Chapter 2: Passepartout Drinks Too Much
The Carnatic was expected to leave the next morning at five
o'clock. So Mr Fogg had sixteen hours ahead of him during'Shall I give you some of the money now?'
'If you don't mind.'
'Here are two hundred pounds. Sir,' added Phileas Fogg,
turning towards Fix, 'if you would like to join us ... '
'Sir,' answered Fix, 'I was going to ask you to take me.'
'Very well. In half an hour we shall be on board.'
'But poor Passepartout,' said Aouda, who was very anx10us
about the disappearance of the servant.
'I will do all I can for him,' answered Phileas Fogg.
And while Fix, in a very bad temper, was heading for the boat,
the other two went to the police station of Hong Kong. There
Phileas Fogg gave a description of Passepartout and left enough
money to send him back to Europe. Then, after calling at the
hotel to collect their luggage, they, too, went off to find the boat.
Three o'clock struck. The Tankadere was ready to raise its sails.
Besides John Bunsby there were four men on the boat - four
strong and clever sailors who knew the China Sea perfectly.John
Bunsby himself, a man of about forty-five years old, with sharp
eyes and an active body, was a person whom anyone could trust.
Phileas and Aouda went on board. Fix was already there. They
all went down into a small, but clean, cabin.
'I am sorry not to be able to offer you anything better than
this,' said Mr Fogg to Fix.
The detective felt uncomfortable. He was not happy about
being on the receiving end of Mr Fogg's kindness.
'He's a very polite thief,' Fix reminded himself, 'but he is a
thief, all the same.'
At ten minutes past three the sails were raised. Mr Fogg and
Aouda were standing on the ship's deck looking at the land for
the last time in case Passepartout appeared.
Fix was clearly anxious. The unfortunate Frenchman, whom
he had treated so badly, might still come, and then there would
be an explanation not at all to the liking of the detective. But hedid not appear. No doubt he was still suffering from what he had
been given to drink.
Then John Bunsby threw off the ropes, and the Tankadere
made its way at great speed towards the north.A journey of 800 miles on a ship of this sort was not without
danger. The China Seas are generally rough, particularly at this
time of year. As the captain was being paid by the day, he would
certainly have earned more money by going to Yokohama. But
the journey to Shanghai was already dangerous enough.
During the last hours of the day, the Tankadere made its way
through the narrow stretches of water to the north of Hong
Kong.
'I hardly need tell you, Captain,' said Phileas Fogg, as the boat
reached the open sea, 'how important it is to go as fast as possible.'
'Trust me,' answered John Bunsby. 'We are carrying as much
sail as the wind will allow us.'
'It's your business, Captain, and not mine. I put my trust in
you.'
Phileas Fogg, standing up straight like a sailor, fearlessly
watched the rough waves. The young woman, seated near him,
was looking, too, at the dark green water as it rushed by, thinking,
no doubt, of her future. Above them floated the white sails, and
the ship flew forward as a bird flies through the air.
Night came. The moon was in its first quarter, and clouds from
the east had already covered a good part of the sky.
Fix was in the front part of the ship. He kept away from the
others, knowing that Fogg disliked talking. Besides, he did not
want to talk to the man from whom he had accepted so much
kindness. He, too, was thinking of the future. He felt certain thatFogg would not stop at Yokohama, but would immediately take
the San Francisco boat for America, where he would be safe.
Fogg's plan seemed to be a good one.
Instead of travelling directly from England to America, as most
people in his position would have done, he preferred to sail round
three-quarters of the earth to reach America more safely. There,
having successfully escaped from the police, he would spend the
money that he had stolen. But what would Fix do when they
reached America? Would he give up the chase? No, a hundred
times no! He would follow him until he caught him. It was his
duty, and he would do his duty to the end. In any case, one
fortunate thing had happened. Passepartout was no longer with
his master, and after what Fix had said to him, it was important
that master and servant should meet no more.
Phileas Fogg, too, was thinking about his servant, who had
disappeared in such a strange way. Perhaps he had, after all,
managed to sail on the Carnatic. Aouda also thought it possible.
She was very sorry to lose the honest Frenchman to whom she
owed her life. They might, though, find him at Yokohama, and it
should not be difficult to discover whether the Carnatic had taken
him there or not.
At about ten o'clock the wind grew stronger. At midnight
Phileas Fogg and Aouda went down to the cabin. Fix was already
there and asleep. The captain and his men stayed on deck all night.
By the next day, 8th November, the boat had gone more than
a hundred miles. Its speed was between eight and nine miles an
hour. There was plenty of wind in the sails, and at this rate the
boat had every chance of achieving the distance in good time.
The Tankadere kept close to the coast, and the sea was running in
the right direction.
Mr Fogg and the young woman, neither of whom suffered
from seasickness, enjoyed a good meal. Fix was asked to join
them, and had to accept, but once again he was not happy aboutthe situation. For Fogg to pay for his journey and his meals
seemed too much - it was not really quite fair. All the same he
had his meal.
But at the end of the meal he thought it his duty to take Mr
Fogg to one side and, although he did not like addressing a thief
as 'sir', he said: 'Sir, you have been kind enough to offer me
transport on this boat. I am not rich enough to pay as much as I
would like, but let me-'
'We will not speak of that, sir,' answered Mr Fogg.
'But, please-'
'No, sir,' said Fogg. 'I count it as part of the cost of my journey.'
Fix did not say another word for the rest of the day.
The ship sailed well. John Buns by had high hopes. More than
once he said to Mr Fogg that they would get to Shanghai in time.
Mr Fogg simply answered that he depended on it. Thinking of
the rich reward they would receive, the sailors worked hard, and
by that evening they were 200 miles from Hong Kong.
Early in the morning the Tankadere was sailing between the
island of Formosa and the coast of China. The sea was very rough
and the movements of the ship were so violent that the travellers
had some difficulty in standing up. When the sun rose, the wind
blew more strongly and the sky was covered with black clouds.
The captain looked at the sky. He was feeling anxious.
'Do you mind if I tell you the truth?' he asked Fogg.
'Tell me everything,' answered Fogg.
'Well, we are going to have a storm.'
'Is it corning from the south or north?'
'From the south.'
'That is good news, then, since it will blow us in the right
direction,' said Mr Fogg.
'If that is your opinion on the matter, I have nothing more to
say,' answered the captain.
John Bunsby was right, and storms in the China Sea at thistime of the year are severe. All the sails except one were taken
down. All the doors and other openings were tied shut so that no
water could come in. They waited.
John Bunsby begged his passengers to go down below, but it
would not have been pleasant to be shut up in the cabin, where
there was little air. Mr Fogg and Aouda, and even Mr Fix, refused
to leave the deck.
At about eight o'clock the storm broke. Rain poured down.
Even with one sail the ship flew over the water. All that day waves
poured over the sides. When evening came the wind changed
direction and began to blow from the north-west. The waves
struck the side of the ship and made it roll terribly. It was
fortunate that the Tankadere was so solidly built.
As night came, the storm grew more violent.John Bunsby and
his men were very worried. The captain went up to Mr Fogg and
said: 'I think, sir, that we had better try to find a port.'
'I think so, too,' answered Phileas Fogg.
