it with them. When the bottles were +empty, however, he rose to go and tell his master of the change in the +time of the sailing of the “Carnatic.” + +Fix caught him by the arm, and said, “Wait a moment.” + +“What for, Mr. Fix?” + +“I want to have a serious talk with you.” + +“A serious talk!” cried Passepartout, drinking up the little wine that +was left in the bottom of his glass. “Well, we’ll talk about it +to-morrow; I haven’t time now.” + +“Stay! What I have to say concerns your master.” + +Passepartout, at this, looked attentively at his companion. Fix’s face +seemed to have a singular expression. He resumed his seat. + +“What is it that you have to say?” + +Fix placed his hand upon Passepartout’s arm, and, lowering his voice, +said, “You have guessed who I am?” + +“Parbleu!” said Passepartout, smiling. + +“Then I’m going to tell you everything—” + +“Now that I know everything, my friend! Ah! that’s very good. But go +on, go on. First, though, let me tell you that those gentlemen have put +themselves to a useless expense.” + +“Useless!” said Fix. “You speak confidently. It’s clear that you don’t +know how large the sum is.” + +“Of course I do,” returned Passepartout. “Twenty thousand pounds.” + +“Fifty-five thousand!” answered Fix, pressing his companion’s hand. + +“What!” cried the Frenchman. “Has Monsieur Fogg dared—fifty-five +thousand pounds! Well, there’s all the more reason for not losing an +instant,” he continued, getting up hastily. + +Fix pushed Passepartout back in his chair, and resumed: “Fifty-five +thousand pounds; and if I succeed, I get two thousand pounds. If you’ll +help me, I’ll let you have five hundred of them.” + +“Help you?” cried Passepartout, whose eyes were standing wide open. + +“Yes; help me keep Mr. Fogg here for two or three days.” + +“Why, what are you saying? Those gentlemen are not satisfied with +following my master and suspecting his honour, but they must try to put +obstacles in his way! I blush for them!” + +“What do you mean?” + +“I mean that it is a piece of shameful trickery. They might as well +waylay Mr. Fogg and put his money in their pockets!” + +“That’s just what we count on doing.” + +“It’s a conspiracy, then,” cried Passepartout, who became more and more +excited as the liquor mounted in his head, for he drank without +perceiving it. “A real conspiracy! And gentlemen, too. Bah!” + +Fix began to be puzzled. + +“Members of the Reform Club!” continued Passepartout. “You must know, +Monsieur Fix, that my master is an honest man, and that, when he makes +a wager, he tries to win it fairly!” + +“But who do you think I am?” asked Fix, looking at him intently. + +“Parbleu! An agent of the members of the Reform Club, sent out here to +interrupt my master’s journey. But, though I found you out some time +ago, I’ve taken good care to say nothing about it to Mr. Fogg.” + +“He knows nothing, then?” + +“Nothing,” replied Passepartout, again emptying his glass. + +The detective passed his hand across his forehead, hesitating before he +spoke again. What should he do? Passepartout’s mistake seemed sincere, +but it made his design more difficult. It was evident that the servant +was not the master’s accomplice, as Fix had been inclined to suspect. + +“Well,” said the detective to himself, “as he is not an accomplice, he +will help me.” + +He had no time to lose: Fogg must be detained at Hong Kong, so he +resolved to make a clean breast of it. + +“Listen to me,” said Fix abruptly. “I am not, as you think, an agent of +the members of the Reform Club—” + +“Bah!” retorted Passepartout, with an air of raillery. + +“I am a police detective, sent out here by the London office.” + +“You, a detective?” + +“I will prove it. Here is my commission.” + +Passepartout was speechless with astonishment when Fix displayed this +document, the genuineness of which could not be doubted. + +“Mr. Fogg’s wager,” resumed Fix, “is only a pretext, of which you and +the gentlemen of the Reform are dupes. He had a motive for securing +your innocent complicity.” + +“But why?” + +“Listen. On the 28th of last September a robbery of fifty-five thousand +pounds was committed at the Bank of England by a person whose +description was fortunately secured. Here is his description; it +answers exactly to that of Mr. Phileas Fogg.” + +“What nonsense!” cried Passepartout, striking the table with his fist. +“My master is the most honourable of men!” + +“How can you tell? You know scarcely anything about him. You went into +his service the day he came away; and he came away on a foolish +pretext, without trunks, and carrying a large amount in banknotes. And +yet you are bold enough to assert that he is an honest man!” + +“Yes, yes,” repeated the poor fellow, mechanically. + +“Would you like to be arrested as his accomplice?” + +Passepartout, overcome by what he had heard, held his head between his +hands, and did not dare to look at the detective. Phileas Fogg, the +saviour of Aouda, that brave and generous man, a robber! And yet how +many presumptions there were against him! Passepartout essayed to +reject the suspicions which forced themselves upon his mind; he did not +wish to believe that his master was guilty. + +“Well, what do you want of me?” said he, at last, with an effort. + +“See here,” replied Fix; “I have tracked Mr. Fogg to this place, but as +yet I have failed to receive the warrant of arrest for which I sent to +London. You must help me to keep him here in Hong Kong—” + +“I! But I—” + +“I will share with you the two thousand pounds reward offered by the +Bank of England.” + +“Never!” replied Passepartout, who tried to rise, but fell back, +exhausted in mind and body. + +“Mr. Fix,” he stammered, “even should what you say be true—if my master +is really the robber you are seeking for—which I deny—I have been, am, +in his service; I have seen his generosity and goodness; and I will +never betray him—not for all the gold in the world. I come from a +village where they don’t eat that kind of bread!” + +“You refuse?” + +“I refuse.” + +“Consider that I’ve said nothing,” said Fix; “and let us drink.” + +“Yes; let us drink!” + +Passepartout felt himself yielding more and more to the effects of the +liquor. Fix, seeing that he must, at all hazards, be separated from his +master, wished to entirely overcome him. Some pipes full of opium lay +upon the table. Fix slipped one into Passepartout’s hand. He took it, +put it between his lips, lit it, drew several puffs, and his head, +becoming heavy under the influence of the narcotic, fell upon the +table. + +“At last!” said Fix, seeing Passepartout unconscious. “Mr. Fogg will +not be informed of the ‘Carnatic’s’ departure; and, if he is, he will +have to go without this cursed Frenchman!” + +And, after paying his bill, Fix left the tavern. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. +IN WHICH FIX COMES FACE TO FACE WITH PHILEAS FOGG + + +While these events were passing at the opium-house, Mr. Fogg, +unconscious of the danger he was in of losing the steamer, was quietly +escorting Aouda about the streets of the English quarter, making the +necessary purchases for the long voyage before them. It was all very +well for an Englishman like Mr. Fogg to make the tour of the world with +a carpet-bag; a lady could not be expected to travel comfortably under +such conditions. He acquitted his task with characteristic serenity, +and invariably replied to the remonstrances of his fair companion, who +was confused by his patience and generosity: + +“It is in the interest of my journey—a part of my programme.” + +The purchases made, they returned to the hotel, where they dined at a +sumptuously served _table-d’hôte;_ after which Aouda, shaking hands +with her protector after the English fashion, retired to her room for +rest. Mr. Fogg absorbed himself throughout the evening in the perusal +of the _Times_ and _Illustrated London News_. + +Had he been capable of being astonished at anything, it would have been +not to see his servant return at bedtime. But, knowing that the steamer +was not to leave for Yokohama until the next morning, he did not +disturb himself about the matter. When Passepartout did not appear the +next morning to answer his master’s bell, Mr. Fogg, not betraying the +least vexation, contented himself with taking his carpet-bag, calling +Aouda, and sending for a palanquin. + +It was then eight o’clock; at half-past nine, it being then high tide, +the “Carnatic” would leave the harbour. Mr. Fogg and Aouda got into the +palanquin, their luggage being brought after on a wheelbarrow, and half +an hour later stepped upon the quay whence they were to embark. Mr. +Fogg then learned that the “Carnatic” had sailed the evening before. He +had expected to find not only the steamer, but his domestic, and was +forced to give up both; but no sign of disappointment appeared on his +face, and he merely remarked to Aouda, “It is an accident, madam; +nothing more.” + +At this moment a man who had been observing him attentively approached. +It was Fix, who, bowing, addressed Mr. Fogg: “Were you not, like me, +sir, a passenger by the ‘Rangoon,’ which arrived yesterday?” + +“I was, sir,” replied Mr. Fogg coldly. “But I have not the honour—” + +“Pardon me; I thought I should find your servant here.” + +“Do you know where he is, sir?” asked Aouda anxiously. + +“What!” responded Fix, feigning surprise. “Is he not with you?” + +“No,” said Aouda. “He has not made his appearance since yesterday. +Could he have gone on board the ‘Carnatic’ without us?” + +“Without you, madam?” answered the detective. “Excuse me, did you +intend to sail in the ‘Carnatic’?” + +“Yes, sir.” + +“So did I, madam, and I am excessively disappointed. The ‘Carnatic’, +its repairs being completed, left Hong Kong twelve hours before the +stated time, without any notice being given; and we must now wait a +week for another steamer.” + +As he said “a week” Fix felt his heart leap for joy. Fogg detained at +Hong Kong for a week! There would be time for the warrant to arrive, +and fortune at last favoured the representative of the law. His horror +may be imagined when he heard Mr. Fogg say, in his placid voice, “But +there are other vessels besides the ‘Carnatic,’ it seems to me, in the +harbour of Hong Kong.” + +And, offering his arm to Aouda, he directed his steps toward the docks +in search of some craft about to start. Fix, stupefied, followed; it +seemed as if he were attached to Mr. Fogg by an invisible thread. +Chance, however, appeared really to have abandoned the man it had +hitherto served so well. For three hours Phileas Fogg wandered about +the docks, with the determination, if necessary, to charter a vessel to +carry him to Yokohama; but he could only find vessels which were +loading or unloading, and which could not therefore set sail. Fix began +to hope again. + +But Mr. Fogg, far from being discouraged, was continuing his search, +resolved not to stop if he had to resort to Macao, when he was accosted +by a sailor on one of the wharves. + +“Is your honour looking for a boat?” + +“Have you a boat ready to sail?” + +“Yes, your honour; a pilot-boat—No. 43—the best in the harbour.” + +“Does she go fast?” + +“Between eight and nine knots the hour. Will you look at her?” + +“Yes.” + +“Your honour will be satisfied with her. Is it for a sea excursion?” + +“No; for a voyage.” + +“A voyage?” + +“Yes, will you agree to take me to Yokohama?” + +The sailor leaned on the railing, opened his eyes wide, and said, “Is +your honour joking?” + +“No. I have missed the ‘Carnatic,’ and I must get to Yokohama by the +14th at the latest, to take the boat for San Francisco.” + +“I am sorry,” said the sailor; “but it is impossible.” + +“I offer you a hundred pounds per day, and an additional reward of two +hundred pounds if I reach Yokohama in time.” + +“Are you in earnest?” + +“Very much so.” + +The pilot walked away a little distance, and gazed out to sea, +evidently struggling between the anxiety to gain a large sum and the +fear of venturing so far. Fix was in mortal suspense. + +Mr. Fogg turned to Aouda and asked her, “You would not be afraid, would +you, madam?” + +“Not with you, Mr. Fogg,” was her answer. + +The pilot now returned, shuffling his hat in his hands. + +“Well, pilot?” said Mr. Fogg. + +“Well, your honour,” replied he, “I could not risk myself, my men, or +my little boat of scarcely twenty tons on so long a voyage at this time +of year. Besides, we could not reach Yokohama in time, for it is +sixteen hundred and sixty miles from Hong Kong.” + +“Only sixteen hundred,” said Mr. Fogg. + +“It’s the same thing.” + +Fix breathed more freely. + +“But,” added the pilot, “it might be arranged another way.” + +Fix ceased to breathe at all. + +“How?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“By going to Nagasaki, at the extreme south of Japan, or even to +Shanghai, which is only eight hundred miles from here. In going to +Shanghai we should not be forced to sail wide of the Chinese coast, +which would be a great advantage, as the currents run northward, and +would aid us.” + +“Pilot,” said Mr. Fogg, “I must take the American steamer at Yokohama, +and not at Shanghai or Nagasaki.” + +“Why not?” returned the pilot. “The San Francisco steamer does not +start from Yokohama. It puts in at Yokohama and Nagasaki, but it starts +from Shanghai.” + +“You are sure of that?” + +“Perfectly.” + +“And when does the boat leave Shanghai?” + +“On the 11th, at seven in the evening. We have, therefore, four days +before us, that is ninety-six hours; and in that time, if we had good +luck and a south-west wind, and the sea was calm, we could make those +eight hundred miles to Shanghai.” + +“And you could go—” + +“In an hour; as soon as provisions could be got aboard and the sails +put up.” + +“It is a bargain. Are you the master of the boat?” + +“Yes; John Bunsby, master of the ‘Tankadere.’” + +“Would you like some earnest-money?” + +“If it would not put your honour out—” + +“Here are two hundred pounds on account sir,” added Phileas Fogg, +turning to Fix, “if you would like to take advantage—” + +“Thanks, sir; I was about to ask the favour.” + +“Very well. In half an hour we shall go on board.” + +“But poor Passepartout?” urged Aouda, who was much disturbed by the +servant’s disappearance. + +“I shall do all I can to find him,” replied Phileas Fogg. + +While Fix, in a feverish, nervous state, repaired to the pilot-boat, +the others directed their course to the police-station at Hong Kong. +Phileas Fogg there gave Passepartout’s description, and left a sum of +money to be spent in the search for him. The same formalities having +been gone through at the French consulate, and the palanquin having +stopped at the hotel for the luggage, which had been sent back there, +they returned to the wharf. + +It was now three o’clock; and pilot-boat No. 43, with its crew on +board, and its provisions stored away, was ready for departure. + +The “Tankadere” was a neat little craft of twenty tons, as gracefully +built as if she were a racing yacht. Her shining copper sheathing, her +galvanised iron-work, her deck, white as ivory, betrayed the pride +taken by John Bunsby in making her presentable. Her two masts leaned a +trifle backward; she carried brigantine, foresail, storm-jib, and +standing-jib, and was well rigged for running before the wind; and she +seemed capable of brisk speed, which, indeed, she had already proved by +gaining several prizes in pilot-boat races. The crew of the “Tankadere” +was composed of John Bunsby, the master, and four hardy mariners, who +were familiar with the Chinese seas. John Bunsby, himself, a man of +forty-five or thereabouts, vigorous, sunburnt, with a sprightly +expression of the eye, and energetic and self-reliant countenance, +would have inspired confidence in the most timid. + +Phileas Fogg and Aouda went on board, where they found Fix already +installed. Below deck was a square cabin, of which the walls bulged out +in the form of cots, above a circular divan; in the centre was a table +provided with a swinging lamp. The accommodation was confined, but +neat. + +“I am sorry to have nothing better to offer you,” said Mr. Fogg to Fix, +who bowed without responding. + +The detective had a feeling akin to humiliation in profiting by the +kindness of Mr. Fogg. + +“It’s certain,” thought he, “though rascal as he is, he is a polite +one!” + +The sails and the English flag were hoisted at ten minutes past three. +Mr. Fogg and Aouda, who were seated on deck, cast a last glance at the +quay, in the hope of espying Passepartout. Fix was not without his +fears lest chance should direct the steps of the unfortunate servant, +whom he had so badly treated, in this direction; in which case an +explanation the reverse of satisfactory to the detective must have +ensued. But the Frenchman did not appear, and, without doubt, was still +lying under the stupefying influence of the opium. + +John Bunsby, master, at length gave the order to start, and the +“Tankadere,” taking the wind under her brigantine, foresail, and +standing-jib, bounded briskly forward over the waves. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. +IN WHICH THE MASTER OF THE “TANKADERE” RUNS GREAT RISK OF LOSING A +REWARD OF TWO HUNDRED POUNDS + + +This voyage of eight hundred miles was a perilous venture on a craft of +twenty tons, and at that season of the year. The Chinese seas are +usually boisterous, subject to terrible gales of wind, and especially +during the equinoxes; and it was now early November. + +It would clearly have been to the master’s advantage to carry his +passengers to Yokohama, since he was paid a certain sum per day; but he +would have been rash to attempt such a voyage, and it was imprudent +even to attempt to reach Shanghai. But John Bunsby believed in the +“Tankadere,” which rode on the waves like a seagull; and perhaps he was +not wrong. + +Late in the day they passed through the capricious channels of Hong +Kong, and the “Tankadere,” impelled by favourable winds, conducted +herself admirably. + +“I do not need, pilot,” said Phileas Fogg, when they got into the open +sea, “to advise you to use all possible speed.” + +“Trust me, your honour. We are carrying all the sail the wind will let +us. The poles would add nothing, and are only used when we are going +into port.” + +“It’s your trade, not mine, pilot, and I confide in you.” + +Phileas Fogg, with body erect and legs wide apart, standing like a +sailor, gazed without staggering at the swelling waters. The young +woman, who was seated aft, was profoundly affected as she looked out +upon the ocean, darkening now with the twilight, on which she had +ventured in so frail a vessel. Above her head rustled the white sails, +which seemed like great white wings. The boat, carried forward by the +wind, seemed to be flying in the air. + +Night came. The moon was entering her first quarter, and her +insufficient light would soon die out in the mist on the horizon. +Clouds were rising from the east, and already overcast a part of the +heavens. + +The pilot had hung out his lights, which was very necessary in these +seas crowded with vessels bound landward; for collisions are not +uncommon occurrences, and, at the speed she was going, the least shock +would shatter the gallant little craft. + +Fix, seated in the bow, gave himself up to meditation. He kept apart +from his fellow-travellers, knowing Mr. Fogg’s taciturn tastes; +besides, he did not quite like to talk to the man whose favours he had +accepted. He was thinking, too, of the future. It seemed certain that +Fogg would not stop at Yokohama, but would at once take the boat for +San Francisco; and the vast extent of America would ensure him impunity +and safety. Fogg’s plan appeared to him the simplest in the world. +Instead of sailing directly from England to the United States, like a +common villain, he had traversed three quarters of the globe, so as to +gain the American continent more surely; and there, after throwing the +police off his track, he would quietly enjoy himself with the fortune +stolen from the bank. But, once in the United States, what should he, +Fix, do? Should he abandon this man? No, a hundred times no! Until he +had secured his extradition, he would not lose sight of him for an +hour. It was his duty, and he would fulfil it to the end. At all +events, there was one thing to be thankful for; Passepartout was not +with his master; and it was above all important, after the confidences +Fix had imparted to him, that the servant should never have speech with +his master. + +Phileas Fogg was also thinking of Passepartout, who had so strangely +disappeared. Looking at the matter from every point of view, it did not +seem to him impossible that, by some mistake, the man might have +embarked on the “Carnatic” at the last moment; and this was also +Aouda’s opinion, who regretted very much the loss of the worthy fellow +to whom she owed so much. They might then find him at Yokohama; for, if +the “Carnatic” was carrying him thither, it would be easy to ascertain +if he had been on board. + +A brisk breeze arose about ten o’clock; but, though it might have been +prudent to take in a reef, the pilot, after carefully examining the +heavens, let the craft remain rigged as before. The “Tankadere” bore +sail admirably, as she drew a great deal of water, and everything was +prepared for high speed in case of a gale. + +Mr. Fogg and Aouda descended into the cabin at midnight, having been +already preceded by Fix, who had lain down on one of the cots. The +pilot and crew remained on deck all night. + +At sunrise the next day, which was 8th November, the boat had made more +than one hundred miles. The log indicated a mean speed of between eight +and nine miles. The “Tankadere” still carried all sail, and was +accomplishing her greatest capacity of speed. If the wind held as it +was, the chances would be in her favour. During the day she kept along +the coast, where the currents were favourable; the coast, irregular in +profile, and visible sometimes across the clearings, was at most five +miles distant. The sea was less boisterous, since the wind came off +land—a fortunate circumstance for the boat, which would suffer, owing +to its small tonnage, by a heavy surge on the sea. + +The breeze subsided a little towards noon, and set in from the +south-west. The pilot put up his poles, but took them down again within +two hours, as the wind freshened up anew. + +Mr. Fogg and Aouda, happily unaffected by the roughness of the sea, ate +with a good appetite, Fix being invited to share their repast, which he +accepted with secret chagrin. To travel at this man’s expense and live +upon his provisions was not palatable to him. Still, he was obliged to +eat, and so he ate. + +When the meal was over, he took Mr. Fogg apart, and said, “sir”—this +“sir” scorched his lips, and he had to control himself to avoid +collaring this “gentleman”—“sir, you have been very kind to give me a +passage on this boat. But, though my means will not admit of my +expending them as freely as you, I must ask to pay my share—” + +“Let us not speak of that, sir,” replied Mr. Fogg. + +“But, if I insist—” + +“No, sir,” repeated Mr. Fogg, in a tone which did not admit of a reply. +“This enters into my general expenses.” + +Fix, as he bowed, had a stifled feeling, and, going forward, where he +ensconced himself, did not open his mouth for the rest of the day. + +Meanwhile they were progressing famously, and John Bunsby was in high +hope. He several times assured Mr. Fogg that they would reach Shanghai +in time; to which that gentleman responded that he counted upon it. The +crew set to work in good earnest, inspired by the reward to be gained. +There was not a sheet which was not tightened, not a sail which was not +vigorously hoisted; not a lurch could be charged to the man at the +helm. They worked as desperately as if they were contesting in a Royal +yacht regatta. + +By evening, the log showed that two hundred and twenty miles had been +accomplished from Hong Kong, and Mr. Fogg might hope that he would be +able to reach Yokohama without recording any delay in his journal; in +which case, the many misadventures which had overtaken him since he +left London would not seriously affect his journey. + +The “Tankadere” entered the Straits of Fo-Kien, which separate the +island of Formosa from the Chinese coast, in the small hours of the +night, and crossed the Tropic of Cancer. The sea was very rough in the +straits, full of eddies formed by the counter-currents, and the +chopping waves broke her course, whilst it became very difficult to +stand on deck. + +At daybreak the wind began to blow hard again, and the heavens seemed +to predict a gale. The barometer announced a speedy change, the mercury +rising and falling capriciously; the sea also, in the south-east, +raised long surges which indicated a tempest. The sun had set the +evening before in a red mist, in the midst of the phosphorescent +scintillations of the