'But which one?'
'I only know of one.'
'And which is that?'
'Shanghai.'
It took the captain a few moments to understand what this
answer meant. Then he said: 'Very well, sir, you are right. Let us
go to Shanghai.'
And so the Tankadere kept on its way to the north, but more
slowly. It was a terrible night. It was a wonder that the ship did
not sink. More than once Mr Fogg had to rush to protect Aouda
from the waves.
At last daylight came. The storm was still violent, but the wind
changed to the south-east. This was better, and the ship flew
forward again. Sometimes the coast of China could be seen, but
there was not a ship in sight. The Tankadere was alone on the sea.
At midday the sea was a little calmer, and when the sun wentdown the wind blew less violently. The travellers were now able
to take a little food and to rest.
The night was fairly calm, so the captain put up more sails and
the ship moved at a good speed. The next morning, the morning
of the 11 th,John Bunsby was able to say that they were not more
than a hundred miles from Shanghai.
A hundred miles, and there was only this one day in which to
sail the distance. If they were to catch the steamer for Yokohama,
they must reach Shanghai that same evening. Without the storm,
during which they had lost several hours, they would now have
been only thirty miles away.
The wind blew much less strongly, and the sea grew calmer at
the same time. All the sails were put up. At midday the Tankadere
was not more than forty-five miles from Shanghai, but only six
hours were left in which to catch the boat. All those on the ship
feared that the time was too short. It was necessary to sail at the
speed of nine miles an hour, but the wind was weakening all the
time. The ship was light and fast though, and the sails picked up
the little wind there was. So at six o'clock John Bunsby found
himself about ten miles from the mouth of the Shanghai River -
the town itself is twelve miles further up the river.
At seven o'clock they were three miles away. The captain swore
- he was certainly going to lose his reward of two hundred
pounds. He looked at Mr Fogg. Mr Fogg was perfectly calm, in
spite of the fact that his whole fortune was in danger.
At that moment a long black chimney came into sight, with
black smoke pouring out of it. It was the American steamer
sailing from Shanghai at its usual time.
'Signal to them,' said Phileas Fogg.
A small cannon on deck was used to send signals during bad
weather. John Bunsby filled it with gunpowder.
'Fire!' said Mr Fogg.
And the cannon roared.The Carnatic left Hong Kong on 7th November, at half past six
in the evening, and sailed at full steam towards Japan. It carried
many passengers, but there were three empty cabins - those that
should have been used by Mr Fogg.
The next morning the men on deck saw, with some surprise,
a passenger with an unwashed face and hair in complete disorder
come out from a second-class cabin onto the deck, and fall into
a chair. It was Passepartout. This is what had happened.
A few moments after Fix had left the bar, two Chinese men
saw Passepartout sleeping on the floor. They lifted him up and
laid him on the bed among the other sleepers. But three hours
later, remembering even in his dreams that there was a duty that
he had left undone, the poor man woke up and fought against his
sleepiness and the poison of the drink in his blood. He got up
with difficulty and, holding himself up by keeping close to the
walls, managed to find his way into the street.
'The Carnatic, the Carnatic,' he cried, as if in a dream.
Somehow he made his way to the port. The steamer was there
and preparing to leave. Passepartout climbed on board and, at
exactly the moment when the ship started, fell senseless onto the
deck.
Some of the sailors, used to seeing this sort of thing, carried
him down to a cabin, and Passepartout slept until the following
morning, when they were a 150 miles from Hong Kong.
That is how it was, then, that he found himself on the deck of
the Carnatic. The fresh air brought him to his senses. He began to
remember, but with some difficulty, what had happened to him:
the drinking hall, what Fix had told him, and all the rest.
'I must have been terribly drunk,' he thought. 'What will Mr
Fogg say to me? Well, I have caught the boat, and that is the main
thing.'Then he thought about Fix.
'We shall see no more of him, I hope.After what he said to me
he will not dare follow us on the Carnatic. A detective, he calls
himself, a detective wanting to arrest my master for stealing
money from the Bank of England!'
Passepartout began wondering whether he should tell the
story to his master. Ought he to let him know about Fix? Would
it not be better to wait until they got to London, and then to tell
him how a detective had followed him round the world? What a
joke that would be! Yes, that would be the best thing to do.
Anyhow, it was worth considering. The most important thing
now was to go and join his master and beg forgiveness for his
behaviour of the night before.
So Passepartout got up from his chair. The sea was rather rough
and the boat was rolling heavily. He walked as well as he could,
up and down the deck, but saw nobody at all who was like Mr
Fogg or Aouda.
'Very well,' he thought. 'The lady has probably not got up yet,
and Mr Fogg has found somebody to play cards with.'
So he went down below deck. Mr Fogg was not there. He then
went to the office to ask which was Mr Fogg's cabin. The man at
the office said that there was nobody of that name on the boat.
'But excuse me,' said Passepartout. 'He must be on the boat.'
He then gave the officer a description of Mr Fogg, saying that
there was a young lady with him.
'We have no young ladies on board,' answered the officer.
'Here is a list of passengers; you can see for yourself.'
Passepartout looked at the list. His master's name was not
there. A sudden idea struck him.
'Am I on the Carnatic?'
'Yes,' answered the officer.
'On the way to Yokohama?'
'Certainly.'Passepartout had been afraid for a moment that he was on the
wrong boat. But if it was true that he was on the Carnatic, it was
certain that his master was not.
Then he remembered everything. He remembered how the
hour of sailing had been changed, that he was going to warn his
master and that he had not done so. It was his fault, then, that Mr
Fogg and his companion had not caught the boat!
His fault, yes. But it was still more the fault of the man who
had taken him to a bar and had made him drunk in order to keep
his master in Hong Kong. And now Mr Fogg had certainly lost
his bet; he had, perhaps been arrested; he might even be in prison!
At this thought the Frenchman tore his hair. Ah! If he ever got
hold of Fix, how he would pay him back for what he had done!
When the first terrible moments of his discovery had passed,
Passepartout grew calmer and began to examine his position. It
was not a happy one. He was on his way to Japan. He was certain
to get there, but how would he get away again? His pockets were
empty; he had no money at all. But his cabin and food had been
paid for, so he had five or six days in front of him during which
time he could make some plans for the future.
It is impossible to describe how much he ate and drank during
this part of the journey. He ate and drank for his master, for
Aouda and for himself. He ate as if Japan were a country in which
there was no food at all.
•
On the morning of the 13th, the Carnatic reached Yokohama and
tied up among a large number of ships that had come from nearly
all the countries of the world.
Passepartout, feeling rather frightened, got off the boat in this
strange Land of the Rising Sun. All that he could do was to be
guided by chance and go walking about the streets. He first found
himself in the European part of the town where, as in HongKong, the streets were crowded with people of every nationality
- traders who seemed ready to buy or to sell anything. Among all
these people Passepartout felt as lonely as if he had been thrown
into the middle of Africa.
There was certainly one thing that he could do - he could go
to the French and British consuls. He very much disliked,
though, the idea of telling his story and the story of his master to
these government officials. He would go to the consuls only if
everything else failed.
He then went to the Japanese part of the town, where he saw
the temples and strangely designed houses. The streets here, too,
were crowded with people: priests; officers dressed in silk and
carrying two swords; soldiers with their blue and white coats,
carrying guns; fishermen; beggars, and large numbers of children.
Passepartout walked around among these people for some
hours, looking at the strange sights, the shops, the eating houses
and the amusement halls. But in the shops he could see neither
meat nor bread; and even if he had seen any, he had no money.
The next morning he felt very tired and hungry. He would
certainly have to eat something, and the sooner the better. He
could, of course, have sold his watch, but he would rather die of
hunger than do that. Now was the time when he could use the
strong, if not very musical, voice that nature had given him. He
knew a few French and English songs, and he made up his mind
to try them.
But perhaps it was rather early in the day to start singing. It
might be better to wait a few hours. The thought then came to
him that he was too well dressed for a street singer. He would do
well to change his clothes for others more suitable to his position.
Besides, by doing so he might make a little money with which to
buy food.
It was some time before he found a shop where they bought
and sold old clothes. The owner of the shop liked the look ofwhat Passepartout was wearing, and soon Passepartout came out
dressed in Japanese clothes - old ones, it is true, but quite
comfortable. What pleased him most were the few pieces of silver
that he had been given as part of the arrangement.
The next thing that Passepartout did was to go to a small
eating house, where he was able to satisfy his hunger.
'Now,' he thought, 'I have no time to lose. I had better make
my stay in this Land of the Rising Sun as short as possible.'
His idea was to visit any steamers going to America. He could
offer his services as cook or servant, asking for nothing except his
food and transport. If he could get to San Francisco, he would be
all right. The important thing was to cross the 4,700 miles of sea
between Japan and the New World. So he headed for the port.
But as he got near, his plan, which had seemed so simple when
he made it, now seemed to be more and more impossible to carry
out. Why would they need a cook or a servant on an American
boat, and what would any captain or officer think of him, dressed
as he was? Then again he had no papers to show, no letters from
people expressing their satisfaction at his service.
While he was thinking matters over, he saw in front of an
amusement hall a large noticeboard:
William Batulcar's
Company of Japanese Acrobats
Last Performances
before leaving for America
of the
Long Noses!
Come and see them!
'America!' cried Passepartout. 'Just what I wanted.'
He went inside the building and asked for Mr Batulcar. A fewminutes later Mr Batulcar appeared.
'What do you want?' he asked, mistaking Passepartout for a
poor Japanese man.
'Do you want a servant?' asked Passepartout.
'A servant,' cried the man. 'I have two strong and honest
servants who have always been with me, who serve me for
nothing except food. And here they are!' he added, showing two
strong arms.
'So I can be of no help to you?'
'None.'
'That's a pity. It would have suited me to go with you to
America.'
'Oh,' answered Mr Batulcar, 'you are no more Japanese than I
am. Why are you dressed like that?'
'A man dresses as he can!'
'That's true. You are a Frenchman?'
'Yes.'
'Then I suppose you can make funny faces.'
'Well,' answered Passepartout, who did not like this question at
all, 'we Frenchmen can certainly make funny faces, but they are
no funnier than American faces!'
'Quite right. Are you strong?'
'Yes.'
'Can you sing?'
'Yes.'
'Can you sing while you are standing on your hands?'
'Oh, yes,' answered Passepartout, thinking of the acrobatic
tricks he had done when he was young.
'Very well, then, I will take you.'
So Passepartout had found a position with this company of
Japanese acrobats. It was not a very pleasant way of earning his
living, but in a week's time he would be on his way to San
Francisco.At three o'clock that afternoon the hall was filled with people
who had come to see the acrobats do their tricks. One of the
most amusing acts was that of the company of the Long Noses.
Each of the acrobats had a piece of wood stuck on the front of
his face which gave the appearance of an extremely long nose.
One of the things they had to do as a group was to form a
pyramid with their bodies. But instead of climbing on each
other's shoulders, as is usual, the artists were to stand on top of the
noses. One of the most important positions was in the middle of
the bottom row, since this particular nose supported most of the
weight of the people above him. The man who had always been
in this position had suddenly left the company, so Passepartout
had been chosen to take his place.
He felt rather sad when he put on the fine clothes that he was
to wear - it made him think of his younger days - and when the
long nose was fitted to his face. But, as this nose was going to earn
him something to eat, he felt happier.
Passepartout came in with the first group of acrobats and they
all stretched themselves out on the ground with their noses
pointing to the ceiling. A second group came and stood on the
noses. A third group took their positions on the noses of the
others, then came a fourth, until the pyramid reached the top of
the hall. The music began to play and great was the admiration of
all who were watching. Suddenly, though, the pyramid began to
shake. One of the lower noses disappeared from his key position,
and the whole pyramid fell.
It was Passepartout's fault. He jumped down from the stage
and fell at the feet of a gentleman who was watching, crying: 'Ah!
My master! My master!'
'You?'
'Yes, I.'
'Well, in that case, let us go to the steamer.'
Mr Fogg, Aouda, who was with him, and Passepartout quicklywent outside, where they found Mr Batulcar shouting angrily. He
wanted to be paid for the breaking of the pyramid. Phileas Fogg
calmed him by giving him a number of bank notes. And at half
past six, just as it was about to leave, Mr Fogg and Aouda went on
board the American steamer, followed by Passepartout, who still
had his six-foot-long nose stuck onto his face!
•
It is clear now what had happened at Shanghai. The signals made
by the Tankadere had been noticed by the Yokohama steamer. The
captain of the steamer, hearing the noise of the cannon and
thinking that help was needed, went towards the smaller boat. A
few moments later, Phileas Fogg paid John Bunsby the money
that had been promised. Then Mr Fogg and Aouda and Fix
climbed on the steamer, which made its way first to Nagasaki and
then to Yokohama.
Having arrived there that very morning, 14th November,
Phileas Fogg immediately went on board the Carnatic. There he
received the information, to the great joy of Aouda - perhaps
even of himself, though he gave no sign of it - that Passepartout
had come by that boat and had reached Yokohama the night
before.
Phileas Fogg, who was planning to leave that evening for San
Francisco, began to look for his servant. He visited, but without
success, the French and British consuls. He walked around the
streets of Yokohama and, having almost lost hope of finding
Passepartout, wandered almost by chance into Mr Batulcar's hall.
Passepartout, even in his position on the floor, saw him
immediately, and in his excitement could not keep his nose from
moving. The result of this movement was the fall of the pyramid.
All this Passepartout heard from Aouda, who told him of their
journey from Hong Kong to Yokohama in the company of a Mr
Fix. When he heard the name of Fix, Passepartout made no sign.He thought that the moment had not yet come to tell his master
what had passed between the detective and himself. So, when
giving an account of his own adventures, he simply expressed his
sadness at having had too much drink in a bar in Hong Kong.
Mr Fogg listened to the story coldly and did not answer, but
he gave his servant enough money to get some new clothes.
Passepartout was able to buy clothes on the ship, and an hour later
he looked very different from the long-nosed acrobat of
Yokohama.The boat carrying them from Yokohama to San Francisco was the
General Grant, which belonged to the American Steamship
Company. It was a large steamer, well built and able to travel at
great speed. At the rate of twelve miles an hour it would take only
twenty-one days to cross the Pacific Ocean. Phileas Fogg had
every reason to believe that he would be in San Francisco on 2nd
December, in New York on the 11 th, and that he would reach
London on the 20th, a few hours earlier than the 21st.