ocean. + +John Bunsby long examined the threatening aspect of the heavens, +muttering indistinctly between his teeth. At last he said in a low +voice to Mr. Fogg, “Shall I speak out to your honour?” + +“Of course.” + +“Well, we are going to have a squall.” + +“Is the wind north or south?” asked Mr. Fogg quietly. + +“South. Look! a typhoon is coming up.” + +“Glad it’s a typhoon from the south, for it will carry us forward.” + +“Oh, if you take it that way,” said John Bunsby, “I’ve nothing more to +say.” John Bunsby’s suspicions were confirmed. At a less advanced +season of the year the typhoon, according to a famous meteorologist, +would have passed away like a luminous cascade of electric flame; but +in the winter equinox it was to be feared that it would burst upon them +with great violence. + +The pilot took his precautions in advance. He reefed all sail, the +pole-masts were dispensed with; all hands went forward to the bows. A +single triangular sail, of strong canvas, was hoisted as a storm-jib, +so as to hold the wind from behind. Then they waited. + +John Bunsby had requested his passengers to go below; but this +imprisonment in so narrow a space, with little air, and the boat +bouncing in the gale, was far from pleasant. Neither Mr. Fogg, Fix, nor +Aouda consented to leave the deck. + +The storm of rain and wind descended upon them towards eight o’clock. +With but its bit of sail, the “Tankadere” was lifted like a feather by +a wind, an idea of whose violence can scarcely be given. To compare her +speed to four times that of a locomotive going on full steam would be +below the truth. + +The boat scudded thus northward during the whole day, borne on by +monstrous waves, preserving always, fortunately, a speed equal to +theirs. Twenty times she seemed almost to be submerged by these +mountains of water which rose behind her; but the adroit management of +the pilot saved her. The passengers were often bathed in spray, but +they submitted to it philosophically. Fix cursed it, no doubt; but +Aouda, with her eyes fastened upon her protector, whose coolness amazed +her, showed herself worthy of him, and bravely weathered the storm. As +for Phileas Fogg, it seemed just as if the typhoon were a part of his +programme. + +Up to this time the “Tankadere” had always held her course to the +north; but towards evening the wind, veering three quarters, bore down +from the north-west. The boat, now lying in the trough of the waves, +shook and rolled terribly; the sea struck her with fearful violence. At +night the tempest increased in violence. John Bunsby saw the approach +of darkness and the rising of the storm with dark misgivings. He +thought awhile, and then asked his crew if it was not time to slacken +speed. After a consultation he approached Mr. Fogg, and said, “I think, +your honour, that we should do well to make for one of the ports on the +coast.” + +“I think so too.” + +“Ah!” said the pilot. “But which one?” + +“I know of but one,” returned Mr. Fogg tranquilly. + +“And that is—” + +“Shanghai.” + +The pilot, at first, did not seem to comprehend; he could scarcely +realise so much determination and tenacity. Then he cried, “Well—yes! +Your honour is right. To Shanghai!” + +So the “Tankadere” kept steadily on her northward track. + +The night was really terrible; it would be a miracle if the craft did +not founder. Twice it could have been all over with her if the crew had +not been constantly on the watch. Aouda was exhausted, but did not +utter a complaint. More than once Mr. Fogg rushed to protect her from +the violence of the waves. + +Day reappeared. The tempest still raged with undiminished fury; but the +wind now returned to the south-east. It was a favourable change, and +the “Tankadere” again bounded forward on this mountainous sea, though +the waves crossed each other, and imparted shocks and counter-shocks +which would have crushed a craft less solidly built. From time to time +the coast was visible through the broken mist, but no vessel was in +sight. The “Tankadere” was alone upon the sea. + +There were some signs of a calm at noon, and these became more distinct +as the sun descended toward the horizon. The tempest had been as brief +as terrific. The passengers, thoroughly exhausted, could now eat a +little, and take some repose. + +The night was comparatively quiet. Some of the sails were again +hoisted, and the speed of the boat was very good. The next morning at +dawn they espied the coast, and John Bunsby was able to assert that +they were not one hundred miles from Shanghai. A hundred miles, and +only one day to traverse them! That very evening Mr. Fogg was due at +Shanghai, if he did not wish to miss the steamer to Yokohama. Had there +been no storm, during which several hours were lost, they would be at +this moment within thirty miles of their destination. + +The wind grew decidedly calmer, and happily the sea fell with it. All +sails were now hoisted, and at noon the “Tankadere” was within +forty-five miles of Shanghai. There remained yet six hours in which to +accomplish that distance. All on board feared that it could not be +done, and every one—Phileas Fogg, no doubt, excepted—felt his heart +beat with impatience. The boat must keep up an average of nine miles an +hour, and the wind was becoming calmer every moment! It was a +capricious breeze, coming from the coast, and after it passed the sea +became smooth. Still, the “Tankadere” was so light, and her fine sails +caught the fickle zephyrs so well, that, with the aid of the currents +John Bunsby found himself at six o’clock not more than ten miles from +the mouth of Shanghai River. Shanghai itself is situated at least +twelve miles up the stream. At seven they were still three miles from +Shanghai. The pilot swore an angry oath; the reward of two hundred +pounds was evidently on the point of escaping him. He looked at Mr. +Fogg. Mr. Fogg was perfectly tranquil; and yet his whole fortune was at +this moment at stake. + +At this moment, also, a long black funnel, crowned with wreaths of +smoke, appeared on the edge of the waters. It was the American steamer, +leaving for Yokohama at the appointed time. + +“Confound her!” cried John Bunsby, pushing back the rudder with a +desperate jerk. + +“Signal her!” said Phileas Fogg quietly. + +A small brass cannon stood on the forward deck of the “Tankadere,” for +making signals in the fogs. It was loaded to the muzzle; but just as +the pilot was about to apply a red-hot coal to the touchhole, Mr. Fogg +said, “Hoist your flag!” + +The flag was run up at half-mast, and, this being the signal of +distress, it was hoped that the American steamer, perceiving it, would +change her course a little, so as to succour the pilot-boat. + +“Fire!” said Mr. Fogg. And the booming of the little cannon resounded +in the air. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT FINDS OUT THAT, EVEN AT THE ANTIPODES, IT IS +CONVENIENT TO HAVE SOME MONEY IN ONE’S POCKET + + +The “Carnatic,” setting sail from Hong Kong at half-past six on the 7th +of November, directed her course at full steam towards Japan. She +carried a large cargo and a well-filled cabin of passengers. Two +state-rooms in the rear were, however, unoccupied—those which had been +engaged by Phileas Fogg. + +The next day a passenger with a half-stupefied eye, staggering gait, +and disordered hair, was seen to emerge from the second cabin, and to +totter to a seat on deck. + +It was Passepartout; and what had happened to him was as follows: +Shortly after Fix left the opium den, two waiters had lifted the +unconscious Passepartout, and had carried him to the bed reserved for +the smokers. Three hours later, pursued even in his dreams by a fixed +idea, the poor fellow awoke, and struggled against the stupefying +influence of the narcotic. The thought of a duty unfulfilled shook off +his torpor, and he hurried from the abode of drunkenness. Staggering +and holding himself up by keeping against the walls, falling down and +creeping up again, and irresistibly impelled by a kind of instinct, he +kept crying out, “The ‘Carnatic!’ the ‘Carnatic!’” + +The steamer lay puffing alongside the quay, on the point of starting. +Passepartout had but few steps to go; and, rushing upon the plank, he +crossed it, and fell unconscious on the deck, just as the “Carnatic” +was moving off. Several sailors, who were evidently accustomed to this +sort of scene, carried the poor Frenchman down into the second cabin, +and Passepartout did not wake until they were one hundred and fifty +miles away from China. Thus he found himself the next morning on the +deck of the “Carnatic,” and eagerly inhaling the exhilarating +sea-breeze. The pure air sobered him. He began to collect his sense, +which he found a difficult task; but at last he recalled the events of +the evening before, Fix’s revelation, and the opium-house. + +“It is evident,” said he to himself, “that I have been abominably +drunk! What will Mr. Fogg say? At least I have not missed the steamer, +which is the most important thing.” + +Then, as Fix occurred to him: “As for that rascal, I hope we are well +rid of him, and that he has not dared, as he proposed, to follow us on +board the “Carnatic.” A detective on the track of Mr. Fogg, accused of +robbing the Bank of England! Pshaw! Mr. Fogg is no more a robber than I +am a murderer.” + +Should he divulge Fix’s real errand to his master? Would it do to tell +the part the detective was playing? Would it not be better to wait +until Mr. Fogg reached London again, and then impart to him that an +agent of the metropolitan police had been following him round the +world, and have a good laugh over it? No doubt; at least, it was worth +considering. The first thing to do was to find Mr. Fogg, and apologise +for his singular behaviour. + +Passepartout got up and proceeded, as well as he could with the rolling +of the steamer, to the after-deck. He saw no one who resembled either +his master or Aouda. “Good!” muttered he; “Aouda has not got up yet, +and Mr. Fogg has probably found some partners at whist.” + +He descended to the saloon. Mr. Fogg was not there. Passepartout had +only, however, to ask the purser the number of his master’s state-room. +The purser replied that he did not know any passenger by the name of +Fogg. + +“I beg your pardon,” said Passepartout persistently. “He is a tall +gentleman, quiet, and not very talkative, and has with him a young +lady—” + +“There is no young lady on board,” interrupted the purser. “Here is a +list of the passengers; you may see for yourself.” + +Passepartout scanned the list, but his master’s name was not upon it. +All at once an idea struck him. + +“Ah! am I on the ‘Carnatic?’” + +“Yes.” + +“On the way to Yokohama?” + +“Certainly.” + +Passepartout had for an instant feared that he was on the wrong boat; +but, though he was really on the “Carnatic,” his master was not there. + +He fell thunderstruck on a seat. He saw it all now. He remembered that +the time of sailing had been changed, that he should have informed his +master of that fact, and that he had not done so. It was his fault, +then, that Mr. Fogg and Aouda had missed the steamer. Yes, but it was +still more the fault of the traitor who, in order to separate him from +his master, and detain the latter at Hong Kong, had inveigled him into +getting drunk! He now saw the detective’s trick; and at this moment Mr. +Fogg was certainly ruined, his bet was lost, and he himself perhaps +arrested and imprisoned! At this thought Passepartout tore his hair. +Ah, if Fix ever came within his reach, what a settling of accounts +there would be! + +After his first depression, Passepartout became calmer, and began to +study his situation. It was certainly not an enviable one. He found +himself on the way to Japan, and what should he do when he got there? +His pocket was empty; he had not a solitary shilling, not so much as a +penny. His passage had fortunately been paid for in advance; and he had +five or six days in which to decide upon his future course. He fell to +at meals with an appetite, and ate for Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and himself. He +helped himself as generously as if Japan were a desert, where nothing +to eat was to be looked for. + +At dawn on the 13th the “Carnatic” entered the port of Yokohama. This +is an important port of call in the Pacific, where all the +mail-steamers, and those carrying travellers between North America, +China, Japan, and the Oriental islands put in. It is situated in the +bay of Yeddo, and at but a short distance from that second capital of +the Japanese Empire, and the residence of the Tycoon, the civil +Emperor, before the Mikado, the spiritual Emperor, absorbed his office +in his own. The “Carnatic” anchored at the quay near the custom-house, +in the midst of a crowd of ships bearing the flags of all nations. + +Passepartout went timidly ashore on this so curious territory of the +Sons of the Sun. He had nothing better to do than, taking chance for +his guide, to wander aimlessly through the streets of Yokohama. He +found himself at first in a thoroughly European quarter, the houses +having low fronts, and being adorned with verandas, beneath which he +caught glimpses of neat peristyles. This quarter occupied, with its +streets, squares, docks, and warehouses, all the space between the +“promontory of the Treaty” and the river. Here, as at Hong Kong and +Calcutta, were mixed crowds of all races, Americans and English, +Chinamen and Dutchmen, mostly merchants ready to buy or sell anything. +The Frenchman felt himself as much alone among them as if he had +dropped down in the midst of Hottentots. + +He had, at least, one resource,—to call on the French and English +consuls at Yokohama for assistance. But he shrank from telling the +story of his adventures, intimately connected as it was with that of +his master; and, before doing so, he determined to exhaust all other +means of aid. As chance did not favour him in the European quarter, he +penetrated that inhabited by the native Japanese, determined, if +necessary, to push on to Yeddo. + +The Japanese quarter of Yokohama is called Benten, after the goddess of +the sea, who is worshipped on the islands round about. There +Passepartout beheld beautiful fir and cedar groves, sacred gates of a +singular architecture, bridges half hid in the midst of bamboos and +reeds, temples shaded by immense cedar-trees, holy retreats where were +sheltered Buddhist priests and sectaries of Confucius, and interminable +streets, where a perfect harvest of rose-tinted and red-cheeked +children, who looked as if they had been cut out of Japanese screens, +and who were playing in the midst of short-legged poodles and yellowish +cats, might have been gathered. + +The streets were crowded with people. Priests were passing in +processions, beating their dreary tambourines; police and custom-house +officers with pointed hats encrusted with lac and carrying two sabres +hung to their waists; soldiers, clad in blue cotton with white stripes, +and bearing guns; the Mikado’s guards, enveloped in silken doubles, +hauberks and coats of mail; and numbers of military folk of all +ranks—for the military profession is as much respected in Japan as it +is despised in China—went hither and thither in groups and pairs. +Passepartout saw, too, begging friars, long-robed pilgrims, and simple +civilians, with their warped and jet-black hair, big heads, long busts, +slender legs, short stature, and complexions varying from copper-colour +to a dead white, but never yellow, like the Chinese, from whom the +Japanese widely differ. He did not fail to observe the curious +equipages—carriages and palanquins, barrows supplied with sails, and +litters made of bamboo; nor the women—whom he thought not especially +handsome—who took little steps with their little feet, whereon they +wore canvas shoes, straw sandals, and clogs of worked wood, and who +displayed tight-looking eyes, flat chests, teeth fashionably blackened, +and gowns crossed with silken scarfs, tied in an enormous knot behind +an ornament which the modern Parisian ladies seem to have borrowed from +the dames of Japan. + +Passepartout wandered for several hours in the midst of this motley +crowd, looking in at the windows of the rich and curious shops, the +jewellery establishments glittering with quaint Japanese ornaments, the +restaurants decked with streamers and banners, the tea-houses, where +the odorous beverage was being drunk with “saki,” a liquor concocted +from the fermentation of rice, and the comfortable smoking-houses, +where they were puffing, not opium, which is almost unknown in Japan, +but a very fine, stringy tobacco. He went on till he found himself in +the fields, in the midst of vast rice plantations. There he saw +dazzling camellias expanding themselves, with flowers which were giving +forth their last colours and perfumes, not on bushes, but on trees, and +within bamboo enclosures, cherry, plum, and apple trees, which the +Japanese cultivate rather for their blossoms than their fruit, and +which queerly-fashioned, grinning scarecrows protected from the +sparrows, pigeons, ravens, and other voracious birds. On the branches +of the cedars were perched large eagles; amid the foliage of the +weeping willows were herons, solemnly standing on one leg; and on every +hand were crows, ducks, hawks, wild birds, and a multitude of cranes, +which the Japanese consider sacred, and which to their minds symbolise +long life and prosperity. + +As he was strolling along, Passepartout espied some violets among the +shrubs. + +“Good!” said he; “I’ll have some supper.” + +But, on smelling them, he found that they were odourless. + +“No chance there,” thought he. + +The worthy fellow had certainly taken good care to eat as hearty a +breakfast as possible before leaving the “Carnatic;” but, as he had +been walking about all day, the demands of hunger were becoming +importunate. He observed that the butchers stalls contained neither +mutton, goat, nor pork; and, knowing also that it is a sacrilege to +kill cattle, which are preserved solely for farming, he made up his +mind that meat was far from plentiful in Yokohama—nor was he mistaken; +and, in default of butcher’s meat, he could have wished for a quarter +of wild boar or deer, a partridge, or some quails, some game or fish, +which, with rice, the Japanese eat almost exclusively. But he found it +necessary to keep up a stout heart, and to postpone the meal he craved +till the following morning. Night came, and Passepartout re-entered the +native quarter, where he wandered through the streets, lit by +vari-coloured lanterns, looking on at the dancers, who were executing +skilful steps and boundings, and the astrologers who stood in the open +air with their telescopes. Then he came to the harbour, which was lit +up by the resin torches of the fishermen, who were fishing from their +boats. + +The streets at last became quiet, and the patrol, the officers of +which, in their splendid costumes, and surrounded by their suites, +Passepartout thought seemed like ambassadors, succeeded the bustling +crowd. Each time a company passed, Passepartout chuckled, and said to +himself: “Good! another Japanese embassy departing for Europe!” + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT’S NOSE BECOMES OUTRAGEOUSLY LONG + + +The next morning poor, jaded, famished Passepartout said to himself +that he must get something to eat at all hazards, and the sooner he did +so the better. He might, indeed, sell his watch; but he would have +starved first. Now or never he must use the strong, if not melodious +voice which nature had bestowed upon him. He knew several French and +English songs, and resolved to try them upon the Japanese, who must be +lovers of music, since they were for ever pounding on their cymbals, +tam-tams, and tambourines, and could not but appreciate European +talent. + +It was, perhaps, rather early in the morning to get up a concert, and +the audience prematurely aroused from their slumbers, might not +possibly pay their entertainer with coin bearing the Mikado’s features. +Passepartout therefore decided to wait several hours; and, as he was +sauntering along, it occurred to him that he would seem rather too well +dressed for a wandering artist. The idea struck him to change his +garments for clothes more in harmony with his project; by which he +might also get a little money to satisfy the immediate cravings of +hunger. The resolution taken, it remained to carry it out. + +It was only after a long search that Passepartout discovered a native +dealer in old clothes, to whom he applied for an exchange. The man +liked the European costume, and ere long Passepartout issued from his +shop accoutred in an old Japanese coat, and a sort of one-sided turban, +faded with long use. A few small pieces of silver, moreover, jingled in +his pocket. + +“Good!” thought he. “I will imagine I am at the Carnival!” + +His first care, after being thus “Japanesed,” was to enter a tea-house +of modest appearance, and, upon half a bird and a little rice, to +breakfast like a man for whom dinner was as yet a problem to be solved. + +“Now,” thought he, when he had eaten heartily, “I mustn’t lose my head. +I can’t sell this costume again for one still more Japanese. I must +consider how to leave this country of the Sun, of which I shall not +retain the most delightful of memories, as quickly as possible.” + +It occurred to him to visit the steamers which were about to leave for +America. He would offer himself as a cook or servant, in payment of his +passage and meals. Once at San Francisco, he would find some means of +going on. The difficulty was, how to traverse the four thousand seven +hundred miles of the Pacific which lay between Japan and the New World. + +Passepartout was not the man to let an idea go begging, and directed +his steps towards the docks. But, as he approached them, his project, +which at first had seemed so simple, began to grow more and more +formidable to his mind. What need would they have of a cook or servant +on an American steamer, and what confidence would they put in him, +dressed as he was? What references could he give? + +As he was reflecting in this wise, his eyes fell upon an immense +placard which a sort of clown was carrying through the streets. This +placard, which was in English, read as follows: + +ACROBATIC JAPANESE TROUPE, +HONOURABLE WILLIAM BATULCAR, PROPRIETOR, +LAST REPRESENTATIONS, +PRIOR TO THEIR DEPARTURE TO THE UNITED STATES, +OF THE +LONG NOSES! LONG NOSES! +UNDER THE DIRECT PATRONAGE OF THE GOD TINGOU! +GREAT ATTRACTION! + + +“The United States!” said Passepartout; “that’s just what I want!” + +He followed the clown, and soon found himself once more in the Japanese +quarter. A quarter of an hour later he stopped before a large cabin, +adorned with several clusters of streamers, the exterior walls of which +were designed to represent, in violent colours and without perspective, +a company of jugglers. + +This was the Honourable William Batulcar’s establishment. That +gentleman was a sort of Barnum, the director of a troupe of +mountebanks, jugglers, clowns, acrobats, equilibrists, and gymnasts, +who, according to the placard, was giving his last performances before +leaving the Empire of the Sun for the States of the Union. + +Passepartout entered and asked for Mr. Batulcar, who straightway +appeared in person. + +“What do you want?” said he to Passepartout, whom he at first took for +a native. + +“Would you like a servant, sir?” asked Passepartout. + +“A servant!” cried Mr. Batulcar, caressing the thick grey beard which +hung from his chin. “I already have two who are obedient and faithful, +have never left me, and serve me for their nourishment and here they +are,” added he, holding out his two robust arms, furrowed with veins as +large as the strings of a bass-viol. + +“So I can be of no use to you?” + +“None.” + +“The devil! I should so like to cross the Pacific with you!” + +“Ah!” said the Honourable Mr. Batulcar. “You are no more a Japanese +than I am a monkey! Who are you dressed up in that way?” + +“A man dresses as he can.” + +“That’s true. You are a Frenchman, aren’t you?” + +“Yes; a Parisian of Paris.” + +“Then you ought to know how to make grimaces?” + +“Why,” replied Passepartout, a little vexed that his nationality should +cause this question, “we Frenchmen know how to make grimaces, it is +true but not any better than the Americans do.” + +“True. Well, if I can’t take you as a servant, I can as a clown. You +see, my friend, in France they exhibit foreign clowns, and in foreign +parts French clowns.” + +“Ah!” + +“You are pretty strong, eh?” + +“Especially after a good meal.” + +“And you can sing?” + +“Yes,” returned Passepartout, who had formerly been wont to sing in the +streets. + +“But can you sing standing on your head, with a top spinning on your +left foot, and a sabre balanced on your right?” + +“Humph! I think so,” replied