There were a good number of people on the boat: English,
Americans, and others.
During the crossing nothing in particular happened. The sea
was calm. Mr Fogg was calm, too, and said little, as usual. Aouda
came to have more and more respect for this man who had done
so much for her. In fact, almost unconsciously, her feelings of
respect were changing to feelings of a different sort.
Whatever her feelings may have been, she was very interested
in this gentleman's plan, and most anxious that nothing might
happen to spoil it. She often had talks with Passepartout, who
soon saw the state of her feelings towards Mr Fogg. He praised his
master's honesty and kindness. Then he calmed her anxietiesabout the journey, saying that the most difficult part was already
over. They had left those strange countries of China and Japan;
and if they crossed America by train and the Atlantic Ocean by
steamer, it would be easy to complete the journey round the
world in good time.
Nine days after leaving Yokohama, Phileas Fogg had gone
round exactly one half of the world. It is true that out of the
eighty days he had used up fifty-two. But we must remember that
if Mr Fogg had done half the journey as measured by the sun, he
had really done more than two-thirds in distance as measured by
the number of miles travelled. From London to Aden, Aden to
Bombay, Calcutta to Singapore, Singapore to Yokohama - that
was a very indirect journey. If we could go round the world as the
sun does, the distance from London to London would be 12,000
miles. But by this indirect journey the distance is 26,000 miles, of
which Mr Fogg had travelled 17,500. From now on the journey
would be almost in a straight line. And Fix was no longer there
to stop him.
It happened, too, that on this day, 23th November, Passepartout
made a discovery that brought him great joy. It will be
remembered that his watch kept London time, and that he
refused to put its hands forward. All the clocks in all the countries
he had passed through, he said, were wrong. Now on this day,
although he had put its hands neither forward nor backward, the
watch showed the same time as the clock on the ship. He wished
that Fix were there so that he could prove to him that his watch
kept the right time after all.
'The silly fool was talking to me about the sun and the moon
and the movement of the earth. If we listened to people like him,
we would have a very funny sort of time. I was certain that one
day the sun would come to agree with my watch!'
But there was something that Passepartout did not know. If his
watch had been marked from one to twenty-four hours (as someclocks are) he would not have been so happy about it. For in that
case, instead of pointing to nine o'clock (as it did), it would have
been pointing to twenty-one hours.
But if Fix had been able to explain this, Passepartout would
not have been able to understand the explanation, or to accept it.
In any case, if the detective had appeared at that moment, it is
probable that Passepartout would have had something to say to
him on quite a different subject.
But where was Fix at that moment?
He was, in fact, on the General Grant.
When he reached Yokohama, he left Mr Fogg, whom he
expected to meet again later in the day, and went immediately to
the British consul. There he found the warrant. It had been
following him all the way from Bombay, and was already forty
days old. It had been sent on from Hong Kong by the Carnatic,
the steamer on which he was believed to be. We may imagine the
disappointment of Fix - the warrant had now become useless
because Mr Fogg was outside the reach of the English law.
'Very well!' Fix said to himself, swallowing his anger. 'The
warrant is of no use here, but it will be of use in England. It looks
as if this bank robber intends to return home after all. Very well,
I will follow him there. As for the money he stole, I hope there
will still be some left. But with the cost of the journey, the
presents he gives, the elephant he bought, and the rest, my man
must have left more than five thousand pounds behind along the
way. It is a good thing that the Bank of England is so rich.'
Having made up his mind, he went to the General Grant, and
was there when Mr Fogg and Aouda came on board. To his great
surprise he also saw Passepartout in his strange clothes and long
nose, so he hid in his cabin. There were so many passengers that
he hoped his enemy would not see him. But today, towards the
front of the ship, he suddenly met him.
Without saying a word, Passepartout jumped on Fix and, tothe great joy of a group of Americans (who immediately began
to bet on the result of the fight), attacked him, striking him again
and again.
When he had hit him a number of times, Passepartout felt
much better and calmer. Fix got up slowly.
'Have you finished?' he asked coldly.
'Yes, for the moment.'
'Then come and have a talk with me.'
'Have a talk with you! I-'
'Yes, if you care about your master.'
Passepartout was so surprised by the calm way in which Fix
spoke that he followed him. They both sat down.
'You have given me a beating. Very well, I expected it. Now
listen to me. Until now I have been your master's enemy, but now
I am on his side.'
'Oh, at last, then, you believe him to be an honest man.'
'No, I don't,' answered Fix coldly, 'I believe him to be a thief.
Be quiet, and let me speak. So long as Fogg was on British soil I
tried to hold him back while I was waiting for the warrant to
arrest him. I did all that I could do to stop him. I sent the priests
from Bombay to Calcutta; I made you drunk at Hong Kong; I
separated you from him and made him miss the boat to
Yokohama.'
Passepartout listened, ready to fly at Fix again.
'Now,' Fix went on, 'Mr Fogg seems to be going back to
England. Very well, I will follow him. But from now on, I will
help him in his journey as much as I have tried to stop his
journey in the past. You see that my plan has changed. It has
changed because it is in my interest to change it. I will add that
your interest is the same as mine, since it is only in England that
you will know whether you are serving an honest man or a thief.'
Passepartout listened carefully to what Fix was saying, and felt
sure that Fix was not going to play any more tricks.'Are we friends?' asked Fix.
'No, not friends,' answered Passepartout, 'but we can help each
other. If you start playing any more games with me, though, I will
certainly break your neck!'
'All right,' agreed the detective calmly.Eleven days later, on 3rd December, the General Grant reached
San Francisco. Mr Fogg was neither a day too late nor a day too
early.
As soon as he got on shore he asked what time the first train
left for New York. The answer was: 'At six o'clock this evening.'
Mr Fogg had, then, a whole day to spend in San Francisco. He
called a carriage and he and his friends drove to the International
Hotel.
After a good meal, Mr Fogg went with Aouda to the British
consul to show his passport and have it signed.
When they came out, Mr Fogg found his servant waiting.
'As we are going to travel through a wild part of the country
where we might be attacked by Indians or train robbers, would it
not be wise to buy a few revolvers with which to protect
ourselves?' asked Passepartout.
Mr Fogg answered that he thought that was not at all
necessary, but Passepartout could go and buy some if he liked.
Phileas Fogg had hardly walked a hundred steps when he met
Fix. The detective seemed to be most surprised at this meeting.
'What a strange thing!' he said, 'that we should meet by chance
like this. To think that we both travelled on the General Grant
without once seeing each other.'
Fix was most pleased, he said, to meet again the gentleman to
whom he owed so much. He was forced to go back to Europeon business, and it would be very pleasant if they could travel
together.
Mr Fogg answered that the honour would be his. Fix, who did
not wish to lose sight of the man he was following, asked to be
allowed to join him in a walk around the city.
So Aouda, Phileas Fogg and Fix walked through the streets.
Before long they saw crowds of excited people. Some were
shouting, 'Long live Kamerfield!' and others, 'Mandiboy for ever!'
'This seems to be an election,' said Fix to Mr Fogg. 'Perhaps it
would be a good idea to keep away from the crowd, or we might
get hurt.' Fix was now very anxious that nothing should happen
to Mr Fogg. It was in his interest to take care of him and protect
him from harm, so that he could arrest him when they reached
England.
'You are right,' answered Phileas Fogg and he, Aouda and Fix
went and stood at the top of some stone steps where they could
see what was going on below.
At that moment the crowd became very excited. People
rushed here and there, shouting loudly. Fix was just going to ask
somebody what all this meant, when a general fight broke out.
Stones and bottles were thrown, and sticks were used freely. A
group of people moved onto the steps below, shouting loudly.
'I think we had better leave,' said Fix.
'They cannot hurt us; we are English-' Mr Fogg began to say,
but before he could finish, another noisy group came up behind
them. They were caught between the two groups, which became
increasingly violent. No escape was possible. Phileas Fogg and
Fix, in protecting the young lady, were knocked this way and that.
Mr Fogg, as calm as ever, tried to defend himself, but a big man
with red hair raised his hand over Mr Fogg to strike a violent
blow. Mr Fogg would have suffered serious damage if Fix had not
received the blow in Mr Fogg's place.
'Fool of an American!' said Mr Fogg, looking at his attacker.'Fool of an Englishman!' answered the other.
'We shall meet again!'
'When you like.Your name?'
'Phileas Fogg.Your name?'
'Stamp W Proctor.'
At that moment the crowd moved on. Fix stood up slowly; his
clothes were torn, but he was not seriously hurt.
'Thank you,' said Mr Fogg to the detective, as soon as they
were out of the crowd.
'Do not thank me,' answered Fix, 'but come with me.'
'Where?'
'To a shop where we can buy some new clothes.'
It was in fact quite necessary to do this; as a result of the fight,
the clothes of both men had been torn to pieces. An hour later,
wearing new hats and coats, they returned to the hotel.
Passepartout was waiting for his master. He was holding the
revolvers that he had been buying. He looked anxious when he
saw Fix with his master, but when Aouda explained to him what
had happened, he became more cheerful. It was clear that Fix was
keeping his promise and was no longer an enemy.
When dinner was over, Mr Fogg sent for a carriage to take the
travellers and their luggage to the station. Mr Fogg said to
Fix:'Do you know anything about this Stamp W Proctor?'
'No,' answered Fix.
'I shall come back from England to find him again,' said Phileas
Fogg. 'It is not right that an Englishman should be treated as he
treated me.'
At a quarter to six the travellers reached the station and found
the train ready to start.
The railway on which they were travelling runs from San
Francisco to New York, a distance of 3,786 miles. As the journey
took seven days, Mr Fogg would reach New York just in time to
take the steamer that left for Liverpool on 11 th December.The travellers left Oakland Station at six o'clock. It was already
dark, and the sky was covered with black clouds. The train did not
move with any great speed; perhaps twenty miles an hour, with
many stops.
Nobody talked much. Passepartout found himself sitting next
to the detective, but he did not speak to him. There was a certain
coldness between the two - and this was only natural.
An hour later it began to snow.
At eight o'clock the travellers were told that it was time to get
the beds ready for the night, and in a few minutes their carriage
looked more like a bedroom. There was only one thing to do, and
that was to sleep. And while the travellers were sleeping, the train
steamed across California.
It took six hours for the train to reach the city of Sacramento.
From San Francisco the country had been fairly flat, but now the
train began to climb into the mountains of Nevada. At seven
o'clock the train passed through Cisco.
An hour later the beds were packed away, and the travellers
looked out of the windows and were able to see the mountainous
country through which they were passing. There were few or no
bridges. The train ran up and round the sides of the mountains or
passed along the bottom of the narrow valleys.
At Reno the travellers stopped for twenty minutes, during
which time they were able to have breakfast. Then they took their
places again in their carriages and looked at the scenery through
which they were passing. At times they saw large numbers of
buffaloes. By crossing the railway line in their thousands, these
animals often force the trains to stop and wait until they have
passed and this, in fact, is what soon happened. At about twelve
o'clock the train came to a place where ten or twelve thousand
buffaloes were walking slowly across the line. It was impossible to
move them or go through this solid body of animals. The only
thing to do was to wait until the line was clearThe travellers watched this strange sight with interest. Phileas
Fogg stayed in his seat and waited patiently. But Passepartout was
terribly angry, and very much wanted to start shooting them with
his revolvers.
'What a terrible country!' he cried. 'A country where animals
like these are allowed to get in the way of trains! I wonder
whether Mr Fogg expected this sort of thing when he planned
his journey. And here is the engine driver afraid of running his
engine through them.'
The engine driver, of course, was wise enough not even to
consider such an action. It would have been useless. He could no
doubt have crushed the first buffaloes, but the engine would soon
have been stopped and probably thrown off the line.
It was three hours before the last of the animals crossed the
railway, and it was dark before the train could go on again.
By 7th December they had gone a long way. On this day they
stopped for a quarter of an hour at Green River Station. It had
been snowing and raining during the night, but as the snow had
half melted it gave no trouble. The bad weather worried
Passepartout, though.
'What a foolish idea it was to go travelling during the winter,'
he said to himself. 'If my master had waited for better weather, he
would have had a better chance of winning his bet.'
But while Passepartout was worrying about the weather,
Aouda began to be frightened about something much more
serious. Looking out of the window, she saw among the group of
travellers Stamp W Proctor, the man who had behaved so roughly
in the election fight at San Francisco. It was only by accident that
he was travelling on the same train, but there he was. 'He must be
prevented,' she thought, 'from meeting Mr Fogg.'
When the train was on its way again, and Mr Fogg had fallen
asleep, Aouda told Fix and Passepartout whom she had seen.
'Proctor on this train!' cried Fix. 'Have no fear; it is my businessrather than Mr Fogg's. After all, I am the one who suffered most.'
'And I shall have something to say to him, too,' added
Passepartout.
'Mr Fix,' said Aouda, 'you may be certain that Mr Fogg will let
nobody take his place in this matter. He said he would even come
back to America to meet this man again. If he sees Mr Proctor,
we cannot prevent them from fighting, and this might not end
well. They must not meet each other.'
'You are right,' said Fix. 'A fight might ruin everything.
Whether he won or lost, Mr Fogg would be delayed, and-'
'And that would suit the gentlemen of the Reform Club,'
added Passepartout. 'In four days we shall be in New York! Well,
if during those four days Mr Fogg does not leave his carriage, we
may hope that he will not meet this man.'
At this moment Mr Fogg woke up, and the discussion came to
an end. Later, without being heard by his master or Aouda,
Passepartout said to the detective: 'Would you really fight instead
of him?'
'I will do everything to bring him back alive to Europe,'
answered Fix.
Was there any way to keep Mr Fogg in the carriage to prevent
him from meeting this Proctor? It should not be difficult, for Mr
Fogg did not enjoy moving around. In any case, the detective had
a good plan and, a few minutes later, said to him: 'Time passes
very slowly in the train.'
'Yes,' answered the other, 'but it passes all the same.'