Passepartout, recalling the exercises of +his younger days. + +“Well, that’s enough,” said the Honourable William Batulcar. + +The engagement was concluded there and then. + +Passepartout had at last found something to do. He was engaged to act +in the celebrated Japanese troupe. It was not a very dignified +position, but within a week he would be on his way to San Francisco. + +The performance, so noisily announced by the Honourable Mr. Batulcar, +was to commence at three o’clock, and soon the deafening instruments of +a Japanese orchestra resounded at the door. Passepartout, though he had +not been able to study or rehearse a part, was designated to lend the +aid of his sturdy shoulders in the great exhibition of the “human +pyramid,” executed by the Long Noses of the god Tingou. This “great +attraction” was to close the performance. + +Before three o’clock the large shed was invaded by the spectators, +comprising Europeans and natives, Chinese and Japanese, men, women and +children, who precipitated themselves upon the narrow benches and into +the boxes opposite the stage. The musicians took up a position inside, +and were vigorously performing on their gongs, tam-tams, flutes, bones, +tambourines, and immense drums. + +The performance was much like all acrobatic displays; but it must be +confessed that the Japanese are the first equilibrists in the world. + +One, with a fan and some bits of paper, performed the graceful trick of +the butterflies and the flowers; another traced in the air, with the +odorous smoke of his pipe, a series of blue words, which composed a +compliment to the audience; while a third juggled with some lighted +candles, which he extinguished successively as they passed his lips, +and relit again without interrupting for an instant his juggling. +Another reproduced the most singular combinations with a spinning-top; +in his hands the revolving tops seemed to be animated with a life of +their own in their interminable whirling; they ran over pipe-stems, the +edges of sabres, wires and even hairs stretched across the stage; they +turned around on the edges of large glasses, crossed bamboo ladders, +dispersed into all the corners, and produced strange musical effects by +the combination of their various pitches of tone. The jugglers tossed +them in the air, threw them like shuttlecocks with wooden battledores, +and yet they kept on spinning; they put them into their pockets, and +took them out still whirling as before. + +It is useless to describe the astonishing performances of the acrobats +and gymnasts. The turning on ladders, poles, balls, barrels, &c., was +executed with wonderful precision. + +But the principal attraction was the exhibition of the Long Noses, a +show to which Europe is as yet a stranger. + +The Long Noses form a peculiar company, under the direct patronage of +the god Tingou. Attired after the fashion of the Middle Ages, they bore +upon their shoulders a splendid pair of wings; but what especially +distinguished them was the long noses which were fastened to their +faces, and the uses which they made of them. These noses were made of +bamboo, and were five, six, and even ten feet long, some straight, +others curved, some ribboned, and some having imitation warts upon +them. It was upon these appendages, fixed tightly on their real noses, +that they performed their gymnastic exercises. A dozen of these +sectaries of Tingou lay flat upon their backs, while others, dressed to +represent lightning-rods, came and frolicked on their noses, jumping +from one to another, and performing the most skilful leapings and +somersaults. + +As a last scene, a “human pyramid” had been announced, in which fifty +Long Noses were to represent the Car of Juggernaut. But, instead of +forming a pyramid by mounting each other’s shoulders, the artists were +to group themselves on top of the noses. It happened that the performer +who had hitherto formed the base of the Car had quitted the troupe, and +as, to fill this part, only strength and adroitness were necessary, +Passepartout had been chosen to take his place. + +The poor fellow really felt sad when—melancholy reminiscence of his +youth!—he donned his costume, adorned with vari-coloured wings, and +fastened to his natural feature a false nose six feet long. But he +cheered up when he thought that this nose was winning him something to +eat. + +He went upon the stage, and took his place beside the rest who were to +compose the base of the Car of Juggernaut. They all stretched +themselves on the floor, their noses pointing to the ceiling. A second +group of artists disposed themselves on these long appendages, then a +third above these, then a fourth, until a human monument reaching to +the very cornices of the theatre soon arose on top of the noses. This +elicited loud applause, in the midst of which the orchestra was just +striking up a deafening air, when the pyramid tottered, the balance was +lost, one of the lower noses vanished from the pyramid, and the human +monument was shattered like a castle built of cards! + +It was Passepartout’s fault. Abandoning his position, clearing the +footlights without the aid of his wings, and, clambering up to the +right-hand gallery, he fell at the feet of one of the spectators, +crying, “Ah, my master! my master!” + +“You here?” + +“Myself.” + +“Very well; then let us go to the steamer, young man!” + +Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Passepartout passed through the lobby of the +theatre to the outside, where they encountered the Honourable Mr. +Batulcar, furious with rage. He demanded damages for the “breakage” of +the pyramid; and Phileas Fogg appeased him by giving him a handful of +banknotes. + +At half-past six, the very hour of departure, Mr. Fogg and Aouda, +followed by Passepartout, who in his hurry had retained his wings, and +nose six feet long, stepped upon the American steamer. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. +DURING WHICH MR. FOGG AND PARTY CROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN + + +What happened when the pilot-boat came in sight of Shanghai will be +easily guessed. The signals made by the “Tankadere” had been seen by +the captain of the Yokohama steamer, who, espying the flag at +half-mast, had directed his course towards the little craft. Phileas +Fogg, after paying the stipulated price of his passage to John Busby, +and rewarding that worthy with the additional sum of five hundred and +fifty pounds, ascended the steamer with Aouda and Fix; and they started +at once for Nagasaki and Yokohama. + +They reached their destination on the morning of the 14th of November. +Phileas Fogg lost no time in going on board the “Carnatic,” where he +learned, to Aouda’s great delight—and perhaps to his own, though he +betrayed no emotion—that Passepartout, a Frenchman, had really arrived +on her the day before. + +The San Francisco steamer was announced to leave that very evening, and +it became necessary to find Passepartout, if possible, without delay. +Mr. Fogg applied in vain to the French and English consuls, and, after +wandering through the streets a long time, began to despair of finding +his missing servant. Chance, or perhaps a kind of presentiment, at last +led him into the Honourable Mr. Batulcar’s theatre. He certainly would +not have recognised Passepartout in the eccentric mountebank’s costume; +but the latter, lying on his back, perceived his master in the gallery. +He could not help starting, which so changed the position of his nose +as to bring the “pyramid” pell-mell upon the stage. + +All this Passepartout learned from Aouda, who recounted to him what had +taken place on the voyage from Hong Kong to Shanghai on the +“Tankadere,” in company with one Mr. Fix. + +Passepartout did not change countenance on hearing this name. He +thought that the time had not yet arrived to divulge to his master what +had taken place between the detective and himself; and, in the account +he gave of his absence, he simply excused himself for having been +overtaken by drunkenness, in smoking opium at a tavern in Hong Kong. + +Mr. Fogg heard this narrative coldly, without a word; and then +furnished his man with funds necessary to obtain clothing more in +harmony with his position. Within an hour the Frenchman had cut off his +nose and parted with his wings, and retained nothing about him which +recalled the sectary of the god Tingou. + +The steamer which was about to depart from Yokohama to San Francisco +belonged to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and was named the +“General Grant.” She was a large paddle-wheel steamer of two thousand +five hundred tons; well equipped and very fast. The massive +walking-beam rose and fell above the deck; at one end a piston-rod +worked up and down; and at the other was a connecting-rod which, in +changing the rectilinear motion to a circular one, was directly +connected with the shaft of the paddles. The “General Grant” was rigged +with three masts, giving a large capacity for sails, and thus +materially aiding the steam power. By making twelve miles an hour, she +would cross the ocean in twenty-one days. Phileas Fogg was therefore +justified in hoping that he would reach San Francisco by the 2nd of +December, New York by the 11th, and London on the 20th—thus gaining +several hours on the fatal date of the 21st of December. + +There was a full complement of passengers on board, among them English, +many Americans, a large number of coolies on their way to California, +and several East Indian officers, who were spending their vacation in +making the tour of the world. Nothing of moment happened on the voyage; +the steamer, sustained on its large paddles, rolled but little, and the +“Pacific” almost justified its name. Mr. Fogg was as calm and taciturn +as ever. His young companion felt herself more and more attached to him +by other ties than gratitude; his silent but generous nature impressed +her more than she thought; and it was almost unconsciously that she +yielded to emotions which did not seem to have the least effect upon +her protector. Aouda took the keenest interest in his plans, and became +impatient at any incident which seemed likely to retard his journey. + +She often chatted with Passepartout, who did not fail to perceive the +state of the lady’s heart; and, being the most faithful of domestics, +he never exhausted his eulogies of Phileas Fogg’s honesty, generosity, +and devotion. He took pains to calm Aouda’s doubts of a successful +termination of the journey, telling her that the most difficult part of +it had passed, that now they were beyond the fantastic countries of +Japan and China, and were fairly on their way to civilised places +again. A railway train from San Francisco to New York, and a +transatlantic steamer from New York to Liverpool, would doubtless bring +them to the end of this impossible journey round the world within the +period agreed upon. + +On the ninth day after leaving Yokohama, Phileas Fogg had traversed +exactly one half of the terrestrial globe. The “General Grant” passed, +on the 23rd of November, the one hundred and eightieth meridian, and +was at the very antipodes of London. Mr. Fogg had, it is true, +exhausted fifty-two of the eighty days in which he was to complete the +tour, and there were only twenty-eight left. But, though he was only +half-way by the difference of meridians, he had really gone over +two-thirds of the whole journey; for he had been obliged to make long +circuits from London to Aden, from Aden to Bombay, from Calcutta to +Singapore, and from Singapore to Yokohama. Could he have followed +without deviation the fiftieth parallel, which is that of London, the +whole distance would only have been about twelve thousand miles; +whereas he would be forced, by the irregular methods of locomotion, to +traverse twenty-six thousand, of which he had, on the 23rd of November, +accomplished seventeen thousand five hundred. And now the course was a +straight one, and Fix was no longer there to put obstacles in their +way! + +It happened also, on the 23rd of November, that Passepartout made a +joyful discovery. It will be remembered that the obstinate fellow had +insisted on keeping his famous family watch at London time, and on +regarding that of the countries he had passed through as quite false +and unreliable. Now, on this day, though he had not changed the hands, +he found that his watch exactly agreed with the ship’s chronometers. +His triumph was hilarious. He would have liked to know what Fix would +say if he were aboard! + +“The rogue told me a lot of stories,” repeated Passepartout, “about the +meridians, the sun, and the moon! Moon, indeed! moonshine more likely! +If one listened to that sort of people, a pretty sort of time one would +keep! I was sure that the sun would some day regulate itself by my +watch!” + +Passepartout was ignorant that, if the face of his watch had been +divided into twenty-four hours, like the Italian clocks, he would have +no reason for exultation; for the hands of his watch would then, +instead of as now indicating nine o’clock in the morning, indicate nine +o’clock in the evening, that is, the twenty-first hour after midnight +precisely the difference between London time and that of the one +hundred and eightieth meridian. But if Fix had been able to explain +this purely physical effect, Passepartout would not have admitted, even +if he had comprehended it. Moreover, if the detective had been on board +at that moment, Passepartout would have joined issue with him on a +quite different subject, and in an entirely different manner. + +Where was Fix at that moment? + +He was actually on board the “General Grant.” + +On reaching Yokohama, the detective, leaving Mr. Fogg, whom he expected +to meet again during the day, had repaired at once to the English +consulate, where he at last found the warrant of arrest. It had +followed him from Bombay, and had come by the “Carnatic,” on which +steamer he himself was supposed to be. Fix’s disappointment may be +imagined when he reflected that the warrant was now useless. Mr. Fogg +had left English ground, and it was now necessary to procure his +extradition! + +“Well,” thought Fix, after a moment of anger, “my warrant is not good +here, but it will be in England. The rogue evidently intends to return +to his own country, thinking he has thrown the police off his track. +Good! I will follow him across the Atlantic. As for the money, heaven +grant there may be some left! But the fellow has already spent in +travelling, rewards, trials, bail, elephants, and all sorts of charges, +more than five thousand pounds. Yet, after all, the Bank is rich!” + +His course decided on, he went on board the “General Grant,” and was +there when Mr. Fogg and Aouda arrived. To his utter amazement, he +recognised Passepartout, despite his theatrical disguise. He quickly +concealed himself in his cabin, to avoid an awkward explanation, and +hoped—thanks to the number of passengers—to remain unperceived by Mr. +Fogg’s servant. + +On that very day, however, he met Passepartout face to face on the +forward deck. The latter, without a word, made a rush for him, grasped +him by the throat, and, much to the amusement of a group of Americans, +who immediately began to bet on him, administered to the detective a +perfect volley of blows, which proved the great superiority of French +over English pugilistic skill. + +When Passepartout had finished, he found himself relieved and +comforted. Fix got up in a somewhat rumpled condition, and, looking at +his adversary, coldly said, “Have you done?” + +“For this time—yes.” + +“Then let me have a word with you.” + +“But I—” + +“In your master’s interests.” + +Passepartout seemed to be vanquished by Fix’s coolness, for he quietly +followed him, and they sat down aside from the rest of the passengers. + +“You have given me a thrashing,” said Fix. “Good, I expected it. Now, +listen to me. Up to this time I have been Mr. Fogg’s adversary. I am +now in his game.” + +“Aha!” cried Passepartout; “you are convinced he is an honest man?” + +“No,” replied Fix coldly, “I think him a rascal. Sh! don’t budge, and +let me speak. As long as Mr. Fogg was on English ground, it was for my +interest to detain him there until my warrant of arrest arrived. I did +everything I could to keep him back. I sent the Bombay priests after +him, I got you intoxicated at Hong Kong, I separated you from him, and +I made him miss the Yokohama steamer.” + +Passepartout listened, with closed fists. + +“Now,” resumed Fix, “Mr. Fogg seems to be going back to England. Well, +I will follow him there. But hereafter I will do as much to keep +obstacles out of his way as I have done up to this time to put them in +his path. I’ve changed my game, you see, and simply because it was for +my interest to change it. Your interest is the same as mine; for it is +only in England that you will ascertain whether you are in the service +of a criminal or an honest man.” + +Passepartout listened very attentively to Fix, and was convinced that +he spoke with entire good faith. + +“Are we friends?” asked the detective. + +“Friends?—no,” replied Passepartout; “but allies, perhaps. At the least +sign of treason, however, I’ll twist your neck for you.” + +“Agreed,” said the detective quietly. + +Eleven days later, on the 3rd of December, the “General Grant” entered +the bay of the Golden Gate, and reached San Francisco. + +Mr. Fogg had neither gained nor lost a single day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. +IN WHICH A SLIGHT GLIMPSE IS HAD OF SAN FRANCISCO + + +It was seven in the morning when Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Passepartout set +foot upon the American continent, if this name can be given to the +floating quay upon which they disembarked. These quays, rising and +falling with the tide, thus facilitate the loading and unloading of +vessels. Alongside them were clippers of all sizes, steamers of all +nationalities, and the steamboats, with several decks rising one above +the other, which ply on the Sacramento and its tributaries. There were +also heaped up the products of a commerce which extends to Mexico, +Chili, Peru, Brazil, Europe, Asia, and all the Pacific islands. + +Passepartout, in his joy on reaching at last the American continent, +thought he would manifest it by executing a perilous vault in fine +style; but, tumbling upon some worm-eaten planks, he fell through them. +Put out of countenance by the manner in which he thus “set foot” upon +the New World, he uttered a loud cry, which so frightened the +innumerable cormorants and pelicans that are always perched upon these +movable quays, that they flew noisily away. + +Mr. Fogg, on reaching shore, proceeded to find out at what hour the +first train left for New York, and learned that this was at six o’clock +p.m.; he had, therefore, an entire day to spend in the Californian +capital. Taking a carriage at a charge of three dollars, he and Aouda +entered it, while Passepartout mounted the box beside the driver, and +they set out for the International Hotel. + +From his exalted position Passepartout observed with much curiosity the +wide streets, the low, evenly ranged houses, the Anglo-Saxon Gothic +churches, the great docks, the palatial wooden and brick warehouses, +the numerous conveyances, omnibuses, horse-cars, and upon the +side-walks, not only Americans and Europeans, but Chinese and Indians. +Passepartout was surprised at all he saw. San Francisco was no longer +the legendary city of 1849—a city of banditti, assassins, and +incendiaries, who had flocked hither in crowds in pursuit of plunder; a +paradise of outlaws, where they gambled with gold-dust, a revolver in +one hand and a bowie-knife in the other: it was now a great commercial +emporium. + +The lofty tower of its City Hall overlooked the whole panorama of the +streets and avenues, which cut each other at right-angles, and in the +midst of which appeared pleasant, verdant squares, while beyond +appeared the Chinese quarter, seemingly imported from the Celestial +Empire in a toy-box. Sombreros and red shirts and plumed Indians were +rarely to be seen; but there were silk hats and black coats everywhere +worn by a multitude of nervously active, gentlemanly-looking men. Some +of the streets—especially Montgomery Street, which is to San Francisco +what Regent Street is to London, the Boulevard des Italiens to Paris, +and Broadway to New York—were lined with splendid and spacious stores, +which exposed in their windows the products of the entire world. + +When Passepartout reached the International Hotel, it did not seem to +him as if he had left England at all. + +The ground floor of the hotel was occupied by a large bar, a sort of +restaurant freely open to all passers-by, who might partake of dried +beef, oyster soup, biscuits, and cheese, without taking out their +purses. Payment was made only for the ale, porter, or sherry which was +drunk. This seemed “very American” to Passepartout. The hotel +refreshment-rooms were comfortable, and Mr. Fogg and Aouda, installing +themselves at a table, were abundantly served on diminutive plates by +negroes of darkest hue. + +After breakfast, Mr. Fogg, accompanied by Aouda, started for the +English consulate to have his passport _visaed_. As he was going out, +he met Passepartout, who asked him if it would not be well, before +taking the train, to purchase some dozens of Enfield rifles and Colt’s +revolvers. He had been listening to stories of attacks upon the trains +by the Sioux and Pawnees. Mr. Fogg thought it a useless precaution, but +told him to do as he thought best, and went on to the consulate. + +He had not proceeded two hundred steps, however, when, “by the greatest +chance in the world,” he met Fix. The detective seemed wholly taken by +surprise. What! Had Mr. Fogg and himself crossed the Pacific together, +and not met on the steamer! At least Fix felt honoured to behold once +more the gentleman to whom he owed so much, and, as his business +recalled him to Europe, he should be delighted to continue the journey +in such pleasant company. + +Mr. Fogg replied that the honour would be his; and the detective—who +was determined not to lose sight of him—begged permission to accompany +them in their walk about San Francisco—a request which Mr. Fogg readily +granted. + +They soon found themselves in Montgomery Street, where a great crowd +was collected; the side-walks, street, horsecar rails, the shop-doors, +the windows of the houses, and even the roofs, were full of people. Men +were going about carrying large posters, and flags and streamers were +floating in the wind; while loud cries were heard on every hand. + +“Hurrah for Camerfield!” + +“Hurrah for Mandiboy!” + +It was a political meeting; at least so Fix conjectured, who said to +Mr. Fogg, “Perhaps we had better not mingle with the crowd. There may +be danger in it.” + +“Yes,” returned Mr. Fogg; “and blows, even if they are political, are +still blows.” + +Fix smiled at this remark; and, in order to be able to see without +being jostled about, the party took up a position on the top of a +flight of steps situated at the upper end of Montgomery Street. +Opposite them, on the other side of the street, between a coal wharf +and a petroleum warehouse, a large platform had been erected in the +open air, towards which the current of the crowd seemed to be directed. + +For what purpose was this meeting? What was the occasion of this +excited assemblage? Phileas Fogg could not imagine. Was it to nominate +some high official—a governor or member of Congress? It was not +improbable, so agitated was the multitude before them. + +Just at this moment there was an unusual stir in the human mass. All +the hands were raised in the air. Some, tightly closed, seemed to +disappear suddenly in the midst of the cries—an energetic way, no +doubt, of casting a vote. The crowd swayed back, the banners and flags +wavered, disappeared an instant, then reappeared in tatters. The +undulations of the human surge reached the steps, while all the heads +floundered on the surface like a sea agitated by a squall. Many of the +black hats disappeared, and the greater part of the crowd seemed to +have diminished in height. + +“It is evidently a meeting,” said Fix, “and its object must be an +exciting one. I should not wonder if it were about the ‘Alabama,’ +despite the fact that that question is settled.” + +“Perhaps,” replied Mr. Fogg, simply. + +“At least, there are two champions in presence of each other, the +Honourable Mr. Camerfield and the Honourable Mr. Mandiboy.” + +Aouda, leaning upon Mr. Fogg’s arm, observed the tumultuous scene with +surprise, while Fix asked a man near him what the cause of it all was. +Before the man could reply, a fresh agitation arose; hurrahs and +excited shouts were heard; the staffs of the banners began to be used +as offensive weapons; and fists flew about in every direction. Thumps +were exchanged from the tops of the carriages and omnibuses which had +been blocked up in the crowd. Boots and shoes went whirling through the +air, and Mr. Fogg thought he even heard the crack of revolvers mingling +in the din, the rout approached the stairway, and flowed over the lower +step. One of the parties had evidently been repulsed; but the mere +lookers-on could not tell whether Mandiboy or Camerfield had gained the +upper hand. + +“It would be prudent for us to retire,” said Fix, who was anxious that +Mr. Fogg should not receive any injury, at least until they got back to +London. “If there is any question about England in all this, and we +were recognised, I fear it would go hard with us.” + +“An English subject—” began Mr. Fogg. + +He did not finish his sentence; for a terrific hubbub now arose on the +terrace behind the flight of steps where they stood, and there were +frantic shouts of, “Hurrah for Mandiboy! Hip, hip, hurrah!” + +It was a band of voters coming to the rescue of their allies, and +taking the Camerfield forces in flank. Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Fix found +themselves between two fires; it was too late to escape. The torrent of +men, armed with loaded canes and sticks, was irresistible. Phileas Fogg +and Fix were roughly hustled in their attempts to protect their fair +companion; the former, as cool as ever, tried to defend himself with +the weapons which nature has placed at the end of every Englishman’s +arm, but in vain. A big brawny fellow with a red beard, flushed face, +and broad shoulders, who seemed to be the chief of the band, raised his +clenched fist to strike Mr. Fogg, whom he would have given a crushing +blow, had not Fix rushed in and received it in his stead. An enormous +bruise immediately made its appearance under the detective’s silk hat, +which was completely smashed in. + +“Yankee!” exclaimed Mr. Fogg, darting a contemptuous look at the +ruffian. + +“Englishman!” returned the other. “We will meet again!” + +“When you please.” + +“What is your name?” + +“Phileas Fogg. And yours?” + +“Colonel Stamp Proctor.” + +The human tide now swept by, after overturning Fix, who speedily got +upon his feet again, though with tattered clothes. Happily, he was not +seriously hurt. His travelling overcoat was divided into two unequal +parts, and his trousers resembled those of certain Indians, which fit +less compactly than they are easy to put on. Aouda had escaped +unharmed, and Fix alone bore marks of the fray in his black and blue +bruise. + +“Thanks,” said Mr. Fogg to the detective, as soon as they were out of +the crowd. + +“No thanks are necessary,” replied Fix; “but let us go.” + +“Where?” + +“To a tailor’s.” + +Such a visit was, indeed, opportune. The clothing of both Mr. Fogg and +Fix was in rags, as if they had themselves been actively engaged in the +contest between Camerfield and Mandiboy. An hour after, they were once +more suitably attired, and with Aouda returned to the International +Hotel. + +Passepartout was waiting for his master, armed with half a dozen +six-barrelled revolvers. When he perceived Fix, he knit his brows; but +Aouda having, in a few words, told him of their adventure, his +countenance resumed its placid expression. Fix evidently was no longer +an enemy, but an ally; he was faithfully keeping his word. + +Dinner over, the coach which was to convey the passengers and their +luggage to the station drew up to the door. As he was getting in, Mr. +Fogg said to Fix, “You have not seen this Colonel Proctor again?” + +“No.” + +“I will come back to America to find him,” said Phileas Fogg calmly. +“It would not be right for an Englishman to permit himself to be +treated in that way, without retaliating.” + +The detective smiled, but did not reply. It was clear that Mr. Fogg was +one of those Englishmen who, while they do not tolerate duelling at +home, fight abroad when their honour is attacked. + +At a quarter before six the travellers reached the station, and found +the train ready to depart. As he was about to enter it, Mr. Fogg called +a porter, and said to him: “My friend, was there not some trouble +to-day in San Francisco?” + +“It was a political meeting, sir,” replied the porter. + +“But I thought there was a great deal of disturbance in the streets.” + +“It was only a meeting assembled for an election.” + +“The election of a general-in-chief, no doubt?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“No, sir; of a justice of the peace.” + +Phileas Fogg got into the train, which started off at full speed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AND PARTY TRAVEL BY THE PACIFIC RAILROAD + + +“From ocean to ocean”—so say the Americans; and these four words +compose the general designation of the “great trunk line” which crosses +the entire width of the United States. The Pacific Railroad is, +however, really divided into two distinct lines: the Central Pacific, +between San Francisco and Ogden, and the Union Pacific, between Ogden +and Omaha. Five main lines connect Omaha with New York. + +New York and San Francisco are thus united by an uninterrupted metal +ribbon, which measures no less than three thousand seven hundred and +eighty-six miles. Between Omaha and the Pacific the railway crosses a +territory which is still infested by Indians and wild beasts, and a +large tract which the Mormons, after they were driven from Illinois in +1845, began to colonise. + +The journey from New York to San Francisco consumed, formerly, under +the most favourable conditions, at least six months. It is now +accomplished in seven days. + +It was in 1862 that, in spite of the Southern Members of Congress, who +wished a more southerly route, it was decided to lay the road between +the forty-first and forty-second parallels. President Lincoln himself +fixed the end of the line at Omaha, in Nebraska. The work was at once +commenced, and pursued with true American energy; nor did the rapidity +with which it went on injuriously affect its good execution. The road +grew, on the prairies, a mile and a half a day. A locomotive, running +on the rails laid down the evening before, brought the rails to be laid +on the morrow, and advanced upon them as fast as they were put in +position. + +The Pacific Railroad is joined by several branches in Iowa, Kansas, +Colorado, and Oregon. On leaving Omaha, it passes along the left bank +of the Platte River as far as the junction of its northern branch, +follows its southern branch, crosses the Laramie territory and the +Wahsatch Mountains, turns the Great Salt Lake, and reaches Salt Lake +City, the Mormon capital, plunges into the Tuilla Valley, across the +American Desert, Cedar and Humboldt Mountains, the Sierra Nevada, and +descends, _viâ_ Sacramento, to the Pacific—its grade, even on the Rocky +Mountains, never exceeding one hundred and twelve feet to the mile. + +Such was the road to be traversed in seven days, which would enable +Phileas Fogg—at least, so he hoped—to take the Atlantic steamer at New +York on the 11th for Liverpool. + +The car which he occupied was a sort of long omnibus on eight wheels, +and with no compartments in the interior. It was supplied with two rows +of seats, perpendicular to the direction of the train on either side of +an aisle which conducted to the front and rear platforms. These +platforms were found throughout the train, and the passengers were able +to pass from one end of the train to the other. It was supplied with +saloon cars, balcony cars, restaurants, and smoking-cars; theatre cars +alone were wanting, and they will have these some day. + +Book and news dealers, sellers of edibles, drinkables, and cigars, who +seemed to have plenty of customers, were continually circulating in the +aisles. + +The train left Oakland station at six o’clock. It was already night, +cold and cheerless, the heavens being overcast with clouds which seemed +to threaten snow. The train did not proceed rapidly; counting the +stoppages, it did not run more than twenty miles an hour, which was a +sufficient speed, however, to enable it to reach Omaha within its +designated time. + +There was but little conversation in the car, and soon many of the +passengers were overcome with sleep. Passepartout found himself beside +the detective; but he did not talk to him. After recent events, their +relations with each other had grown somewhat cold; there could no +longer be mutual sympathy or intimacy between them. Fix’s manner had +not changed; but Passepartout was very reserved, and ready to strangle +his former friend on the slightest provocation. + +Snow began to fall an hour after they started, a fine snow, however, +which happily could not obstruct the train; nothing could be seen from +the windows but a vast, white sheet, against which the smoke of the +locomotive had a greyish aspect. + +At eight o’clock a steward entered the car and announced that the time +for going to bed had arrived; and in a few minutes the car was +transformed into a dormitory. The backs of the seats were thrown back, +bedsteads carefully packed were rolled out by an ingenious system, +berths were suddenly improvised, and each traveller had soon at his +disposition a comfortable bed, protected from curious eyes by thick +curtains. The sheets were clean and the pillows soft. It only remained +to go to bed and sleep which everybody did—while the train sped on +across the State of California. + +The country between San Francisco and Sacramento is not very hilly. The +Central Pacific, taking Sacramento for its starting-point, extends +eastward to meet the road from Omaha. The line from San Francisco to +Sacramento runs in a north-easterly direction, along the American +River, which empties into San Pablo Bay. The one hundred and twenty +miles between these cities were accomplished in six hours, and towards +midnight, while fast asleep, the travellers passed through Sacramento; +so that they saw nothing of that important place, the seat of the State +government, with its fine quays, its broad streets, its noble hotels, +squares, and churches. + +The train, on leaving Sacramento, and passing the junction, Roclin, +Auburn, and Colfax, entered the range of the Sierra Nevada. ’Cisco was +reached at seven in the morning; and an hour later the dormitory was +transformed into an ordinary car, and the travellers could observe the +picturesque beauties of the mountain region through which they were +steaming. The railway track wound in and out among the passes, now +approaching the mountain-sides, now suspended over precipices, avoiding +abrupt angles by bold curves, plunging into narrow defiles, which +seemed to have no outlet. The locomotive, its great funnel emitting a +weird light, with its sharp bell, and its cow-catcher extended like a +spur, mingled its shrieks and bellowings with the noise of torrents and +cascades, and twined its smoke among the branches of the gigantic +pines. + +There were few or no bridges or tunnels on the route. The railway +turned around the sides of the mountains, and did not attempt to +violate nature by taking the shortest cut from one point to another. + +The train entered the State of Nevada through the Carson Valley about +nine o’clock, going always northeasterly; and at midday reached Reno, +where there was a delay of twenty minutes for breakfast. + +From this point the road, running along Humboldt River, passed +northward for several miles by its banks; then it turned eastward, and +kept by the river until it reached the Humboldt Range, nearly at the +extreme eastern limit of Nevada. + +Having breakfasted, Mr. Fogg and his companions resumed their places in +the car, and observed the varied landscape which unfolded itself as +they passed along the vast prairies, the mountains lining the horizon, +and the creeks, with their frothy, foaming streams. Sometimes a great +herd of buffaloes, massing together in the distance, seemed like a +moveable dam. These innumerable multitudes of ruminating beasts often +form an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of the trains; thousands +of them have been seen passing over the track for hours together, in +compact ranks. The locomotive is then forced to stop and wait till the +road is once more clear. + +This happened, indeed, to the train in which Mr. Fogg was travelling. +About twelve o’clock a troop of ten or twelve thousand head of buffalo +encumbered the track. The locomotive, slackening its speed, tried to +clear the way with its cow-catcher; but the mass of animals was too +great. The buffaloes marched along with a tranquil gait, uttering now +and then deafening bellowings. There was no use of interrupting them, +for, having taken a particular direction, nothing can moderate and +change their course; it is a torrent of living flesh which no dam could +contain. + +The travellers gazed on this curious spectacle from the platforms; but +Phileas Fogg, who had the most reason of all to be in a hurry, remained +in his seat, and waited philosophically until it should please the +buffaloes to get out of the way. + +Passepartout was furious at the delay they occasioned, and longed to +discharge his arsenal of revolvers upon them. + +“What a country!” cried he. “Mere cattle stop the trains, and go by in +a procession, just as if they were not impeding travel! Parbleu! I +should like to know if Mr. Fogg foresaw _this_ mishap in his programme! +And here’s an engineer who doesn’t dare to run the locomotive into this +herd of beasts!” + +The engineer did not try to overcome the obstacle, and he was wise. He +would have crushed the first buffaloes, no doubt, with the cow-catcher; +but the locomotive, however powerful, would soon have been checked, the +train would inevitably have been thrown off the track, and would then +have been helpless. + +The best course was to wait patiently, and regain the lost time by +greater speed when the obstacle was removed. The procession of +buffaloes lasted three full hours, and it was night before the track +was clear. The last ranks of the herd were now passing over the rails, +while the first had already disappeared below the southern horizon. + +It was eight o’clock when the train passed through the defiles of the +Humboldt Range, and half-past nine when it penetrated Utah, the region +of the Great Salt Lake, the singular colony of the Mormons. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT UNDERGOES, AT A SPEED OF TWENTY MILES AN HOUR, A +COURSE OF MORMON HISTORY + + +During the night of the 5th of December, the train ran south-easterly +for about fifty miles; then rose an equal distance in a north-easterly +direction, towards the Great Salt Lake. + +Passepartout, about nine o’clock, went out upon the platform to take +the air. The weather was cold, the heavens grey, but it was not +snowing. The sun’s disc, enlarged by the mist, seemed an enormous ring +of gold, and Passepartout was amusing himself by calculating its value +in pounds sterling, when he was diverted from this interesting study by +a strange-looking personage who made his appearance on the platform. + +This personage, who had taken the train at Elko, was tall and dark, +with black moustache, black stockings, a black silk hat, a black +waistcoat, black trousers, a white cravat, and dogskin gloves. He might +have been taken for a clergyman. He went from one end of the train to +the other, and affixed to the door of each car a notice written in +manuscript. + +Passepartout approached and read one of these notices, which stated +that Elder William Hitch, Mormon missionary, taking advantage of his +presence on train No. 48, would deliver a lecture on Mormonism in car +No. 117, from eleven to twelve o’clock; and that he invited all who +were desirous of being instructed concerning the mysteries of the +religion of the “Latter Day Saints” to attend. + +“I’ll go,” said Passepartout to himself. He knew nothing of Mormonism +except the custom of polygamy, which is its foundation. + +The news quickly spread through the train, which contained about one +hundred passengers, thirty of whom, at most, attracted by the notice, +ensconced themselves in car No. 117. Passepartout took one of the front +seats. Neither Mr. Fogg nor Fix cared to attend. + +At the appointed hour Elder William Hitch rose, and, in an irritated +voice, as if he had already been contradicted, said, “I tell you that +Joe Smith is a martyr, that his brother Hiram is a martyr, and that the +persecutions of the United States Government against the prophets will +also make a martyr of Brigham Young. Who dares to say the contrary?” + +No one ventured to gainsay the missionary, whose excited tone +contrasted curiously with his naturally calm visage. No doubt his anger +arose from the hardships to which the Mormons were actually subjected. +The government had just succeeded, with some difficulty, in reducing +these independent fanatics to its rule. It had made itself master of +Utah, and subjected that territory to the laws of the Union, after +imprisoning Brigham Young on a charge of rebellion and polygamy. The +disciples of the prophet had since redoubled their efforts, and +resisted, by words at least, the authority of Congress. Elder Hitch, as +is seen, was trying to make proselytes on the very railway trains. + +Then, emphasising his words with his loud voice and frequent gestures, +he related the history of the Mormons from Biblical times: how that, in +Israel, a Mormon prophet of the tribe of Joseph published the annals of +the new religion, and bequeathed them to his son Mormon; how, many +centuries later, a translation of this precious book, which was written +in Egyptian, was made by Joseph Smith, junior, a Vermont farmer, who +revealed himself as a mystical prophet in 1825; and how, in short, the +celestial messenger appeared to him in an illuminated forest, and gave +him the annals of the Lord. + +Several of the audience, not being much interested in the missionary’s +narrative, here left the car; but Elder Hitch, continuing his lecture, +related how Smith, junior, with his father, two brothers, and a few +disciples, founded the church of the “Latter Day Saints,” which, +adopted not only in America, but in England, Norway and Sweden, and +Germany, counts many artisans, as well as men engaged in the liberal +professions, among its members; how a colony was established in Ohio, a +temple erected there at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars, and a +town built at Kirkland; how Smith became an enterprising banker, and +received from a simple mummy showman a papyrus scroll written by +Abraham and several famous Egyptians. + +The Elder’s story became somewhat wearisome, and his audience grew +gradually less, until it was reduced to twenty passengers. But this did +not disconcert the enthusiast, who proceeded with the story of Joseph +Smith’s bankruptcy in 1837, and how his ruined creditors gave him a +coat of tar and feathers; his reappearance some years afterwards, more +honourable and honoured than ever, at Independence, Missouri, the chief +of a flourishing colony of three thousand disciples, and his pursuit +thence by outraged Gentiles, and retirement into the Far West. + +Ten hearers only were now left, among them honest Passepartout, who was +listening with all his ears. Thus he learned that, after long +persecutions, Smith reappeared in Illinois, and in 1839 founded a +community at Nauvoo, on the Mississippi, numbering twenty-five thousand +souls, of which he became mayor, chief justice, and general-in-chief; +that he announced himself, in 1843, as a candidate for the Presidency +of the United States; and that finally, being drawn into ambuscade at +Carthage, he was thrown into prison, and assassinated by a band of men +disguised in masks. + +Passepartout was now the only person left in the car, and the Elder, +looking him full in the face, reminded him that, two years after the +assassination of Joseph Smith, the inspired prophet, Brigham Young, his +successor, left Nauvoo for the banks of the Great Salt Lake, where, in +the midst of that fertile region, directly on the route of the +emigrants who crossed Utah on their way to California, the new colony, +thanks to the polygamy practised by the Mormons, had flourished beyond +expectations. + +“And this,” added Elder William Hitch, “this is why the jealousy of +Congress has been aroused against us! Why have the soldiers of the +Union invaded the soil of Utah? Why has Brigham Young, our chief, been +imprisoned, in contempt of all justice? Shall we yield to force? Never! +Driven from Vermont, driven from Illinois, driven from Ohio, driven +from Missouri, driven from Utah, we shall yet find some independent +territory on which to plant our tents. And you, my brother,” continued +the Elder, fixing his angry eyes upon his single auditor, “will you not +plant yours there, too, under the shadow of our flag?” + +“No!” replied Passepartout courageously, in his turn retiring from the +car, and leaving the Elder to preach to vacancy. + +During the lecture the train had been making good progress, and towards +half-past twelve it reached the northwest border of the Great Salt +Lake. Thence the passengers could observe the vast extent of this +interior sea, which is also called the Dead Sea, and into which flows +an American Jordan. It is a picturesque expanse, framed in lofty crags +in large strata, encrusted with white salt—a superb sheet of water, +which was formerly of larger extent than now, its shores having +encroached with the lapse of time, and thus at once reduced its breadth +and increased its depth. + +The Salt Lake, seventy miles long and thirty-five wide, is situated +three miles eight hundred feet above the sea. Quite different from Lake +Asphaltite, whose depression is twelve hundred feet below the sea, it +contains considerable salt, and one quarter of the weight of its water +is solid matter, its specific weight being 1,170, and, after being +distilled, 1,000. Fishes are, of course, unable to live in it, and +those which descend through the Jordan, the Weber, and other streams +soon perish. + +The country around the lake was well cultivated, for the Mormons are +mostly farmers; while ranches and pens for domesticated animals, fields +of wheat, corn, and other cereals, luxuriant prairies, hedges of wild +rose, clumps of acacias and milk-wort, would have been seen six months +later. Now the ground was covered with a thin powdering of snow. + +The train reached Ogden at two o’clock, where it rested for six hours, +Mr. Fogg and his party had time to pay a visit to Salt Lake City, +connected with Ogden by a branch road; and they spent two hours in this +strikingly American town, built on the pattern of other cities of the +Union, like a checker-board, “with the sombre sadness of right-angles,” +as Victor Hugo expresses it. The founder of the City of the Saints +could not escape from the taste for symmetry which distinguishes the +Anglo-Saxons. In this strange country, where the people are certainly +not up to the level of their institutions, everything is done +“squarely”—cities, houses, and follies. + +The travellers, then, were promenading, at three o’clock, about the +streets of the town built between the banks of the Jordan and the spurs +of the Wahsatch Range. They saw few or no churches, but the prophet’s +mansion, the court-house, and the arsenal, blue-brick houses with +verandas and porches, surrounded by gardens bordered with acacias, +palms, and locusts. A clay and pebble wall, built in 1853, surrounded +the town; and in the principal street were the market and several +hotels adorned with pavilions. The place did not seem thickly +populated. The streets were almost deserted, except in the vicinity of +the temple, which they only reached after having traversed several +quarters surrounded by palisades. There were many women, which was +easily accounted for by the “peculiar institution” of the Mormons; but +it must not be supposed that all the Mormons are polygamists. They are +free to marry or not, as they please; but it is worth noting that it is +mainly the female citizens of Utah who are anxious to marry, as, +according to the Mormon religion, maiden ladies are not admitted to the +possession of its highest joys. These poor creatures seemed to be +neither well off nor happy. Some—the more well-to-do, no doubt—wore +short, open, black silk dresses, under a hood or modest shawl; others +were habited in Indian fashion. + +Passepartout could not behold without a certain fright these women, +charged, in groups, with conferring happiness on a single Mormon. His +common sense pitied, above all, the husband. It seemed to him a +terrible thing to have to guide so many wives at once across the +vicissitudes of life, and to conduct them, as it were, in a body to the +Mormon paradise with the prospect of seeing them in the company of the +glorious Smith, who doubtless was the chief ornament of that delightful +place, to all eternity. He felt decidedly repelled from such a +vocation, and he imagined—perhaps he was mistaken—that the fair ones of +Salt Lake City cast rather alarming glances on his person. Happily, his +stay there was but brief. At four the party found themselves again at +the station, took their places in the train, and the whistle sounded +for starting. Just at the moment, however, that the locomotive wheels +began to move, cries of “Stop! stop!” were heard. + +Trains, like time and tide, stop for no one. The gentleman who uttered +the cries was evidently a belated Mormon. He was breathless with +running. Happily for him, the station had neither gates nor barriers. +He rushed along the track, jumped on the rear platform of the train, +and fell, exhausted, into one of the seats. + +Passepartout, who had been anxiously watching this amateur gymnast, +approached him with lively interest, and learned that he had taken +flight after an unpleasant domestic scene. + +When the Mormon had recovered his breath, Passepartout ventured to ask +him politely how many wives he had; for, from the manner in which he +had decamped, it might be thought that he had twenty at least. + +“One, sir,” replied the Mormon, raising his arms heavenward —“one, and +that was enough!” + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. +IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT DOES NOT SUCCEED IN MAKING ANYBODY LISTEN TO +REASON + + +The train, on leaving Great Salt Lake at Ogden, passed northward for an +hour as far as Weber River, having completed nearly nine hundred miles +from San Francisco. From this point it took an easterly direction +towards the jagged Wahsatch Mountains. It was in the section included +between this range and the Rocky Mountains that the American engineers +found the most formidable difficulties in laying the road, and that the +government granted a subsidy of forty-eight thousand dollars per mile, +instead of sixteen thousand allowed for the work done on the plains. +But the engineers, instead of violating nature, avoided its +difficulties by winding around, instead of penetrating the rocks. One +tunnel only, fourteen thousand feet in length, was pierced in order to +arrive at the great basin. + +The track up to this time had reached its highest elevation at the +Great Salt Lake. From this point it described a long curve, descending +towards Bitter Creek Valley, to rise again to the dividing ridge of the +waters between the Atlantic and the Pacific. There were many creeks in +this mountainous region, and it was necessary to cross Muddy Creek, +Green Creek, and others, upon culverts. + +Passepartout grew more and more impatient as they went on, while Fix +longed to get out of this difficult region, and was more anxious than +Phileas Fogg himself to be beyond the danger of delays and accidents, +and set foot on English soil. + +At ten o’clock at night the train stopped at Fort Bridger station, and +twenty minutes later entered Wyoming Territory, following the valley of +Bitter Creek throughout. The next day, 7th December, they stopped for a +quarter of an hour at Green River station. Snow had fallen abundantly +during the night, but, being mixed with rain, it had half melted, and +did not interrupt their progress. The bad weather, however, annoyed +Passepartout; for the accumulation of snow, by blocking the wheels of +the cars, would certainly have been fatal to Mr. Fogg’s tour. + +“What an idea!” he said to himself. “Why did my master make this +journey in winter? Couldn’t he have waited for the good season to +increase his chances?” + +While the worthy Frenchman was absorbed in the state of the sky and the +depression of the temperature, Aouda was experiencing fears from a +totally different cause. + +Several passengers had got off at Green River, and were walking up and +down the platforms; and among these Aouda recognised Colonel Stamp +Proctor, the same who had so grossly insulted Phileas Fogg at the San +Francisco meeting. Not wishing to be recognised, the young woman drew +back from the window, feeling much alarm at her discovery. She was +attached to the man who, however coldly, gave her daily evidences of +the most absolute devotion. She did not comprehend, perhaps, the depth +of the sentiment with which her protector inspired her, which she +called gratitude, but which, though she was unconscious of it, was +really more than that. Her heart sank within her when she recognised +the man whom Mr. Fogg desired, sooner or later, to call to account for +his conduct. Chance alone, it was clear, had brought Colonel Proctor on +this train; but there he was, and it was necessary, at all hazards, +that Phileas Fogg should not perceive his adversary. + +Aouda seized a moment when Mr. Fogg was asleep to tell Fix and +Passepartout whom she had seen. + +“That Proctor on this train!” cried Fix. “Well, reassure yourself, +madam; before he settles with Mr. Fogg; he has got to deal with me! It +seems to me that I was the more insulted of the two.” + +“And, besides,” added Passepartout, “I’ll take charge of him, colonel +as he is.” + +“Mr. Fix,” resumed Aouda, “Mr. Fogg will allow no one to avenge him. He +said that he would come back to America to find this man. Should he +perceive Colonel Proctor, we could not prevent a collision which might +have terrible results. He must not see him.” + +“You are right, madam,” replied Fix; “a meeting between them might ruin +all. Whether he were victorious or beaten, Mr. Fogg would be delayed, +and—” + +“And,” added Passepartout, “that would play the game of the gentlemen +of the Reform Club. In four days we shall be in New York. Well, if my +master does not leave this car during those four days, we may hope that +chance will not bring him face to face with this confounded American. +We must, if possible, prevent his stirring out of it.” + +The conversation dropped. Mr. Fogg had just woke up, and was looking +out of the window. Soon after Passepartout, without being heard by his +master or Aouda, whispered to the detective, “Would you really fight +for him?” + +“I would do anything,” replied Fix, in a tone which betrayed determined +will, “to get him back living to Europe!” + +Passepartout felt something like a shudder shoot through his frame, but +his confidence in his master remained unbroken. + +Was there any means of detaining Mr. Fogg in the car, to avoid a +meeting between him and the colonel? It ought not to be a difficult +task, since that gentleman was naturally sedentary and little curious. +The detective, at least, seemed to have found a way; for, after a few +moments, he said to Mr. Fogg, “These are long and slow hours, sir, that +we are passing on the railway.” + +“Yes,” replied Mr. Fogg; “but they pass.” + +“You were in the habit of playing whist,” resumed Fix, “on the +steamers.” + +“Yes; but it would be difficult to do so here. I have neither cards nor +partners.” + +“Oh, but we can easily buy some cards, for they are sold on all the +American trains. And as for partners, if madam plays—” + +“Certainly, sir,” Aouda quickly replied; “I understand whist. It is +part of an English education.” + +“I myself have some pretensions to playing a good game. Well, here are +three of us, and a dummy—” + +“As you please, sir,” replied Phileas Fogg, heartily glad to resume his +favourite pastime even on the railway. + +Passepartout was dispatched in search of the steward, and soon returned +with two packs of cards, some pins, counters, and a shelf covered with +cloth. + +The game commenced. Aouda understood whist sufficiently well, and even +received some compliments on her playing from Mr. Fogg. As for the +detective, he was simply an adept, and worthy of being matched against +his present opponent. + +“Now,” thought Passepartout, “we’ve got him. He won’t budge.” + +At eleven in the morning the train had reached the dividing ridge of +the waters at Bridger Pass, seven thousand five hundred and twenty-four +feet above the level of the sea, one of the highest points attained by +the track in crossing the Rocky Mountains. After going about two +hundred miles, the travellers at last found themselves on one of those +vast plains which extend to the Atlantic, and which nature has made so +propitious for laying the iron road. + +On the declivity of the Atlantic basin the first streams, branches of +the North Platte River, already appeared. The whole northern and +eastern horizon was bounded by the immense semi-circular curtain which +is formed by the southern portion of the Rocky Mountains, the highest +being Laramie Peak. Between this and the railway extended vast plains, +plentifully irrigated. On the right rose the lower spurs of the +mountainous mass which extends southward to the sources of the Arkansas +River, one of the great tributaries of the Missouri. + +At half-past twelve the travellers caught sight for an instant of Fort +Halleck, which commands that section; and in a few more hours the Rocky +Mountains were crossed. There was reason to hope, then, that no +accident would mark the journey through this difficult country. The +snow had ceased falling, and the air became crisp and cold. Large +birds, frightened by the locomotive, rose and flew off in the distance. +No wild beast appeared on the plain. It was a desert in its vast +nakedness. + +After a comfortable breakfast, served in the car, Mr. Fogg and his +partners had just resumed whist, when a violent whistling was heard, +and the train stopped. Passepartout put his head out of the door, but +saw nothing to cause the delay; no station was in view. + +Aouda and Fix feared that Mr. Fogg might take it into his head to get +out; but that gentleman contented himself with saying to his servant, +“See what is the matter.” + +Passepartout rushed out of the car. Thirty or forty passengers had +already descended, amongst them Colonel Stamp Proctor. + +The train had stopped before a red signal which blocked the way. The +engineer and conductor were talking excitedly with a signal-man, whom +the station-master at Medicine Bow, the next stopping place, had sent +on before. The passengers drew around and took part in the discussion, +in which Colonel Proctor, with his insolent manner, was conspicuous. + +Passepartout, joining the group, heard the signal-man say, “No! you +can’t pass. The bridge at Medicine Bow is shaky, and would not bear the +weight of the train.” + +This was a suspension-bridge thrown over some rapids, about a mile from +the place where they now were. According to the signal-man, it was in a +ruinous condition, several of the iron wires being broken; and it was +impossible to risk the passage. He did not in any way exaggerate the +condition of the bridge. It may be taken for granted that, rash as the +Americans usually are, when they are prudent there is good reason for +it. + +Passepartout, not daring to apprise his master of what he heard, +listened with set teeth, immovable as a statue. + +“Hum!” cried Colonel Proctor; “but we are not going to stay here, I +imagine, and take root in the snow?” + +“Colonel,” replied the conductor, “we have telegraphed to Omaha for a +train, but it is not likely that it will reach Medicine Bow in less +than six hours.” + +“Six hours!” cried Passepartout. + +“Certainly,” returned the conductor, “besides, it will take us as long +as that to reach Medicine Bow on foot.” + +“But it is only a mile from here,” said one of the passengers. + +“Yes, but it’s on the other side of the river.” + +“And can’t we cross that in a boat?” asked the colonel. + +“That’s impossible. The creek is swelled by the rains. It is a rapid, +and we shall have to make a circuit of ten miles to the north to find a +ford.” + +The colonel launched a volley of oaths, denouncing the railway company +and the conductor; and Passepartout, who was furious, was not +disinclined to make common cause with him. Here was an obstacle, +indeed, which all his master’s banknotes could not remove. + +There was a general disappointment among the passengers, who, without +reckoning the delay, saw themselves compelled to trudge fifteen miles +over a plain covered with snow. They grumbled and protested, and would +certainly have thus attracted Phileas Fogg’s attention if he had not +been completely absorbed in his game. + +Passepartout found that he could not avoid telling his master what had +occurred, and, with hanging head, he was turning towards the car, when +the engineer, a true Yankee, named Forster called out, “Gentlemen, +perhaps there is a way, after all, to get over.” + +“On the bridge?” asked a passenger. + +“On the bridge.” + +“With our train?” + +“With our train.” + +Passepartout stopped short, and eagerly listened to the engineer. + +“But the bridge is unsafe,” urged the conductor. + +“No matter,” replied Forster; “I think that by putting on the very +highest speed we might have a chance of getting over.” + +“The devil!” muttered Passepartout. + +But a number of the passengers were at once attracted by the engineer’s +proposal, and Colonel Proctor was especially delighted, and found the +plan a very feasible one. He told stories about engineers leaping their +trains over rivers without bridges, by putting on full steam; and many +of those present avowed themselves of the engineer’s mind. + +“We have fifty chances out of a hundred of getting over,” said one. + +“Eighty! ninety!” + +Passepartout was astounded, and, though ready to attempt anything to +get over Medicine Creek, thought the experiment proposed a little too +American. “Besides,” thought he, “there’s a still more simple way, and +it does not even occur to any of these people! Sir,” said he aloud to +one of the passengers, “the engineer’s plan seems to me a little +dangerous, but—” + +“Eighty chances!” replied the passenger, turning his back on him. + +“I know it,” said Passepartout, turning to another passenger, “but a +simple idea—” + +“Ideas are no use,” returned the American, shrugging his shoulders, “as +the engineer assures us that we can pass.” + +“Doubtless,” urged Passepartout, “we can pass, but perhaps it would be +more prudent—” + +“What! Prudent!” cried Colonel Proctor, whom this word seemed to excite +prodigiously. “At full speed, don’t you see, at full speed!” + +“I know—I see,” repeated Passepartout; “but it would be, if not more +prudent, since that word displeases you, at least more natural—” + +“Who! What! What’s the matter with this fellow?” cried several. + +The poor fellow did not know to whom to address himself. + +“Are you afraid?” asked Colonel Proctor. + +“I afraid? Very well; I will show these people that a Frenchman can be +as American as they!” + +“All aboard!” cried the conductor. + +“Yes, all aboard!” repeated Passepartout, and immediately. “But they +can’t prevent me from thinking that it would be more natural for us to +cross the bridge on foot, and let the train come after!” + +But no one heard this sage reflection, nor would anyone have +acknowledged its justice. The passengers resumed their places in the +cars. Passepartout took his seat without telling what had passed. The +whist-players were quite absorbed in their game. + +The locomotive whistled vigorously; the engineer, reversing the steam, +backed the train for nearly a mile—retiring, like a jumper, in order to +take a longer leap. Then, with another whistle, he began to move +forward; the train increased its speed, and soon its rapidity became +frightful; a prolonged screech issued from the locomotive; the piston +worked up and down twenty strokes to the second. They perceived that +the whole train, rushing on at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, +hardly bore upon the rails at all. + +And they passed over! It was like a flash. No one saw the bridge. The +train leaped, so to speak, from one bank to the other, and the engineer +could not stop it until it had gone five miles beyond the station. But +scarcely had the train passed the river, when the bridge, completely +ruined, fell with a crash into the rapids of Medicine Bow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. +IN WHICH CERTAIN INCIDENTS ARE NARRATED WHICH ARE ONLY TO BE MET WITH +ON AMERICAN RAILROADS + + +The train pursued its course, that evening, without interruption, +passing Fort Saunders, crossing Cheyne Pass, and reaching Evans Pass. +The road here attained the highest elevation of the journey, eight +thousand and ninety-two feet above the level of the sea. The travellers +had now only to descend to the Atlantic by limitless plains, levelled +by nature. A branch of the “grand trunk” led off southward to Denver, +the capital of Colorado. The country round about is rich in gold and +silver, and more than fifty thousand inhabitants are already settled +there. + +Thirteen hundred and eighty-two miles had been passed over from San +Francisco, in three days and three nights; four days and nights more +would probably bring them to New York. Phileas Fogg was not as yet +behind-hand. + +During the night Camp Walbach was passed on the left; Lodge Pole Creek +ran parallel with the road, marking the boundary between the +territories of Wyoming and Colorado. They entered Nebraska at eleven, +passed near Sedgwick, and touched at Julesburg, on the southern branch +of the Platte River. + +It was here that the Union Pacific Railroad was inaugurated on the 23rd +of October, 1867, by the chief engineer, General Dodge. Two powerful +locomotives, carrying nine cars of invited guests, amongst whom was +Thomas C. Durant, vice-president of the road, stopped at this point; +cheers were given, the Sioux and Pawnees performed an imitation Indian +battle, fireworks were let off, and the first number of the _Railway +Pioneer_ was printed by a press brought on the train. Thus was +celebrated the inauguration of this great railroad, a mighty instrument +of progress and civilisation, thrown across the desert, and destined to +link together cities and towns which do not yet exist. The whistle of +the locomotive, more powerful than Amphion’s lyre, was about to bid +them rise from American soil. + +Fort McPherson was left behind at eight in the morning, and three +hundred and fifty-seven miles had yet to be traversed before reaching +Omaha. The road followed the capricious windings of the southern branch +of the Platte River, on its left bank. At nine the train stopped at the +important town of North Platte, built between the two arms of the +river, which rejoin each other around it and form a single artery, a +large tributary, whose waters empty into the Missouri a little above +Omaha. + +The one hundred and first meridian was passed. + +Mr. Fogg and his partners had resumed their game; no one—not even the +dummy—complained of the length of the trip. Fix had begun by winning +several guineas, which he seemed likely to lose; but he showed himself +a not less eager whist-player than Mr. Fogg. During the morning, chance +distinctly favoured that gentleman. Trumps and honours were showered +upon his hands. + +Once, having resolved on a bold stroke, he was on the point of playing +a spade, when a voice behind him said, “I should play a diamond.” + +Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Fix raised their heads, and beheld Colonel +Proctor. + +Stamp Proctor and Phileas Fogg recognised each other at once. + +“Ah! it’s you, is it, Englishman?” cried the colonel; “it’s you who are +going to play a spade!” + +“And who plays it,” replied Phileas Fogg coolly, throwing down the ten +of spades. + +“Well, it pleases me to have it diamonds,” replied Colonel Proctor, in +an insolent tone. + +He made a movement as if to seize the card which had just been played, +adding, “You don’t understand anything about whist.” + +“Perhaps I do, as well as another,” said Phileas Fogg, rising. + +“You have only to try, son of John Bull,” replied the colonel. + +Aouda turned pale, and her blood ran cold. She seized Mr. Fogg’s arm +and gently pulled him back. Passepartout was ready to pounce upon the +American, who was staring insolently at his opponent. But Fix got up, +and, going to Colonel Proctor said, “You forget that it is I with whom +you have to deal, sir; for it was I whom you not only insulted, but +struck!” + +“Mr. Fix,” said Mr. Fogg, “pardon me, but this affair is mine, and mine +only. The colonel has again insulted me, by insisting that I should not +play a spade, and he shall give me satisfaction for it.” + +“When and where you will,” replied the American, “and with whatever +weapon you choose.” + +Aouda in vain attempted to retain Mr. Fogg; as vainly did the detective +endeavour to make the quarrel his. Passepartout wished to throw the +colonel out of the window, but a sign from his master checked him. +Phileas Fogg left the car, and the American followed him upon the +platform. “Sir,” said Mr. Fogg to his adversary, “I am in a great hurry +to get back to Europe, and any delay whatever will be greatly to my +disadvantage.” + +“Well, what’s that to me?” replied Colonel Proctor. + +“Sir,” said Mr. Fogg, very politely, “after our meeting at San +Francisco, I determined to return to America and find you as soon as I +had completed the business which called me to England.” + +“Really!” + +“Will you appoint a meeting for six months hence?” + +“Why not ten years hence?” + +“I say six months,” returned Phileas Fogg; “and I shall be at the place +of meeting promptly.” + +“All this is an evasion,” cried Stamp Proctor. “Now or never!” + +“Very good. You are going to New York?” + +“No.” + +“To Chicago?” + +“No.” + +“To Omaha?” + +“What difference is it to you? Do you know Plum Creek?” + +“No,” replied Mr. Fogg. + +“It’s the next station. The train will be there in an hour, and will +stop there ten minutes. In ten minutes several revolver-shots could be +exchanged.” + +“Very well,” said Mr. Fogg. “I will stop at Plum Creek.” + +“And I guess you’ll stay there too,” added the American insolently. + +“Who knows?” replied Mr. Fogg, returning to the car as coolly as usual. +He began to reassure Aouda, telling her that blusterers were never to +be feared, and begged Fix to be his second at the approaching duel, a +request which the detective could not refuse. Mr. Fogg resumed the +interrupted game with perfect calmness. + +At eleven o’clock the locomotive’s whistle announced that they were +approaching Plum Creek station. Mr. Fogg rose, and, followed by Fix, +went out upon the platform. Passepartout accompanied him, carrying a +pair of revolvers. Aouda remained in the car, as pale as death. + +The door of the next car opened, and Colonel Proctor appeared on the +platform, attended by a Yankee of his own stamp as his second. But just +as the combatants were about to step from the train, the conductor +hurried up, and shouted, “You can’t get off, gentlemen!” + +“Why not?” asked the colonel. + +“We are twenty minutes late, and we shall not stop.” + +“But I am going to fight a duel with this gentleman.” + +“I am sorry,” said the conductor; “but we shall be off at once. There’s +the bell ringing now.” + +The train started. + +“I’m really very sorry, gentlemen,” said the conductor. “Under any +other circumstances I should have been happy to oblige you. But, after +all, as you have not had time to fight here, why not fight as we go +along?” + +“That wouldn’t be convenient, perhaps, for this gentleman,” said the +colonel, in a jeering tone. + +“It would be perfectly so,” replied Phileas Fogg. + +“Well, we are really in America,” thought Passepartout, “and the +conductor is a gentleman of the first order!” + +So muttering, he followed his master. + +The two combatants, their seconds, and the conductor passed through the +cars to the rear of the train. The last car was only occupied by a +dozen passengers, whom the conductor politely asked if they would not +be so kind as to leave it vacant for a few moments, as two gentlemen +had an affair of honour to settle. The passengers granted the request +with alacrity, and straightway disappeared on the platform. + +The car, which was some fifty feet long, was very convenient for their +purpose. The adversaries might march on each other in the aisle, and +fire at their ease. Never was duel more easily arranged. Mr. Fogg and +Colonel Proctor, each provided with two six-barrelled revolvers, +entered the car. The seconds, remaining outside, shut them in. They +were to begin firing at the first whistle of the locomotive. After an +interval of two minutes, what remained of the two gentlemen would be +taken from the car. + +Nothing could be more simple. Indeed, it was all so simple that Fix and +Passepartout felt their hearts beating as if they would crack. They +were listening for the whistle agreed upon, when suddenly savage cries +resounded in the air, accompanied by reports which certainly did not +issue from the car where the duellists were. The reports continued in +front and the whole length of the train. Cries of terror proceeded from +the interior of the cars. + +Colonel Proctor and Mr. Fogg, revolvers in hand, hastily quitted their +prison, and rushed forward where the noise was most clamorous. They +then perceived that the train was attacked by a band of Sioux. + +This was not the first attempt of these daring Indians, for more than +once they had waylaid trains on the road. A hundred of them had, +according to their habit, jumped upon the steps without stopping the +train, with the ease of a clown mounting a horse at full gallop. + +The Sioux were armed with guns, from which came the reports, to which +the passengers, who were almost all armed, responded by revolver-shots. + +The Indians had first mounted the engine, and half stunned the engineer +and stoker with blows from their muskets. A Sioux chief, wishing to +stop the train, but not knowing how to work the regulator, had opened +wide instead of closing the steam-valve, and the locomotive was +plunging forward with terrific velocity. + +The Sioux had at the same time invaded the cars, skipping like enraged +monkeys over the roofs, thrusting open the doors, and fighting hand to +hand with the passengers. Penetrating the baggage-car, they pillaged +it, throwing the trunks out of the train. The cries and shots were +constant. The travellers defended themselves bravely; some of the cars +were barricaded, and sustained a siege, like moving forts, carried +along at a speed of a hundred miles an hour. + +Aouda behaved courageously from the first. She defended herself like a +true heroine with a revolver, which she shot through the broken windows +whenever a savage made his appearance. Twenty Sioux had fallen mortally +wounded to the ground, and the wheels crushed those who fell upon the +rails as if they had been worms. Several passengers, shot or stunned, +lay on the seats. + +It was necessary to put an end to the struggle, which had lasted for +ten minutes, and which would result in the triumph of the Sioux if the +train was not stopped. Fort Kearney station, where there was a +garrison, was only two miles distant; but, that once passed, the Sioux +would be masters of the train between Fort Kearney and the station +beyond. + +The conductor was fighting beside Mr. Fogg, when he was shot and fell. +At the same moment he cried, “Unless the train is stopped in five +minutes, we are lost!” + +“It shall be stopped,” said Phileas Fogg, preparing to rush from the +car. + +“Stay, monsieur,” cried Passepartout; “I will go.” + +Mr. Fogg had not time to stop the brave fellow, who, opening a door +unperceived by the Indians, succeeded in slipping under the car; and +while the struggle continued and the balls whizzed across each other +over his head, he made use of his old acrobatic experience, and with +amazing agility worked his way under the cars, holding on to the +chains, aiding himself by the brakes and edges of the sashes, creeping +from one car to another with marvellous skill, and thus gaining the +forward end of the train. + +There, suspended by one hand between the baggage-car and the tender, +with the other he loosened the safety chains; but, owing to the +traction, he would never have succeeded in unscrewing the yoking-bar, +had not a violent concussion jolted this bar out. The train, now +detached from the engine, remained a little behind, whilst the +locomotive rushed forward with increased speed. + +Carried on by the force already acquired, the train still moved for +several minutes; but the brakes were worked and at last they stopped, +less than a hundred feet from Kearney station. + +The soldiers of the fort, attracted by the shots, hurried up; the Sioux +had not expected them, and decamped in a body before the train entirely +stopped. + +But when the passengers counted each other on the station platform +several were found missing; among others the courageous Frenchman, +whose devotion had just saved them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SIMPLY DOES HIS DUTY + + +Three passengers including Passepartout had disappeared. Had they been +killed in the struggle? Were they taken prisoners by the Sioux? It was +impossible to tell. + +There were many wounded, but none mortally. Colonel Proctor was one of +the most seriously hurt; he had fought bravely, and a ball had entered +his groin. He was carried into the station with the other wounded +passengers, to receive such attention as could be of avail. + +Aouda was safe; and Phileas Fogg, who had been in the thickest of the +fight, had not received a scratch. Fix was slightly wounded in the arm. +But Passepartout was not to be found, and tears coursed down Aouda’s +cheeks. + +All the passengers had got out of the train, the wheels of which were +stained with blood. From the tyres and spokes hung ragged pieces of +flesh. As far as the eye could reach on the white plain behind, red +trails were visible. The last Sioux were disappearing in the south, +along the banks of Republican River. + +Mr. Fogg, with folded arms, remained motionless. He had a serious +decision to make. Aouda, standing near him, looked at him without +speaking, and he understood her look. If his servant was a prisoner, +ought he not to risk everything to rescue him from the Indians? “I will +find him, living or dead,” said he quietly to Aouda. + +“Ah, Mr.—Mr. Fogg!” cried she, clasping his hands and covering them +with tears. + +“Living,” added Mr. Fogg, “if we do not lose a moment.” + +Phileas Fogg, by this resolution, inevitably sacrificed himself; he +pronounced his own doom. The delay of a single day would make him lose +the steamer at New York, and his bet would be certainly lost. But as he +thought, “It is my duty,” he did not hesitate. + +The commanding officer of Fort Kearney was there. A hundred of his +soldiers had placed themselves in a position to defend the station, +should the Sioux attack it. + +“Sir,” said Mr. Fogg to the captain, “three passengers have +disappeared.” + +“Dead?” asked the captain. + +“Dead or prisoners; that is the uncertainty which must be solved. Do +you propose to pursue the Sioux?” + +“That’s a serious thing to do, sir,” returned the captain. “These +Indians may retreat beyond the Arkansas, and I cannot leave the fort +unprotected.” + +“The lives of three men are in question, sir,” said Phileas Fogg. + +“Doubtless; but can I risk the lives of fifty men to save three?” + +“I don’t know whether you can, sir; but you ought to do so.” + +“Nobody here,” returned the other, “has a right to teach me my duty.” + +“Very well,” said Mr. Fogg, coldly. “I will go alone.” + +“You, sir!” cried Fix, coming up; “you go alone in pursuit of the +Indians?” + +“Would you have me leave this poor fellow to perish—him to whom every +one present owes his life? I shall go.” + +“No, sir, you shall not go alone,” cried the captain, touched in spite +of himself. “No! you are a brave man. Thirty volunteers!” he added, +turning to the soldiers. + +The whole company started forward at once. The captain had only to pick +his men. Thirty were chosen, and an old sergeant placed at their head. + +“Thanks, captain,” said Mr. Fogg. + +“Will you let me go with you?” asked Fix. + +“Do as you please, sir. But if you wish to do me a favour, you will +remain with Aouda. In case anything should happen to me—” + +A sudden pallor overspread the detective’s face. Separate himself from +the man whom he had so persistently followed step by step! Leave him to +wander about in this desert! Fix gazed attentively at Mr. Fogg, and, +despite his suspicions and of the struggle which was going on within +him, he lowered his eyes before that calm and frank look. + +“I will stay,” said he. + +A few moments after, Mr. Fogg pressed the young woman’s hand, and, +having confided to her his precious carpet-bag, went off with the +sergeant and his little squad. But, before going, he had said to the +soldiers, “My friends, I will divide five thousand dollars among you, +if we save the prisoners.” + +It was then a little past noon. + +Aouda retired to a waiting-room, and there she waited alone, thinking +of the simple and noble generosity, the tranquil courage of Phileas +Fogg. He had sacrificed his fortune, and was now risking his life, all +without hesitation, from duty, in silence. + +Fix did not have the same thoughts, and could scarcely conceal his +agitation. He walked feverishly up and down the platform, but soon +resumed his outward composure. He now saw the folly of which he had +been guilty in letting Fogg go alone. What! This man, whom he had just +followed around the world, was permitted now to separate himself from +him! He began to accuse and abuse himself, and, as if he were director +of police, administered to himself a sound lecture for his greenness. + +“I have been an idiot!” he thought, “and this man will see it. He has +gone, and won’t come back! But how is it that I, Fix, who have in my +pocket a warrant for his arrest, have been so fascinated by him? +Decidedly, I am nothing but an ass!” + +So reasoned the detective, while the hours crept by all too slowly. He +did not know what to do. Sometimes he was tempted to tell Aouda all; +but he could not doubt how the young woman would receive his +confidences. What course should he take? He thought of pursuing Fogg +across the vast white plains; it did not seem impossible that he might +overtake him. Footsteps were easily printed on the snow! But soon, +under a new sheet, every imprint would be effaced. + +Fix became discouraged. He felt a sort of insurmountable longing to +abandon the game altogether. He could now leave Fort Kearney station, +and pursue his journey homeward in peace. + +Towards two o’clock in the afternoon, while it was snowing hard, long +whistles were heard approaching from the east. A great shadow, preceded +by a wild light, slowly advanced, appearing still larger through the +mist, which gave it a fantastic aspect. No train was expected from the +east, neither had there been time for the succour asked for by +telegraph to arrive; the train from Omaha to San Francisco was not due +till the next day. The mystery was soon explained. + +The locomotive, which was slowly approaching with deafening whistles, +was that which, having been detached from the train, had continued its +route with such terrific rapidity, carrying off the unconscious +engineer and stoker. It had run several miles, when, the fire becoming +low for want of fuel, the steam had slackened; and it had finally +stopped an hour after, some twenty miles beyond Fort Kearney. Neither +the engineer nor the stoker was dead, and, after remaining for some +time in their swoon, had come to themselves. The train had then +stopped. The engineer, when he found himself in the desert, and the +locomotive without cars, understood what had happened. He could not +imagine how the locomotive had become separated from the train; but he +did not doubt that the train left behind was in distress. + +He did not hesitate what to do. It would be prudent to continue on to +Omaha, for it would be dangerous to return to the train, which the +Indians might still be engaged in pillaging. Nevertheless, he began to +rebuild the fire in the furnace; the pressure again mounted, and the +locomotive returned, running backwards to Fort Kearney. This it was +which was whistling in the mist. + +The travellers were glad to see the locomotive resume its place at the +head of the train. They could now continue the journey so terribly +interrupted. + +Aouda, on seeing the locomotive come up, hurried out of the station, +and asked the conductor, “Are you going to start?” + +“At once, madam.” + +“But the prisoners, our unfortunate fellow-travellers—” + +“I cannot interrupt the trip,” replied the conductor. “We are already +three hours behind time.” + +“And when will another train pass here from San Francisco?” + +“To-morrow evening, madam.” + +“To-morrow evening! But then it will be too late! We must wait—” + +“It is impossible,” responded the conductor. “If you wish to go, please +get in.” + +“I will not go,” said Aouda. + +Fix had heard this conversation. A little while before, when there was +no prospect of proceeding on the journey, he had made up his mind to +leave Fort Kearney; but now that the train was there, ready to start, +and he had only to take his seat in the car, an irresistible influence +held him back. The station platform burned his feet, and he could not +stir. The conflict in his mind again began; anger and failure stifled +him. He wished to struggle on to the end. + +Meanwhile the passengers and some of the wounded, among them Colonel +Proctor, whose injuries were serious, had taken their places in the +train. The buzzing of the over-heated boiler was heard, and the steam +was escaping from the valves. The engineer whistled, the train started, +and soon disappeared, mingling its white smoke with the eddies of the +densely falling snow. + +The detective had remained behind. + +Several hours passed. The weather was dismal, and it was very cold. Fix +sat motionless on a bench in the station; he might have been thought +asleep. Aouda, despite the storm, kept coming out of the waiting-room, +going to the end of the platform, and peering through the tempest of +snow, as if to pierce the mist which narrowed the horizon around her, +and to hear, if possible, some welcome sound. She heard and saw +nothing. Then she would return, chilled through, to issue out again +after the lapse of a few moments, but always in vain. + +Evening came, and the little band had not returned. Where could they +be? Had they found the Indians, and were they having a conflict with +them, or were they still wandering amid the mist? The commander of the +fort was anxious, though he tried to conceal his apprehensions. As +night approached, the snow fell less plentifully, but it became +intensely cold. Absolute silence rested on the plains. Neither flight +of bird nor passing of beast troubled the perfect calm. + +Throughout the night Aouda, full of sad forebodings, her heart stifled +with anguish, wandered about on the verge of the plains. Her +imagination carried her far off, and showed her innumerable dangers. +What she suffered through the long hours it would be impossible to +describe. + +Fix remained stationary in the same place, but did not sleep. Once a +man approached and spoke to him, and the detective merely replied by +shaking his head. + +Thus the night passed. At dawn, the half-extinguished disc of the sun +rose above a misty horizon; but it was now possible to recognise +objects two miles off. Phileas Fogg and the squad had gone southward; +in the south all was still vacancy. It was then seven o’clock. + +The captain, who was really alarmed, did not know what course to take. + +Should he send another detachment to the rescue of the first? Should he +sacrifice more men, with so few chances of saving those already +sacrificed? His hesitation did not last long, however. Calling one of +his lieutenants, he was on the point of ordering a reconnaissance, when +gunshots were heard. Was it a signal? The soldiers rushed out of the +fort, and half a mile off they perceived a little band returning in +good order. + +Mr. Fogg was marching at their head, and just behind him were +Passepartout and the other two travellers, rescued from the Sioux. + +They had met and fought the Indians ten miles south of Fort Kearney. +Shortly before the detachment arrived, Passepartout and his companions +had begun to struggle with their captors, three of whom the Frenchman +had felled with his fists, when his master and the soldiers hastened up +to their relief. + +All were welcomed with joyful cries. Phileas Fogg distributed the +reward he had promised to the soldiers, while Passepartout, not without +reason, muttered to himself, “It must certainly be confessed that I +cost my master dear!” + +Fix, without saying a word, looked at Mr. Fogg, and it would have been +difficult to analyse the thoughts which struggled within him. As for +Aouda, she took her protector’s hand and pressed it in her own, too +much moved to speak. + +Meanwhile, Passepartout was looking about for the train; he thought he +should find it there, ready to start for Omaha, and he hoped that the +time lost might be regained. + +“The train! the train!” cried he. + +“Gone,” replied Fix. + +“And when does the next train pass here?” said Phileas Fogg. + +“Not till this evening.” + +“Ah!” returned the impassible gentleman quietly. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. +IN WHICH FIX, THE DETECTIVE, CONSIDERABLY FURTHERS THE INTERESTS OF +PHILEAS FOGG + + +Phileas Fogg found himself twenty hours behind time. Passepartout, the +involuntary cause of this delay, was desperate. He had ruined his +master! + +At this moment the detective approached Mr. Fogg, and, looking him +intently in the face, said: + +“Seriously, sir, are you in great haste?” + +“Quite seriously.” + +“I have a purpose in asking,” resumed Fix. “Is it absolutely necessary +that you should be in New York on the 11th, before nine o’clock in the +evening, the time that the steamer leaves for Liverpool?” + +“It is absolutely necessary.” + +“And, if your journey had not been interrupted by these Indians, you +would have reached New York on the morning of the 11th?” + +“Yes; with eleven hours to spare before the steamer left.” + +“Good! you are therefore twenty hours behind. Twelve from twenty leaves +eight. You must regain eight hours. Do you wish to try to do so?” + +“On foot?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“No; on a sledge,” replied Fix. “On a sledge with sails. A man has +proposed such a method to me.” + +It was the man who had spoken to Fix during the night, and whose offer +he had refused. + +Phileas Fogg did not reply at once; but Fix, having pointed out the +man, who was walking up and down in front of the station, Mr. Fogg went +up to him. An instant after, Mr. Fogg and the American, whose name was +Mudge, entered a hut built just below the fort. + +There Mr. Fogg examined a curious vehicle, a kind of frame on two long +beams, a little raised in front like the runners of a sledge, and upon +which there was room for five or six persons. A high mast was fixed on +the frame, held firmly by metallic lashings, to which was attached a +large brigantine sail. This mast held an iron stay upon which to hoist +a jib-sail. Behind, a sort of rudder served to guide the vehicle. It +was, in short, a sledge rigged like a sloop. During the winter, when +the trains are blocked up by the snow, these sledges make extremely +rapid journeys across the frozen plains from one station to another. +Provided with more sails than a cutter, and with the wind behind them, +they slip over the surface of the prairies with a speed equal if not +superior to that of the express trains. + +Mr. Fogg readily made a bargain with the owner of this land-craft. The +wind was favourable, being fresh, and blowing from the west. The snow +had hardened, and Mudge was very confident of being able to transport +Mr. Fogg in a few hours to Omaha. Thence the trains eastward run +frequently to Chicago and New York. It was not impossible that the lost +time might yet be recovered; and such an opportunity was not to be +rejected. + +Not wishing to expose Aouda to the discomforts of travelling in the +open air, Mr. Fogg proposed to leave her with Passepartout at Fort +Kearney, the servant taking upon himself to escort her to Europe by a +better route and under more favourable conditions. But Aouda refused to +separate from Mr. Fogg, and Passepartout was delighted with her +decision; for nothing could induce him to leave his master while Fix +was with him. + +It would be difficult to guess the detective’s thoughts. Was this +conviction shaken by Phileas Fogg’s return, or did he still regard him +as an exceedingly shrewd rascal, who, his journey round the world +completed, would think himself absolutely safe in England? Perhaps +Fix’s opinion of Phileas Fogg was somewhat modified; but he was +nevertheless resolved to do his duty, and to hasten the return of the +whole party to England as much as possible. + +At eight o’clock the sledge was ready to start. The passengers took +their places on it, and wrapped themselves up closely in their +travelling-cloaks. The two great sails were hoisted, and under the +pressure of the wind the sledge slid over the hardened snow with a +velocity of forty miles an hour. + +The distance between Fort Kearney and Omaha, as the birds fly, is at +most two hundred miles. If the wind held good, the distance might be +traversed in five hours; if no accident happened the sledge might reach +Omaha by one o’clock. + +What a journey! The travellers, huddled close together, could not speak +for the cold, intensified by the rapidity at which they were going. The +sledge sped on as lightly as a boat over the waves. When the breeze +came skimming the earth the sledge seemed to be lifted off the ground +by its sails. Mudge, who was at the rudder, kept in a straight line, +and by a turn of his hand checked the lurches which the vehicle had a +tendency to make. All the sails were up, and the jib was so arranged as +not to screen the brigantine. A top-mast was hoisted, and another jib, +held out to the wind, added its force to the other sails. Although the +speed could not be exactly estimated, the sledge could not be going at +less than forty miles an hour. + +“If nothing breaks,” said Mudge, “we shall get there!” + +Mr. Fogg had made it for Mudge’s interest to reach Omaha within the +time agreed on, by the offer of a handsome reward. + +The prairie, across which the sledge was moving in a straight line, was +as flat as a sea. It seemed like a vast frozen lake. The railroad which +ran through this section ascended from the south-west to the north-west +by Great Island, Columbus, an important Nebraska town, Schuyler, and +Fremont, to Omaha. It followed throughout the right bank of the Platte +River. The sledge, shortening this route, took a chord of the arc +described by the railway. Mudge was not afraid of being stopped by the +Platte River, because it was frozen. The road, then, was quite clear of +obstacles, and Phileas Fogg had but two things to fear—an accident to +the sledge, and a change or calm in the wind. + +But the breeze, far from lessening its force, blew as if to bend the +mast, which, however, the metallic lashings held firmly. These +lashings, like the chords of a stringed instrument, resounded as if +vibrated by a violin bow. The sledge slid along in the midst of a +plaintively intense melody. + +“Those chords give the fifth and the octave,” said Mr. Fogg. + +These were the only words he uttered during the journey. Aouda, cosily +packed in furs and cloaks, was sheltered as much as possible from the +attacks of the freezing wind. As for Passepartout, his face was as red +as the sun’s disc when it sets in the mist, and he laboriously inhaled +the biting air. With his natural buoyancy of spirits, he began to hope +again. They would reach New York on the evening, if not on the morning, +of the 11th, and there were still some chances that it would be before +the steamer sailed for Liverpool. + +Passepartout even felt a strong desire to grasp his ally, Fix, by the +hand. He remembered that it was the detective who procured the sledge, +the only means of reaching Omaha in time; but, checked by some +presentiment, he kept his usual reserve. One thing, however, +Passepartout would never forget, and that was the sacrifice which Mr. +Fogg had made, without hesitation, to rescue him from the Sioux. Mr. +Fogg had risked his fortune and his life. No! His servant would never +forget that! + +While each of the party was absorbed in reflections so different, the +sledge flew past over the vast carpet of snow. The creeks it passed +over were not perceived. Fields and streams disappeared under the +uniform whiteness. The plain was absolutely deserted. Between the Union +Pacific road and the branch which unites Kearney with Saint Joseph it +formed a great uninhabited island. Neither village, station, nor fort +appeared. From time to time they sped by some phantom-like tree, whose +white skeleton twisted and rattled in the wind. Sometimes flocks of +wild birds rose, or bands of gaunt, famished, ferocious prairie-wolves +ran howling after the sledge. Passepartout, revolver in hand, held +himself ready to fire on those which came too near. Had an accident +then happened to the sledge, the travellers, attacked by these beasts, +would have been in the most terrible danger; but it held on its even +course, soon gained on the wolves, and ere long left the howling band +at a safe distance behind. + +About noon Mudge perceived by certain landmarks that he was crossing +the Platte River. He said nothing, but he felt certain that he was now +within twenty miles of Omaha. In less than an hour he left the rudder +and furled his sails, whilst the sledge, carried forward by the great +impetus the wind had given it, went on half a mile further with its +sails unspread. + +It stopped at last, and Mudge, pointing to a mass of roofs white with +snow, said: “We have got there!” + +Arrived! Arrived at the station which is in daily communication, by +numerous trains, with the Atlantic seaboard! + +Passepartout and Fix jumped off, stretched their stiffened limbs, and +aided Mr. Fogg and the young woman to descend from the sledge. Phileas +Fogg generously rewarded Mudge, whose hand Passepartout warmly grasped, +and the party directed their steps to the Omaha railway station. + +The Pacific Railroad proper finds its terminus at this important +Nebraska town. Omaha is connected with Chicago by the Chicago and Rock +Island Railroad, which runs directly east, and passes fifty stations. + +A train was ready to start when Mr. Fogg and his party reached the +station, and they only had time to get into the cars. They had seen +nothing of Omaha; but Passepartout confessed to himself that this was +not to be regretted, as they were not travelling to see the sights. + +The train passed rapidly across the State of Iowa, by Council Bluffs, +Des Moines, and Iowa City. During the night it crossed the Mississippi +at Davenport, and by Rock Island entered Illinois. The next day, which +was the 10th, at four o’clock in the evening, it reached Chicago, +already risen from its ruins, and more proudly seated than ever on the +borders of its beautiful Lake Michigan. + +Nine hundred miles separated Chicago from New York; but trains are not +wanting at Chicago. Mr. Fogg passed at once from one to the other, and +the locomotive of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne, and Chicago Railway left +at full speed, as if it fully comprehended that that gentleman had no +time to lose. It traversed Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey +like a flash, rushing through towns with antique names, some of which +had streets and car-tracks, but as yet no houses. At last the Hudson +came into view; and, at a quarter-past eleven in the evening of the +11th, the train stopped in the station on the right bank of the river, +before the very pier of the Cunard line. + +The “China,” for Liverpool, had started three-quarters of an hour +before! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG ENGAGES IN A DIRECT STRUGGLE WITH BAD FORTUNE + + +The “China,” in leaving, seemed to have carried off Phileas Fogg’s last +hope. None of the other steamers were able to serve his projects. The +“Pereire,” of the French Transatlantic Company, whose admirable +steamers are equal to any in speed and comfort, did not leave until the +14th; the Hamburg boats did not go directly to Liverpool or London, but +to Havre; and the additional trip from Havre to Southampton would +render Phileas Fogg’s last efforts of no avail. The Inman steamer did +not depart till the next day, and could not cross the Atlantic in time +to save the wager. + +Mr. Fogg learned all this in consulting his “Bradshaw,” which gave him +the daily movements of the transatlantic steamers. + +Passepartout was crushed; it overwhelmed him to lose the boat by +three-quarters of an hour. It was his fault, for, instead of helping +his master, he had not ceased putting obstacles in his path! And when +he recalled all the incidents of the tour, when he counted up the sums +expended in pure loss and on his own account, when he thought that the +immense stake, added to the heavy charges of this useless journey, +would completely ruin Mr. Fogg, he overwhelmed himself with bitter +self-accusations. Mr. Fogg, however, did not reproach him; and, on +leaving the Cunard pier, only said: “We will consult about what is best +to-morrow. Come.” + +The party crossed the Hudson in the Jersey City ferryboat, and drove in +a carriage to the St. Nicholas Hotel, on Broadway. Rooms were engaged, +and the night passed, briefly to Phileas Fogg, who slept profoundly, +but very long to Aouda and the others, whose agitation did not permit +them to rest. + +The next day was the 12th of December. From seven in the morning of the +12th to a quarter before nine in the evening of the 21st there were +nine days, thirteen hours, and forty-five minutes. If Phileas Fogg had +left in the “China,” one of the fastest steamers on the Atlantic, he +would have reached Liverpool, and then London, within the period agreed +upon. + +Mr. Fogg left the hotel alone, after giving Passepartout instructions +to await his return, and inform Aouda to be ready at an instant’s +notice. He proceeded to the banks of the Hudson, and looked about among +the vessels moored or anchored in the river, for any that were about to +depart. Several had departure signals, and were preparing to put to sea +at morning tide; for in this immense and admirable port there is not +one day in a hundred that vessels do not set out for every quarter of +the globe. But they were mostly sailing vessels, of which, of course, +Phileas Fogg could make no use. + +He seemed about to give up all hope, when he espied, anchored at the +Battery, a cable’s length off at most, a trading vessel, with a screw, +well-shaped, whose funnel, puffing a cloud of smoke, indicated that she +was getting ready for departure. + +Phileas Fogg hailed a boat, got into it, and soon found himself on +board the “Henrietta,” iron-hulled, wood-built above. He ascended to +the deck, and asked for the captain, who forthwith presented himself. +He was a man of fifty, a sort of sea-wolf, with big eyes, a complexion +of oxidised copper, red hair and thick neck, and a growling voice. + +“The captain?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“I am the captain.” + +“I am Phileas Fogg, of London.” + +“And I am Andrew Speedy, of Cardiff.” + +“You are going to put to sea?” + +“In an hour.” + +“You are bound for—” + +“Bordeaux.” + +“And your cargo?” + +“No freight. Going in ballast.” + +“Have you any passengers?” + +“No passengers. Never have passengers. Too much in the way.” + +“Is your vessel a swift one?” + +“Between eleven and twelve knots. The “Henrietta,” well known.” + +“Will you carry me and three other persons to Liverpool?” + +“To Liverpool? Why not to China?” + +“I said Liverpool.” + +“No!” + +“No?” + +“No. I am setting out for Bordeaux, and shall go to Bordeaux.” + +“Money is no object?” + +“None.” + +The captain spoke in a tone which did not admit of a reply. + +“But the owners of the ‘Henrietta’—” resumed Phileas Fogg. + +“The owners are myself,” replied the captain. “The vessel belongs to +me.” + +“I will freight it for you.” + +“No.” + +“I will buy it of you.” + +“No.” + +Phileas Fogg did not betray the least disappointment; but the situation +was a grave one. It was not at New York as at Hong Kong, nor with the +captain of the “Henrietta” as with the captain of the “Tankadere.” Up +to this time money had smoothed away every obstacle. Now money failed. + +Still, some means must be found to cross the Atlantic on a boat, unless +by balloon—which would have been venturesome, besides not being capable +of being put in practice. It seemed that Phileas Fogg had an idea, for +he said to the captain, “Well, will you carry me to Bordeaux?” + +“No, not if you paid me two hundred dollars.” + +“I offer you two thousand.” + +“Apiece?” + +“Apiece.” + +“And there are four of you?” + +“Four.” + +Captain Speedy began to scratch his head. There were eight thousand +dollars to gain, without changing his route; for which it was well +worth conquering the repugnance he had for all kinds of passengers. +Besides, passengers at two thousand dollars are no longer passengers, +but valuable merchandise. “I start at nine o’clock,” said Captain +Speedy, simply. “Are you and your party ready?” + +“We will be on board at nine o’clock,” replied, no less simply, Mr. +Fogg. + +It was half-past eight. To disembark from the “Henrietta,” jump into a +hack, hurry to the St. Nicholas, and return with Aouda, Passepartout, +and even the inseparable Fix was the work of a brief time, and was +performed by Mr. Fogg with the coolness which never abandoned him. They +were on board when the “Henrietta” made ready to weigh anchor. + +When Passepartout heard what this last voyage was going to cost, he +uttered a prolonged “Oh!” which extended throughout his vocal gamut. + +As for Fix, he said to himself that the Bank of England would certainly +not come out of this affair well indemnified. When they reached +England, even if Mr. Fogg did not throw some handfuls of bank-bills +into the sea, more than seven thousand pounds would have been spent! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SHOWS HIMSELF EQUAL TO THE OCCASION + + +An hour after, the “Henrietta” passed the lighthouse which marks the +entrance of the Hudson, turned the point of Sandy Hook, and put to sea. +During the day she skirted Long Island, passed Fire Island, and +directed her course rapidly eastward. + +At noon the next day, a man mounted the bridge to ascertain the +vessel’s position. It might be thought that this was Captain Speedy. +Not the least in the world. It was Phileas Fogg, Esquire. As for +Captain Speedy, he was shut up in his cabin under lock and key, and was +uttering loud cries, which signified an anger at once pardonable and +excessive. + +What had happened was very simple. Phileas Fogg wished to go to +Liverpool, but the captain would not carry him there. Then Phileas Fogg +had taken passage for Bordeaux, and, during the thirty hours he had +been on board, had so shrewdly managed with his banknotes that the +sailors and stokers, who were only an occasional crew, and were not on +the best terms with the captain, went over to him in a body. This was +why Phileas Fogg was in command instead of Captain Speedy; why the +captain was a prisoner in his cabin; and why, in short, the “Henrietta” +was directing her course towards Liverpool. It was very clear, to see +Mr. Fogg manage the craft, that he had been a sailor. + +How the adventure ended will be seen anon. Aouda was anxious, though +she said nothing. As for Passepartout, he thought Mr. Fogg’s manœuvre +simply glorious. The captain had said “between eleven and twelve +knots,” and the “Henrietta” confirmed his prediction. + +If, then—for there were “ifs” still—the sea did not become too +boisterous, if the wind did not veer round to the east, if no accident +happened to the boat or its machinery, the “Henrietta” might cross the +three thousand miles from New York to Liverpool in the nine days, +between the 12th and the 21st of December. It is true that, once +arrived, the affair on board the “Henrietta,” added to that of the Bank +of England, might create more difficulties for Mr. Fogg than he +imagined or could desire. + +During the first days, they went along smoothly enough. The sea was not +very unpropitious, the wind seemed stationary in the north-east, the +sails were hoisted, and the “Henrietta” ploughed across the waves like +a real transatlantic steamer. + +Passepartout was delighted. His master’s last exploit, the consequences +of which he ignored, enchanted him. Never had the crew seen so jolly +and dexterous a fellow. He formed warm friendships with the sailors, +and amazed them with his acrobatic feats. He thought they managed the +vessel like gentlemen, and that the stokers fired up like heroes. His +loquacious good-humour infected everyone. He had forgotten the past, +its vexations and delays. He only thought of the end, so nearly +accomplished; and sometimes he boiled over with impatience, as if +heated by the furnaces of the “Henrietta.” Often, also, the worthy +fellow revolved around Fix, looking at him with a keen, distrustful +eye; but he did not speak to him, for their old intimacy no longer +existed. + +Fix, it must be confessed, understood nothing of what was going on. The +conquest of the “Henrietta,” the bribery of the crew, Fogg managing the +boat like a skilled seaman, amazed and confused him. He did not know +what to think. For, after all, a man who began by stealing fifty-five +thousand pounds might end by stealing a vessel; and Fix was not +unnaturally inclined to conclude that the “Henrietta” under Fogg’s +command, was not going to Liverpool at all, but to some part of the +world where the robber, turned into a pirate, would quietly put himself +in safety. The conjecture was at least a plausible one, and the +detective began to seriously regret that he had embarked on the affair. + +As for Captain Speedy, he continued to howl and growl in his cabin; and +Passepartout, whose duty it was to carry him his meals, courageous as +he was, took the greatest precautions. Mr. Fogg did not seem even to +know that there was a captain on board. + +On the 13th they passed the edge of the Banks of Newfoundland, a +dangerous locality; during the winter, especially, there are frequent +fogs and heavy gales of wind. Ever since the evening before the +barometer, suddenly falling, had indicated an approaching change in the +atmosphere; and during the night the temperature varied, the cold +became sharper, and the wind veered to the south-east. + +This was a misfortune. Mr. Fogg, in order not to deviate from his +course, furled his sails and increased the force of the steam; but the +vessel’s speed slackened, owing to the state of the sea, the long waves +of which broke against the stern. She pitched violently, and this +retarded her progress. The breeze little by little swelled into a +tempest, and it was to be feared that the “Henrietta” might not be able +to maintain herself upright on the waves. + +Passepartout’s visage darkened with the skies, and for two days the +poor fellow experienced constant fright. But Phileas Fogg was a bold +mariner, and knew how to maintain headway against the sea; and he kept +on his course, without even decreasing his steam. The “Henrietta,” when +she could not rise upon the waves, crossed them, swamping her deck, but +passing safely. Sometimes the screw rose out of the water, beating its +protruding end, when a mountain of water raised the stern above the +waves; but the craft always kept straight ahead. + +The wind, however, did not grow as boisterous as might have been +feared; it was not one of those tempests which burst, and rush on with +a speed of ninety miles an hour. It continued fresh, but, unhappily, it +remained obstinately in the south-east, rendering the sails useless. + +The 16th of December was the seventy-fifth day since Phileas Fogg’s +departure from London, and the “Henrietta” had not yet been seriously +delayed. Half of the voyage was almost accomplished, and the worst +localities had been passed. In summer, success would have been +well-nigh certain. In winter, they were at the mercy of the bad season. +Passepartout said nothing; but he cherished hope in secret, and +comforted himself with the reflection that, if the wind failed them, +they might still count on the steam. + +On this day the engineer came on deck, went up to Mr. Fogg, and began +to speak earnestly with him. Without knowing why it was a presentiment, +perhaps Passepartout became vaguely uneasy. He would have given one of +his ears to hear with the other what the engineer was saying. He +finally managed to catch a few words, and was sure he heard his master +say, “You are certain of what you tell me?” + +“Certain, sir,” replied the engineer. “You must remember that, since we +started, we have kept up hot fires in all our furnaces, and, though we +had coal enough to go on short steam from New York to Bordeaux, we +haven’t enough to go with all steam from New York to Liverpool.” “I +will consider,” replied Mr. Fogg. + +Passepartout understood it all; he was seized with mortal anxiety. The +coal was giving out! “Ah, if my master can get over that,” muttered he, +“he’ll be a famous man!” He could not help imparting to Fix what he had +overheard. + +“Then you believe that we really are going to Liverpool?” + +“Of course.” + +“Ass!” replied the detective, shrugging his shoulders and turning on +his heel. + +Passepartout was on the point of vigorously resenting the epithet, the +reason of which he could not for the life of him comprehend; but he +reflected that the unfortunate Fix was probably very much disappointed +and humiliated in his self-esteem, after having so awkwardly followed a +false scent around the world, and refrained. + +And now what course would Phileas Fogg adopt? It was difficult to +imagine. Nevertheless he seemed to have decided upon one, for that +evening he sent for the engineer, and said to him, “Feed all the fires +until the coal is exhausted.” + +A few moments after, the funnel of the “Henrietta” vomited forth +torrents of smoke. The vessel continued to proceed with all steam on; +but on the 18th, the engineer, as he had predicted, announced that the +coal would give out in the course of the day. + +“Do not let the fires go down,” replied Mr. Fogg. “Keep them up to the +last. Let the valves be filled.” + +Towards noon Phileas Fogg, having ascertained their position, called +Passepartout, and ordered him to go for Captain Speedy. It was as if +the honest fellow had been commanded to unchain a tiger. He went to the +poop, saying to himself, “He will be like a madman!” + +In a few moments, with cries and oaths, a bomb appeared on the +poop-deck. The bomb was Captain Speedy. It was clear that he was on the +point of bursting. “Where are we?” were the first words his anger +permitted him to utter. Had the poor man been an apoplectic, he could +never have recovered from his paroxysm of wrath. + +“Where are we?” he repeated, with purple face. + +“Seven hundred and seven miles from Liverpool,” replied Mr. Fogg, with +imperturbable calmness. + +“Pirate!” cried Captain Speedy. + +“I have sent for you, sir—” + +“Pickaroon!” + +“—sir,” continued Mr. Fogg, “to ask you to sell me your vessel.” + +“No! By all the devils, no!” + +“But I shall be obliged to burn her.” + +“Burn the ‘Henrietta’!” + +“Yes; at least the upper part of her. The coal has given out.” + +“Burn my vessel!” cried Captain Speedy, who could scarcely pronounce +the words. “A vessel worth fifty thousand dollars!” + +“Here are sixty thousand,” replied Phileas Fogg, handing the captain a +roll of bank-bills. This had a prodigious effect on Andrew Speedy. An +American can scarcely remain unmoved at the sight of sixty thousand +dollars. The captain forgot in an instant his anger, his imprisonment, +and all his grudges against his passenger. The “Henrietta” was twenty +years old; it was a great bargain. The bomb would not go off after all. +Mr. Fogg had taken away the match. + +“And I shall still have the iron hull,” said the captain in a softer +tone. + +“The iron hull and the engine. Is it agreed?” + +“Agreed.” + +And Andrew Speedy, seizing the banknotes, counted them and consigned +them to his pocket. + +During this colloquy, Passepartout was as white as a sheet, and Fix +seemed on the point of having an apoplectic fit. Nearly twenty thousand +pounds had been expended, and Fogg left the hull and engine to the +captain, that is, near the whole value of the craft! It was true, +however, that fifty-five thousand pounds had been stolen from the Bank. + +When Andrew Speedy had pocketed the money, Mr. Fogg said to him, “Don’t +let this astonish you, sir. You must know that I shall lose twenty +thousand pounds, unless I arrive in London by a quarter before nine on +the evening of the 21st of December. I missed the steamer at New York, +and as you refused to take me to Liverpool—” + +“And I did well!” cried Andrew Speedy; “for I have gained at least +forty thousand dollars by it!” He added, more sedately, “Do you know +one thing, Captain—” + +“Fogg.” + +“Captain Fogg, you’ve got something of the Yankee about you.” + +And, having paid his passenger what he considered a high compliment, he +was going away, when Mr. Fogg said, “The vessel now belongs to me?” + +“Certainly, from the keel to the truck of the masts—all the wood, that +is.” + +“Very well. Have the interior seats, bunks, and frames pulled down, and +burn them.” + +It was necessary to have dry wood to keep the steam up to the adequate +pressure, and on that day the poop, cabins, bunks, and the spare deck +were sacrificed. On the next day, the 19th of December, the masts, +rafts, and spars were burned; the crew worked lustily, keeping up the +fires. Passepartout hewed, cut, and sawed away with all his might. +There was a perfect rage for demolition. + +The railings, fittings, the greater part of the deck, and top sides +disappeared on the 20th, and the “Henrietta” was now only a flat hulk. +But on this day they sighted the Irish coast and Fastnet Light. By ten +in the evening they were passing Queenstown. Phileas Fogg had only +twenty-four hours more in which to get to London; that length of time +was necessary to reach Liverpool, with all steam on. And the steam was +about to give out altogether! + +“Sir,” said Captain Speedy, who was now deeply interested in Mr. Fogg’s +project, “I really commiserate you. Everything is against you. We are +only opposite Queenstown.” + +“Ah,” said Mr. Fogg, “is that place where we see the lights +Queenstown?” + +“Yes.” + +“Can we enter the harbour?” + +“Not under three hours. Only at high tide.” + +“Stay,” replied Mr. Fogg calmly, without betraying in his features that +by a supreme inspiration he was about to attempt once more to conquer +ill-fortune. + +Queenstown is the Irish port at which the transatlantic steamers stop +to put off the mails. These mails are carried to Dublin by express +trains always held in readiness to start; from Dublin they are sent on +to Liverpool by the most rapid boats, and thus gain twelve hours on the +Atlantic steamers. + +Phileas Fogg counted on gaining twelve hours in the same way. Instead +of arriving at Liverpool the next evening by the “Henrietta,” he would +be there by noon, and would therefore have time to reach London before +a quarter before nine in the evening. + +The “Henrietta” entered Queenstown Harbour at one o’clock in the +morning, it then being high tide; and Phileas Fogg, after being grasped +heartily by the hand by Captain Speedy, left that gentleman on the +levelled hulk of his craft, which was still worth half what he had sold +it for. + +The party went on shore at once. Fix was greatly tempted to arrest Mr. +Fogg on the spot; but he did not. Why? What struggle was going on +within him? Had he changed his mind about “his man”? Did he understand +that he had made a grave mistake? He did not, however, abandon Mr. +Fogg. They all got upon the train, which was just ready to start, at +half-past one; at dawn of day they were in Dublin; and they lost no +time in embarking on a steamer which, disdaining to rise upon the +waves, invariably cut through them. + +Phileas Fogg at last disembarked on the Liverpool quay, at twenty +minutes before twelve, 21st December. He was only six hours distant +from London. + +But at this moment Fix came up, put his hand upon Mr. Fogg’s shoulder, +and, showing his warrant, said, “You are really Phileas Fogg?” + +“I am.” + +“I arrest you in the Queen’s name!” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG AT LAST REACHES LONDON + + +Phileas Fogg was in prison. He had been shut up in the Custom House, +and he was to be transferred to London the next day. + +Passepartout, when he saw his master arrested, would have fallen upon +Fix had he not been held back by some policemen. Aouda was +thunderstruck at the suddenness of an event which she could not +understand. Passepartout explained to her how it was that the honest +and courageous Fogg was arrested as a robber. The young woman’s heart +revolted against so heinous a charge, and when she saw that she could +attempt to do nothing to save her protector, she wept bitterly. + +As for Fix, he had arrested Mr. Fogg because it was his duty, whether +Mr. Fogg were guilty or not. + +The thought then struck Passepartout, that he was the cause of this new +misfortune! Had he not concealed Fix’s errand from his master? When Fix +revealed his true character and purpose, why had he not told Mr. Fogg? +If the latter had been warned, he would no doubt have given Fix proof +of his innocence, and satisfied him of his mistake; at least, Fix would +not have continued his journey at the expense and on the heels of his +master, only to arrest him the moment he set foot on English soil. +Passepartout wept till he was blind, and felt like blowing his brains +out. + +Aouda and he had remained, despite the cold, under the portico of the +Custom House. Neither wished to leave the place; both were anxious to +see Mr. Fogg again. + +That gentleman was really ruined, and that at the moment when he was +about to attain his end. This arrest was fatal. Having arrived at +Liverpool at twenty minutes before twelve on the 21st of December, he +had till a quarter before nine that evening to reach the Reform Club, +that is, nine hours and a quarter; the journey from Liverpool to London +was six hours. + +If anyone, at this moment, had entered the Custom House, he would have +found Mr. Fogg seated, motionless, calm, and without apparent anger, +upon a wooden bench. He was not, it is true, resigned; but this last +blow failed to force him into an outward betrayal of any emotion. Was +he being devoured by one of those secret rages, all the more terrible +because contained, and which only burst forth, with an irresistible +force, at the last moment? No one could tell. There he sat, calmly +waiting—for what? Did he still cherish hope? Did he still believe, now +that the door of this prison was closed upon him, that he would +succeed? + +However that may have been, Mr. Fogg carefully put his watch upon the +table, and observed its advancing hands. Not a word escaped his lips, +but his look was singularly set and stern. The situation, in any event, +was a terrible one, and might be thus stated: if Phileas Fogg was +honest he was ruined; if he was a knave, he was caught. + +Did escape occur to him? Did he examine to see if there were any +practicable outlet from his prison? Did he think of escaping from it? +Possibly; for once he walked slowly around the room. But the door was +locked, and the window heavily barred with iron rods. He sat down +again, and drew his journal from his pocket. On the line where these +words were written, “21st December, Saturday, Liverpool,” he added, +“80th day, 11.40 a.m.,” and waited. + +The Custom House clock struck one. Mr. Fogg observed that his watch was +two hours too fast. + +Two hours! Admitting that he was at this moment taking an express +train, he could reach London and the Reform Club by a quarter before +nine, p.m. His forehead slightly wrinkled. + +At thirty-three minutes past two he heard a singular noise outside, +then a hasty opening of doors. Passepartout’s voice was audible, and +immediately after that of Fix. Phileas Fogg’s eyes brightened for an +instant. + +The door swung open, and he saw Passepartout, Aouda, and Fix, who +hurried towards him. + +Fix was out of breath, and his hair was in disorder. He could not +speak. “Sir,” he stammered, “sir—forgive me—most—unfortunate +resemblance—robber arrested three days ago—you are free!” + +Phileas Fogg was free! He walked to the detective, looked him steadily +in the face, and with the only rapid motion he had ever made in his +life, or which he ever would make, drew back his arms, and with the +precision of a machine knocked Fix down. + +“Well hit!” cried Passepartout, “Parbleu! that’s what you might call a +good application of English fists!” + +Fix, who found himself on the floor, did not utter a word. He had only +received his deserts. Mr. Fogg, Aouda, and Passepartout left the Custom +House without delay, got into a cab, and in a few moments descended at +the station. + +Phileas Fogg asked if there was an express train about to leave for +London. It was forty minutes past two. The express train had left +thirty-five minutes before. Phileas Fogg then ordered a special train. + +There were several rapid locomotives on hand; but the railway +arrangements did not permit the special train to leave until three +o’clock. + +At that hour Phileas Fogg, having stimulated the engineer by the offer +of a generous reward, at last set out towards London with Aouda and his +faithful servant. + +It was necessary to make the journey in five hours and a half; and this +would have been easy on a clear road throughout. But there were forced +delays, and when Mr. Fogg stepped from the train at the terminus, all +the clocks in London were striking ten minutes before nine.[1] + + +Having made the tour of the world, he was behind-hand five minutes. He +had lost the wager! + + [1] A somewhat remarkable eccentricity on the part of the London + clocks!—TRANSLATOR. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG DOES NOT HAVE TO REPEAT HIS ORDERS TO +PASSEPARTOUT TWICE + + +The dwellers in Saville Row would have been surprised the next day, if +they had been told that Phileas Fogg had returned home. His doors and +windows were still closed, no appearance of change was visible. + +After leaving the station, Mr. Fogg gave Passepartout instructions to +purchase some provisions, and quietly went to his domicile. + +He bore his misfortune with his habitual tranquillity. Ruined! And by +the blundering of the detective! After having steadily traversed that +long journey, overcome a hundred obstacles, braved many dangers, and +still found time to do some good on his way, to fail near the goal by a +sudden event which he could not have foreseen, and against which he was +unarmed; it was terrible! But a few pounds were left of the large sum +he had carried with him. There only remained of his fortune the twenty +thousand pounds deposited at Barings, and this amount he owed to his +friends of the Reform Club. So great had been the expense of his tour +that, even had he won, it would not have enriched him; and it is +probable that he had not sought to enrich himself, being a man who +rather laid wagers for honour’s sake than for the stake proposed. But +this wager totally ruined him. + +Mr. Fogg’s course, however, was fully decided upon; he knew what +remained for him to do. + +A room in the house in Saville Row was set apart for Aouda, who was +overwhelmed with grief at her protector’s misfortune. From the words +which Mr. Fogg dropped, she saw that he was meditating some serious +project. + +Knowing that Englishmen governed by a fixed idea sometimes resort to +the desperate expedient of suicide, Passepartout kept a narrow watch +upon his master, though he carefully concealed the appearance of so +doing. + +First of all, the worthy fellow had gone up to his room, and had +extinguished the gas burner, which had been burning for eighty days. He +had found in the letter-box a bill from the gas company, and he thought +it more than time to put a stop to this expense, which he had been +doomed to bear. + +The night passed. Mr. Fogg went to bed, but did he sleep? Aouda did not +once close her eyes. Passepartout watched all night, like a faithful +dog, at his master’s door. + +Mr. Fogg called him in the morning, and told him to get Aouda’s +breakfast, and a cup of tea and a chop for himself. He desired Aouda to +excuse him from breakfast and dinner, as his time would be absorbed all +day in putting his affairs to rights. In the evening he would ask +permission to have a few moment’s conversation with the young lady. + +Passepartout, having received his orders, had nothing to do but obey +them. He looked at his imperturbable master, and could scarcely bring +his mind to leave him. His heart was full, and his conscience tortured +by remorse; for he accused himself more bitterly than ever of being the +cause of the irretrievable disaster. Yes! if he had warned Mr. Fogg, +and had betrayed Fix’s projects to him, his master would certainly not +have given the detective passage to Liverpool, and then— + +Passepartout could hold in no longer. + +“My master! Mr. Fogg!” he cried, “why do you not curse me? It was my +fault that—” + +“I blame no one,” returned Phileas Fogg, with perfect calmness. “Go!” + +Passepartout left the room, and went to find Aouda, to whom he +delivered his master’s message. + +“Madam,” he added, “I can do nothing myself—nothing! I have no +influence over my master; but you, perhaps—” + +“What influence could I have?” replied Aouda. “Mr. Fogg is influenced +by no one. Has he ever understood that my gratitude to him is +overflowing? Has he ever read my heart? My friend, he must not be left +alone an instant! You say he is going to speak with me this evening?” + +“Yes, madam; probably to arrange for your protection and comfort in +England.” + +“We shall see,” replied Aouda, becoming suddenly pensive. + +Throughout this day (Sunday) the house in Saville Row was as if +uninhabited, and Phileas Fogg, for the first time since he had lived in +that house, did not set out for his club when Westminster clock struck +half-past eleven. + +Why should he present himself at the Reform? His friends no longer +expected him there. As Phileas Fogg had not appeared in the saloon on +the evening before (Saturday, the 21st of December, at a quarter before +nine), he had lost his wager. It was not even necessary that he should +go to his bankers for the twenty thousand pounds; for his antagonists +already had his cheque in their hands, and they had only to fill it out +and send it to the Barings to have the amount transferred to their +credit. + +Mr. Fogg, therefore, had no reason for going out, and so he remained at +home. He shut himself up in his room, and busied himself putting his +affairs in order. Passepartout continually ascended and descended the +stairs. The hours were long for him. He listened at his master’s door, +and looked through the keyhole, as if he had a perfect right so to do, +and as if he feared that something terrible might happen at any moment. +Sometimes he thought of Fix, but no longer in anger. Fix, like all the +world, had been mistaken in Phileas Fogg, and had only done his duty in +tracking and arresting him; while he, Passepartout. . . . This thought +haunted him, and he never ceased cursing his miserable folly. + +Finding himself too wretched to remain alone, he knocked at Aouda’s +door, went into her room, seated himself, without speaking, in a +corner, and looked ruefully at the young woman. Aouda was still +pensive. + +About half-past seven in the evening Mr. Fogg sent to know if Aouda +would receive him, and in a few moments he found himself alone with +her. + +Phileas Fogg took a chair, and sat down near the fireplace, opposite +Aouda. No emotion was visible on his face. Fogg returned was exactly +the Fogg who had gone away; there was the same calm, the same +impassibility. + +He sat several minutes without speaking; then, bending his eyes on +Aouda, “Madam,” said he, “will you pardon me for bringing you to +England?” + +“I, Mr. Fogg!” replied Aouda, checking the pulsations of her heart. + +“Please let me finish,” returned Mr. Fogg. “When I decided to bring you +far away from the country which was so unsafe for you, I was rich, and +counted on putting a portion of my fortune at your disposal; then your +existence would have been free and happy. But now I am ruined.” + +“I know it, Mr. Fogg,” replied Aouda; “and I ask you in my turn, will +you forgive me for having followed you, and—who knows?—for having, +perhaps, delayed you, and thus contributed to your ruin?” + +“Madam, you could not remain in India, and your safety could only be +assured by bringing you to such a distance that your persecutors could +not take you.” + +“So, Mr. Fogg,” resumed Aouda, “not content with rescuing me from a +terrible death, you thought yourself bound to secure my comfort in a +foreign land?” + +“Yes, madam; but circumstances have been against me. Still, I beg to +place the little I have left at your service.” + +“But what will become of you, Mr. Fogg?” + +“As for me, madam,” replied the gentleman, coldly, “I have need of +nothing.” + +“But how do you look upon the fate, sir, which awaits you?” + +“As I am in the habit of doing.” + +“At least,” said Aouda, “want should not overtake a man like you. Your +friends—” + +“I have no friends, madam.” + +“Your relatives—” + +“I have no longer any relatives.” + +“I pity you, then, Mr. Fogg, for solitude is a sad thing, with no heart +to which to confide your griefs. They say, though, that misery itself, +shared by two sympathetic souls, may be borne with patience.” + +“They say so, madam.” + +“Mr. Fogg,” said Aouda, rising and seizing his hand, “do you wish at +once a kinswoman and friend? Will you have me for your wife?” + +Mr. Fogg, at this, rose in his turn. There was an unwonted light in his +eyes, and a slight trembling of his lips. Aouda looked into his face. +The sincerity, rectitude, firmness, and sweetness of this soft glance +of a noble woman, who could dare all to save him to whom she owed all, +at first astonished, then penetrated him. He shut his eyes for an +instant, as if to avoid her look. When he opened them again, “I love +you!” he said, simply. “Yes, by all that is holiest, I love you, and I +am entirely yours!” + +“Ah!” cried Aouda, pressing his hand to her heart. + +Passepartout was summoned and appeared immediately. Mr. Fogg still held +Aouda’s hand in his own; Passepartout understood, and his big, round +face became as radiant as the tropical sun at its zenith. + +Mr. Fogg asked him if it was not too late to notify the Reverend Samuel +Wilson, of Marylebone parish, that evening. + +Passepartout smiled his most genial smile, and said, “Never too late.” + +It was five minutes past eight. + +“Will it be for to-morrow, Monday?” + +“For to-morrow, Monday,” said Mr. Fogg, turning to Aouda. + +“Yes; for to-morrow, Monday,” she replied. + +Passepartout hurried off as fast as his legs could carry him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. +IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG’S NAME IS ONCE MORE AT A PREMIUM ON ’CHANGE + + +It is time to relate what a change took place in English public opinion +when it transpired that the real bankrobber, a certain James Strand, +had been arrested, on the 17th day of December, at Edinburgh. Three +days before, Phileas Fogg had been a criminal, who was being +desperately followed up by the police; now he was an honourable +gentleman, mathematically pursuing his eccentric journey round the +world. + +The papers resumed their discussion about the wager; all those who had +laid bets, for or against him, revived their interest, as if by magic; +the “Phileas Fogg bonds” again became negotiable, and many new wagers +were made. Phileas Fogg’s name was once more at a premium on ’Change. + +His five friends of the Reform Club passed these three days in a state +of feverish suspense. Would Phileas Fogg, whom they had forgotten, +reappear before their eyes! Where was he at this moment? The 17th of +December, the day of James Strand’s arrest, was the seventy-sixth since +Phileas Fogg’s departure, and no news of him had been received. Was he +dead? Had he abandoned the effort, or was he continuing his journey +along the route agreed upon? And would he appear on Saturday, the 21st +of December, at a quarter before nine in the evening, on the threshold +of the Reform Club saloon? + +The anxiety in which, for three days, London society existed, cannot be +described. Telegrams were sent to America and Asia for news of Phileas +Fogg. Messengers were dispatched to the house in Saville Row morning +and evening. No news. The police were ignorant what had become of the +detective, Fix, who had so unfortunately followed up a false scent. +Bets increased, nevertheless, in number and value. Phileas Fogg, like a +racehorse, was drawing near his last turning-point. The bonds were +quoted, no longer at a hundred below par, but at twenty, at ten, and at +five; and paralytic old Lord Albemarle bet even in his favour. + +A great crowd was collected in Pall Mall and the neighbouring streets +on Saturday evening; it seemed like a multitude of brokers permanently +established around the Reform Club. Circulation was impeded, and +everywhere disputes, discussions, and financial transactions were going +on. The police had great difficulty in keeping back the crowd, and as +the hour when Phileas Fogg was due approached, the excitement rose to +its highest pitch. + +The five antagonists of Phileas Fogg had met in the great saloon of the +club. John Sullivan and Samuel Fallentin, the bankers, Andrew Stuart, +the engineer, Gauthier Ralph, the director of the Bank of England, and +Thomas Flanagan, the brewer, one and all waited anxiously. + +When the clock indicated twenty minutes past eight, Andrew Stuart got +up, saying, “Gentlemen, in twenty minutes the time agreed upon between +Mr. Fogg and ourselves will have expired.” + +“What time did the last train arrive from Liverpool?” asked Thomas +Flanagan. + +“At twenty-three minutes past seven,” replied Gauthier Ralph; “and the +next does not arrive till ten minutes after twelve.” + +“Well, gentlemen,” resumed Andrew Stuart, “if Phileas Fogg had come in +the 7:23 train, he would have got here by this time. We can, therefore, +regard the bet as won.” + +“Wait; don’t let us be too hasty,” replied Samuel Fallentin. “You know +that Mr. Fogg is very eccentric. His punctuality is well known; he +never arrives too soon, or too late; and I should not be surprised if +he appeared before us at the last minute.” + +“Why,” said Andrew Stuart nervously, “if I should see him, I should not +believe it was he.” + +“The fact is,” resumed Thomas Flanagan, “Mr. Fogg’s project was +absurdly foolish. Whatever his punctuality, he could not prevent the +delays which were certain to occur; and a delay of only two or three +days would be fatal to his tour.” + +“Observe, too,” added John Sullivan, “that we have received no +intelligence from him, though there are telegraphic lines all along his +route.” + +“He has lost, gentleman,” said Andrew Stuart, “he has a hundred times +lost! You know, besides, that the ‘China’—the only steamer he could +have taken from New York to get here in time arrived yesterday. I have +seen a list of the passengers, and the name of Phileas Fogg is not +among them. Even if we admit that fortune has favoured him, he can +scarcely have reached America. I think he will be at least twenty days +behind-hand, and that Lord Albemarle will lose a cool five thousand.” + +“It is clear,” replied Gauthier Ralph; “and we have nothing to do but +to present Mr. Fogg’s cheque at Barings to-morrow.” + +At this moment, the hands of the club clock pointed to twenty minutes +to nine. + +“Five minutes more,” said Andrew Stuart. + +The five gentlemen looked at each other. Their anxiety was becoming +intense; but, not wishing to betray it, they readily assented to Mr. +Fallentin’s proposal of a rubber. + +“I wouldn’t give up my four thousand of the bet,” said Andrew Stuart, +as he took his seat, “for three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.” + +The clock indicated eighteen minutes to nine. + +The players took up their cards, but could not keep their eyes off the +clock. Certainly, however secure they felt, minutes had never seemed so +long to them! + +“Seventeen minutes to nine,” said Thomas Flanagan, as he cut the cards +which Ralph handed to him. + +Then there was a moment of silence. The great saloon was perfectly +quiet; but the murmurs of the crowd outside were heard, with now and +then a shrill cry. The pendulum beat the seconds, which each player +eagerly counted, as he listened, with mathematical regularity. + +“Sixteen minutes to nine!” said John Sullivan, in a voice which +betrayed his emotion. + +One minute more, and the wager would be won. Andrew Stuart and his +partners suspended their game. They left their cards, and counted the +seconds. + +At the fortieth second, nothing. At the fiftieth, still nothing. + +At the fifty-fifth, a loud cry was heard in the street, followed by +applause, hurrahs, and some fierce growls. + +The players rose from their seats. + +At the fifty-seventh second the door of the saloon opened; and the +pendulum had not beat the sixtieth second when Phileas Fogg appeared, +followed by an excited crowd who had forced their way through the club +doors, and in his calm voice, said, “Here I am, gentlemen!” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. +IN WHICH IT IS SHOWN THAT PHILEAS FOGG GAINED NOTHING BY HIS TOUR +AROUND THE WORLD, UNLESS IT WERE HAPPINESS + + +Yes; Phileas Fogg in person. + +The reader will remember that at five minutes past eight in the +evening—about five and twenty hours after the arrival of the travellers +in London—Passepartout had been sent by his master to engage the +services of the Reverend Samuel Wilson in a certain marriage ceremony, +which was to take place the next day. + +Passepartout went on his errand enchanted. He soon reached the +clergyman’s house, but found him not at home. Passepartout waited a +good twenty minutes, and when he left the reverend gentleman, it was +thirty-five minutes past eight. But in what a state he was! With his +hair in disorder, and without his hat, he ran along the street as never +man was seen to run before, overturning passers-by, rushing over the +sidewalk like a waterspout. + +In three minutes he was in Saville Row again, and staggered back into +Mr. Fogg’s room. + +He could not speak. + +“What is the matter?” asked Mr. Fogg. + +“My master!” gasped Passepartout—“marriage—impossible—” + +“Impossible?” + +“Impossible—for to-morrow.” + +“Why so?” + +“Because to-morrow—is Sunday!” + +“Monday,” replied Mr. Fogg. + +“No—to-day is Saturday.” + +“Saturday? Impossible!” + +“Yes, yes, yes, yes!” cried Passepartout. “You have made a mistake of +one day! We arrived twenty-four hours ahead of time; but there are only +ten minutes left!” + +Passepartout had seized his master by the collar, and was dragging him +along with irresistible force. + +Phileas Fogg, thus kidnapped, without having time to think, left his +house, jumped into a cab, promised a hundred pounds to the cabman, and, +having run over two dogs and overturned five carriages, reached the +Reform Club. + +The clock indicated a quarter before nine when he appeared in the great +saloon. + +Phileas Fogg had accomplished the journey round the world in eighty +days! + +Phileas Fogg had won his wager of twenty thousand pounds! + +How was it that a man so exact and fastidious could have made this +error of a day? How came he to think that he had arrived in London on +Saturday, the twenty-first day of December, when it was really Friday, +the twentieth, the seventy-ninth day only from his departure? + +The cause of the error is very simple. + +Phileas Fogg had, without suspecting it, gained one day on his journey, +and this merely because he had travelled constantly _eastward;_ he +would, on the contrary, have lost a day had he gone in the opposite +direction, that is, _westward_. + +In journeying eastward he had gone towards the sun, and the days +therefore diminished for him as many times four minutes as he crossed +degrees in this direction. There are three hundred and sixty degrees on +the circumference of the earth; and these three hundred and sixty +degrees, multiplied by four minutes, gives precisely twenty-four +hours—that is, the day unconsciously gained. In other words, while +Phileas Fogg, going eastward, saw the sun pass the meridian _eighty_ +times, his friends in London only saw it pass the meridian +_seventy-nine_ times. This is why they awaited him at the Reform Club +on Saturday, and not Sunday, as Mr. Fogg thought. + +And Passepartout’s famous family watch, which had always kept London +time, would have betrayed this fact, if it had marked the days as well +as the hours and the minutes! + +Phileas Fogg, then, had won the twenty thousand pounds; but, as he had +spent nearly nineteen thousand on the way, the pecuniary gain was +small. His object was, however, to be victorious, and not to win money. +He divided the one thousand pounds that remained between Passepartout +and the unfortunate Fix, against whom he cherished no grudge. He +deducted, however, from Passepartout’s share the cost of the gas which +had burned in his room for nineteen hundred and twenty hours, for the +sake of regularity. + +That evening, Mr. Fogg, as tranquil and phlegmatic as ever, said to +Aouda: “Is our marriage still agreeable to you?” + +“Mr. Fogg,” replied she, “it is for me to ask that question. You were +ruined, but now you are rich again.” + +“Pardon me, madam; my fortune belongs to you. If you had not suggested +our marriage, my servant would not have gone to the Reverend Samuel +Wilson’s, I should not have been apprised of my error, and—” + +“Dear Mr. Fogg!” said the young woman. + +“Dear Aouda!” replied Phileas Fogg. + +It need not be said that the marriage took place forty-eight hours +after, and that Passepartout, glowing and dazzling, gave the bride +away. Had he not saved her, and was he not entitled to this honour? + +The next day, as soon as it was light, Passepartout rapped vigorously +at his master’s door. Mr. Fogg opened it, and asked, “What’s the +matter, Passepartout?” + +“What is it, sir? Why, I’ve just this instant found out—” + +“What?” + +“That we might have made the tour of the world in only seventy-eight +days.” + +“No doubt,” returned Mr. Fogg, “by not crossing India. But if I had not +crossed India, I should not have saved Aouda; she would not have been +my wife, and—” + +Mr. Fogg quietly shut the door. + +Phileas Fogg had won his wager, and had made his journey around the +world in eighty days. To do this he had employed every means of +conveyance—steamers, railways, carriages, yachts, trading-vessels, +sledges, elephants. The eccentric gentleman had throughout displayed +all his marvellous qualities of coolness and exactitude. But what then? +What had he really gained by all this trouble? What had he brought back +from this long and weary journey? + +Nothing, say you? Perhaps so; nothing but a charming woman, who, +strange as it may appear, made him the happiest of men! + +Truly, would you not for less than that make the tour around the world? + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 103 *** |