'On the boat,' said Fix, 'you used to play cards.'
'Yes,' answered Phileas Fogg, 'but here it would be difficult. I
have neither cards nor people to play with.'
'Oh we can easily buy the cards; they are sold on all American
trains. As for people to play with, if by chance the lady plays ... '
'Oh, yes,' answered the lady. 'I know the game that Mr Fogg
likes playing.''So do I,' said Fix. 'In fact I am quite good at cards. So perhaps
the three of us ... '
'Very well; if you would like to,' answered Phileas Fogg, who
was very pleased to have the chance of playing again.
Passepartout was sent to get the cards, and soon came back
with everything that was necessary for the game. A table was
brought and a cloth was laid over it, and they started playing.
Aouda really played very well, and Mr Fogg told her so. As for
Fix, he was a first-class player.
'Now,' thought Passepartout, 'everything is going to be fine. He
will not move from the table.'At eleven o'clock in the morning the train had climbed to one
of the highest points on its journey through the Rocky
Mountains. Two hundred miles further on they would reach
those wide stretches of flat country that lie between the
mountains and the Atlantic coast. So in a few hours they would
have passed the difficult and dangerous part of their journey
through the mountains.
After a good meal the travellers began playing cards again. But
before long the train moved more and more slowly and then
came to a complete stop. Passepartout put his head out of the
window and could see nothing that might explain the delay.
There was no station in the area.
For a moment Aouda and Fix were afraid that Mr Fogg would
want to get off the train. But he only turned to Passepartout and
said: 'Go and see what's the matter.'
Passepartout jumped out. Thirty or forty travellers had got off,
and among them was Stamp W Proctor.
The train had stopped in front of a red signal. The enginedriver and the guard were talking very seriously to a man who
had been sent from the next station to stop the train. Some of the
travellers came up and joined in the discussion - among them
Mr Stamp W Proctor, with his rough, loud voice.
Passepartout heard the man say: 'No, you can't possibly get
past! The bridge at Medicine Bow is in need of repair, and will
certainly not support the weight of the train.'
The bridge of which they were talking was one that hung
across a deep river about a mile further on. What the man said
was clearly quite true; the bridge was unsafe.
Passepartout, not daring to go and inform his master, stayed
and listened.
'Well,' said Mr Proctor, 'we are not going to stand here for ever
in the snow!'
'Sir,' answered the guard, 'we have sent a telegram to Omaha
asking them to send a train to meet us at Medicine Bow, but it
can hardly get here in less than six hours.'
'Six hours!' cried Passepartout.
'Yes,' said the guard. 'In any case it will take us that time to
walk as far as the station.'
'Walk?' cried all the travellers.
'How far away is the station, then?' asked someone.
'It is only a mile away, but it is on the other side of the river.
We shall have to walk to reach a safe crossing. It will be a distance
of fifteen miles in all.'
'A fifteen-mile walk in the snow!' cried Stamp W Proctor.
Then he started shouting, swearing, calling the railway company
and its officials all the bad names he could think of. Passepartout,
who was equally angry, felt like joining him. But here was
something that it was no use fighting about. All his master's bank
notes were useless in the face of this difficulty.
The passengers were extremely disappointed and upset. Not
only would they be late, but they would also have to walk fifteenmiles through the snow. The noise of their complaints would
certainly have been noticed by Phileas Fogg if that gentleman had
not been so interested in his game.
Passepartout saw that he would have to tell his master what
had happened. He was just walking towards the carriage, when
the engine driver, a true American by the name of Foster, raised
his voice and said: 'Gentlemen, there is one way of getting across.'
'Across the bridge?' asked somebody.
'Yes, across the bridge.'
'With our train?' asked Proctor.
'With our train.'
Passepartout stopped, and listened to what was being said.
'But the bridge is unsafe!'
'That doesn't matter,' said the engine driver. 'I believe that by
sending the train across at full speed, there will be a good chance
of getting over.'
'Well, what a crazy idea!' thought Passepartout.
But quite a number of the travellers very much liked the idea,
particularly Stamp W Proctor.
'Quite reasonable and quite natural!' he cried. 'Why,' he went
on, 'there are engineers who are now designing trains that,
travelling at full speed, can cross rivers without any bridge at all!'
In the end all the travellers agreed to the idea. Passepartout was
too surprised to speak. He was ready to attempt anything in order
to get across the river, but this seemed to him to be rather too
'American'.
'Besides,' he thought, 'there is a much simpler way, and these
people have not even thought of it.'
'Sir,' he said to one of the travellers, 'the plan seems to me a
little dangerous, but-'
'There is nothing more to be said,' answered the man. 'The
engine driver says we can get across, and that is an end of the
matter.''Yes, I am sure we can get across,' said Passepartout, 'but would
it not be less dangerous-'
'What's that! Dangerous?' cried Proctor. 'Don't you
understand? At full speed!'
'Yes, I understand,' said Passepartout, trying again to finish
what he wanted to say. 'But don't you think it would be a better
idea-'
'What? What's that? What's he talking about?' everybody
shouted.
'Are you afraid?' asked Proctor.
'Afraid? I, afraid?' cried Passepartout. 'I'll show these Americans
whether a Frenchman is afraid!'
'Take your seats! Take your seats!' shouted the guard.
'All right! All right!' shouted Passepartout to him. 'But I can't
help thinking that it would be safer for us to walk over the bridge
first, and then to let the train follow!'
But nobody heard this wise advice, and in any case nobody
would have agreed to the idea.
The travellers all went back to their seats, and Passepartout
went back to his, without saying anything of what had happened.
The card players were sitting there thinking only of their game.
The engine driver took the train back nearly a mile, in the
same way as a jumper steps back before he makes his jump. Then
he made it go forward again, more and more quickly, until the
train was moving at a frightening speed. It seemed to be going at
about 100 miles an hour. It flew over the bridge! Nobody even
saw the bridge - the train simply jumped from one side of the
river to the other, and the driver could not stop it until it was five
miles the other side of the station.
But the train had hardly crossed over the river when the
bridge fell with a crash into the water below .That evening the train reached the highest point of its journey. It
now had only to go down until it reached the Atlantic. The
travellers had come 1,382 miles from San Francisco in three days
and three nights. In another four days and four nights they should
be at New York.
The next day the three companions were playing cards as
usual. None of them complained about the length of the journey.
Fix had begun by winning a few pounds, and was now losing
them again. Mr Fogg held very good cards, and he was just going
to play one of them when a voice was heard behind him saying:
'Don't play that; play a diamond instead.'
Mr Fogg, Aouda and Fix looked up to see Stamp W Proctor
standing there.
'Oh, it's you, is it, Mr Englishman!' cried he. 'You are the one
who wants to play a heart.'
'Yes, and I shall play it,' answered Phileas Fogg, as he did so.
'Well, I want you to play the diamond.' And the man bent
forward to take hold of it, adding, 'You don't know how to play
this game.'
'Perhaps there is another game that I know better,' said Phileas
Fogg, getting up from his seat.
'Well, you can try,' replied Proctor with an ugly smile on his
face.
Aouda looked very frightened. She took hold of Mr Fogg's
arm, but he gently pushed her away. Passepartout was ready to
throw himself on the American, but Fix stood up, went to
Proctor, and said: 'The quarrel is between you and me. You were
not only disrespectful towards me, but you even struck me.'
'Mr Fix,' said Mr Fogg, 'I beg your pardon, but this is my
business alone. This man will answer to me for his behaviour.'
'When and where you like,' replied the American.
Aouda tried to hold Mr Fogg back, but without success. The
detective attempted to take the quarrel on himself. Passepartoutwanted to throw the American out of the window, but a sign
from his master stopped him. Phileas Fogg left the carriage, and
the American followed him.
'Sir,' said Mr Fogg to his enemy, 'after our meeting in San
Francisco I made up my mind to come back to America to find
you as soon as I had finished the business that calls me to
England.'
'Really!'
'Will you meet me in six months' time?'
'Why not in six years' time?'
'I said six months,' answered Mr Fogg.
'You want to escape from me!' cried Stamp W Proctor. 'You
will fight me now or never.'
'Very well,' answered Mr Fogg. 'You are going to New York?'
'No.'
'Chicago?'
'No.'
'Omaha?'
'That's no business of yours. Do you know Plum Creek?'
'No,' answered Mr Fogg.
'It's the next station. The train will be there in an hour's time.
It will wait there for ten minutes. That will give us time enough
to fight.'
'Agreed,' said Mr Fogg. 'I will stop at Plum Creek.'
'And you will stay there!' said the American, with an ugly
laugh.
'Who knows, sir?' answered Mr Fogg, returning to his seat.
'People who talk loudly are not to be feared,' he remarked to the
anxious Aouda, to calm her. Then he took Fix on one side and
asked him to help him prepare for the fight when the time came.
Fix could not refuse, and Phileas Fogg picked up his cards and
went on with his game.
At eleven o'clock the train reached Plum Creek Station andstopped. Mr Fogg got up and, followed by Fix, left the carriage.
Passepartout went too, carrying a pair of revolvers.
They had not been outside long when the door opened and
Mr Proctor came out with a friend. But just as the two enemies
were preparing themselves, the guard ran up, saying: 'Nobody is
to get out here, gentlemen.'
'Why not?' asked Proctor, angrily.
'We are twenty minutes late, and the train is not going to wait.'
'But I have to fight this gentleman.'
'I am sorry,' said the guard, 'but we are starting immediately.
There is the bell ringing.'
As he said this, the train started to move and the two men
jumped on.
'I am really very sorry, gentlemen,' said the guard. 'I would like
to have helped you. But as you have had no time to fight at Plum
Creek, is there any reason why you should not fight on the train?'
'Perhaps that would not suit this gentleman,' said Proctor with
an unpleasant laugh.
'It will suit me perfectly,' answered Phileas Fogg.
'We are certainly in America!' thought Passepartout. 'And the
guard is a perfect gentleman!' He followed his master.
The two men, their friends and the guard passed through the
carriages until they reached the end of the train. In the last
carriage there were only about ten people. The official asked
these passengers whether they would be good enough to give up
the carriage for a few minutes to two gentlemen who wished to
fight.
Well, of course! They were only too happy to be of any service
to the two gentlemen, and immediately went out and stood in
the passage.
The carriage was fifty feet long, and very suitable for the
purpose. The two men could walk towards each other between
the seats and shoot at each other without difficulty. Mr Fogg andMr Proctor, each carrying two revolvers, would go inside. The
two supporters would shut the door and stay outside. A signal
would be given, and shooting would begin. Then, after two
minutes, the door would be opened and what was left of the two
gentlemen would be carried out. Nothing could be simpler.But before the signal could be given, wild cries and shots were
heard. The shots certainly did not come from the carriage in
which the two gentlemen had just been shut. Bang! Bang! Bang!
The shots came from the outside - all along the train. Cries of
terror were heard from one end of the train to the other.
Mr Proctor and Mr Fogg, with their revolvers in their hands,
rushed out towards the front of the train, where shouts and shots
were growing louder at every moment. They were under attack
by Sioux Indians.
This was not the first time that these Indians had attacked a
train, and more than once before they had been successful. In
their usual way, a hundred of them had jumped on the steps of
the moving train and had climbed up onto the roof of the
carnages.
From these positions on and around the train, they fired their
guns. The passengers answered with their revolvers. Some of the
Indians had jumped on the engine and had injured the engine
driver. One of them tried to stop the train but, not knowing how
to do so, had opened the steam pipe instead of shutting it. The
result was that the train was flying along at full speed.
Soon the Sioux forced their way into the carriages and were
fighting with the passengers. The cries and shots continued
without stopping.
But the passengers defended themselves bravely. Among thesewas Aouda. With a revolver in her hand, she fired through the
broken windows at any Indian that came in sight. Twenty or more
of the Indians fell dead or wounded on the railway line, and the
wheels crushed any who fell between the carriages. Several of the
passengers were also badly wounded, and were lying on the seats.
The end must come before long. Fighting had been going on
for ten minutes, and the Sioux would win unless the train were
able to stop. Fort Kearney Station was only two miles away, and
there were soldiers there; but if the train passed this point, the
Sioux would certainly become masters of the train.
The guard was fighting at Mr Fogg's side when a shot struck
him and he fell. He cried out: 'We are all lost if the train does not
stop in five minutes.'
'The train will stop,' said Phileas Fogg, preparing to rush out of
the carriage.
'Stay where you are, sir,' cried Passepartout. 'This is my job.'
Phileas Fogg had no time to stop the brave man who, opening
one of the outer doors without being seen by the Indians,
managed to climb down under one of the carriages.
While the fight went on, and with shots flying in the air over
his head, Passepartout made his way forward under the carriages,
holding on here and there, and crossing from one place to
another until he got to the front part of the train. There, hanging
on by one hand, he managed to undo the heavy iron hooks that
joined the carriages to the engine. The train, now separated from
the engine, began to run more and more slowly, while the engine
flew forwards with still greater speed.
The train carried on for a few minutes but soon came to a stop
less than 300 feet from the station. Hearing the shots, soldiers
hurried up to the train. The Indians did not wait for them; they
all ran off
When the passengers were counted, it was found that three did
not answer to their names, and among them was the Frenchmanwhose bravery had saved the train. What had happened to them?
Had they been killed in the fight? Were they prisoners of the
Indians? Nobody knew. One of the wounded passengers was Mr
Proctor, who had fought bravely. He was taken with the others to
the station, where they received every care.
Aouda was safe. Phileas Fogg was safe, too, although he had
been fighting all the time. Fix was slightly wounded in the arm.
But Passepartout was not to be found; and tears ran down the
face of the young lady who owed her life to him now for the
second time.
Mr Fogg stood there without speaking. He had to make a
serious decision. If his servant had been taken prisoner, it was his
duty to try to get him back.
'I shall find him, dead or alive,' he said simply to Aouda.
'Oh, Mr Fogg,' cried Aouda, taking his hands in hers and
covering them with tears.
'I shall find him alive,' added Mr Fogg, 'if we waste no time.'
This decision meant that Phileas Fogg would lose everything.
If he were only one day late he would fail to catch the boat at
New York. His bet was lost. But it was his duty, and he had made
up his mind.
A hundred soldiers and their captain were at the station in
order to defend it against any attack by Indians.
'Sir,' said Mr Fogg to the captain, 'three people have
disappeared.'
'Dead?' asked the captain.
'Dead or prisoners,' answered Phileas Fogg. 'That is what we
must find out. Do you intend to follow the Indians?'
'That is a serious matter, sir,' answered the captain. 'These
Indians may continue to run for two or three hundred miles. I
cannot leave this station while it is under my protection.'
'Sir,' said Phileas Fogg, 'it is a question of the lives of three
men.''Quite true, but can I put the lives of fifty men in danger to
save three?'
'I don't know whether you can, but that is what you ought to
do.'
'Sir,' answered the captain. 'I will not allow anybody here to
teach me my duty.'
'Very well, then,' said Phileas Fogg coldly. 'I will go alone.'
'You!' cried Fix, who had come up to the two men. 'You
intend to go after these Indians alone?'
'Do you think that I am going to leave that brave man who
saved the lives of everybody here to die? I shall go.'
'Well, sir,' cried the captain. 'You will not go alone. No, you
have a brave heart. Now! Who offers to join this gentleman?
Thirty men are wanted!' he said, turning to his soldiers.
The whole company stepped forward. The captain only had to
choose among them. Thirty were named, and an officer was put
at their head.
'Thank you, Captain!' said Mr Fogg.
'You will allow me to come with you?' asked Fix.
'You may do as you like,' Fogg answered. 'But if you wish to
be of real service to me, you will stay by the side of this lady and
take care of her.'
The detective's face turned white. What! Separate himself from
the man he was following so patiently? Let him go off alone into
the wild country? Fix looked at Mr Fogg for a moment and then
he looked away from Fogg's calm, serious face.
'I will stay,' he said.
A few minutes later Mr Fogg gave the young woman his bag,
telling her to take great care of it; he shook hands with her, and
went off with the officer and his little company of men.
Before leaving, he said to the soldiers, 'There's a thousand
pounds for you if we save the prisoners.'
It was then a few minutes after middayAouda had gone into the waiting room of the station, and
there, alone, she thought of Phileas Fogg, this kind and brave
man. He had given up his fortune and was now putting his life in
danger. In her eyes he was a great and honourable man.
The detective Fix did not think that way at all, and could not
hide his feelings. He walked up and down outside the station,
feeling foolish for having let Fogg leave.
'I was a fool!' he thought. 'Fogg knows who I am! He has
gone, and will not come back. Where shall I find him again? How
could I have thought ofletting him go; I, who have in my pocket
the warrant for his arrest?'
Those were the thoughts of Fix while the hours slowly passed.
He did not know what to do. Sometimes he felt like telling
Aouda everything. Sometimes he felt like going off across the
snow to catch this Mr Fogg. It would not be impossible to find
him again. He could still follow the footprints of the soldiers, but
before long the falling snow would cover them again.
Then Fix felt like giving everything up for lost and going
straight back to England. If he decided to do that, there was
nothing to prevent him, because at two o'clock, while the snow
was falling heavily, the noise of an engine was heard corning from
the east. But no train was expected from the east yet; the help for
which they had asked could not come so quickly, and the train
from Omaha to San Francisco would not arrive before the next
day.
It was the engine of their train. It had rushed on for many
miles, and then the fire had died for want of coal. There was no
more steam, and an hour later the engine, running more and
more slowly, had come to a stop twenty miles on the other side
of Kearney Station.
The engine driver had not been killed; and after some time
had passed, he had come to his senses. When he found that he was
alone and that the engine was no longer pulling the train, heguessed what had happened. What he did not know was how the
engine had become separated from the train.
He could go on to Omaha; that was the wisest thing to do. He
could go back towards the train; that was dangerous, since the
Indians might still be on the train. The driver soon made up his
mind. He had to go back. Coal and wood were put on the fire;
the water soon became hot again, and before long there was
enough steam to make the engine run back to Kearney Station.
The passengers were pleased to see the engine once more at
the head of the train. They could now continue their journey.
Aouda, though, went up to the guard.
'You are leaving?' she asked.
'Immediately.'
'But the prisoners, our unfortunate travelling companions?'
'I am sorry we cannot wait for them. We are already three
hours late.'
'And when does the next train come from San Francisco?'
'Tomorrow evening.'
'Tomorrow evening? But that will be too late.You must wait.'
'That is impossible,' answered the guard. 'If you want to come
with us, you must get on the train now.'
'I shall not come,' answered the lady.
Fix had heard this talk. A few moments before, when there was
no way ofleaving, he had wanted to get away. Now that the train
was there, and he had only to take his place in the carriage, he no
longer wanted to leave. The struggle in his mind began all over
again. He felt a terrible sense of failure.
The passengers had taken their places on the train. Among
them was the wounded Mr Proctor, whose condition was serious.
The noise of steam was heard. The bell rang, the train moved out
of the station and was soon lost to view in the snow.
The detective had stayed behind.
Some hours passed. The weather was bad and it was very cold.Fix was sitting on a seat in the station; he might have been asleep.
Aouda, in spite of the snowstorm, kept going out of the room.
She walked to the end of the platform, looked out and listened.
But she saw and heard nothing.
Evening came. The little company of soldiers did not come
back. Where were they? Had they been able to catch up with the
Indians? Had there been a fight? The captain was very anxious,
but tried not to show that he was worried.
Night came. The snow was no longer falling so heavily, but it
got colder and colder. No sound could be heard.
All night Aouda, with a heavy heart and fearing the worst,
walked about outside. In her imagination she could see a
thousand dangers. Fix did not move, but he, too, was awake. At
one point a man came up to him and said something. But Fix
simply answered, 'No.'
In this way the night passed. The sun rose in a grey sky. Phileas
Fogg and the soldiers had gone towards the south, but nothing
was to be seen to the south except the snow.
The captain did not know what to do. Should he send a second
company to help the first? At last he called one of his officers, and
gave him orders to send out a few men towards the south - and
at that moment shots were heard. Was it a signal? The soldiers
rushed out and saw, half a mile away, the others corning back.
Mr Fogg was at the head of the company, and by his side were
Passepartout and the two other travellers, saved from the Sioux.
There had been a battle ten miles to the south of Kearney.
Shortly before the soldiers had reached them, Passepartout and
his two companions had started fighting against those who had
taken them prisoners.The Frenchman had already knocked three
of them down when his master and the soldiers rushed up to
help him.
At the station they were all welcomed with shouts of joy, and
Phileas Fogg gave the soldiers the reward that he had promisedthem. Passepartout said more than once: 'I have certainly cost my
master a lot of money!'
Fix looked at Mr Fogg without saying a word. It would be
difficult to say what thoughts were passing through his mind.
Aouda went up to Phileas Fogg, took his hands and pressed them
between her own, unable to speak.
As soon as he reached the station, Passepartout looked round
for the train. He was expecting to see it there ready to leave for
Omaha, and hoped that they would be able to make up for the
time that they had lost.
'Where's the train?' he cried.
'Gone,' answered Fix.
'And the next train?' asked Phileas Fogg.
'Will not come before this evening.'
'Ah!' was all that the gentleman answered.
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