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06 - Around The World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne · Science Fiction Books

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  Speaker 1: Chapter six, in which Fix, the detective betrays a very
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  Speaker 1: natural impatience. The circumstances under which this telegraphic dispatch about
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg was sent were as follows. The steamer Mongolia,
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  Speaker 1: belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company, built of iron,
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  Speaker 1: of two thousand, eight hundred tons burden and five hundred
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  Speaker 1: horse power, was due at eleven o'clock a m. On Wednesday,
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  Speaker 1: the ninth of October at Suez. The Mongolia plied regularly
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  Speaker 1: between Brendisi and Bombay via the Suez Canal, and was
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  Speaker 1: one of the fastest steamers belonging to the company, always
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  Speaker 1: making more than ten knots an hour between Brendisi and
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  Speaker 1: Suez and nine and a half between Suez and Bombay.
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  Speaker 1: Two men were promenading up and down the wharves among
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  Speaker 1: the crowd of natives and strangers who were sojourneying at
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  Speaker 1: this once straggling village, now thanks to the enterprise of
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  Speaker 1: Monsieur Lessip's, a fast growing town. One was the British
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  Speaker 1: consul at Suez, who, despite the prophecies of the English
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  Speaker 1: government and the unfavorable predictions of Stevenson, was in the
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  Speaker 1: habit of seeing from his office window English ships daily
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  Speaker 1: passing to and fro on the Great Canal, by which
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  Speaker 1: the old roundabout route from England to India by the
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  Speaker 1: Cape of Good Hope was abridged by at least a half.
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  Speaker 1: The other was a small, slight built personage with a nervous,
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  Speaker 1: intelligent face and bright eyes peering out from under eyebrows
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  Speaker 1: which he was incessantly twitching. He was just now manifesting
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  Speaker 1: unmistakable signs of impatience, nervously pacing up and down, and
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  Speaker 1: unable to stand still for a moment. This was Fix,
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  Speaker 1: one of the detectives who had been dispatched from England
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  Speaker 1: in search of the bank robber. It was his task
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  Speaker 1: to narrowly watch every passenger who arrived at Suez, and
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  Speaker 1: to follow up all who seemed to be suspicious characters
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  Speaker 1: or bore a resemblance to the description of the criminal
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  Speaker 1: which he had received two days before from the police
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  Speaker 1: headquarters at London. The detective was evidently inspired by the
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  Speaker 1: hope of obtaining the splendid reward which would be the
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  Speaker 1: prize of success, and awaited with a feverish impatience. Easy
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  Speaker 1: to understand, the arrival of the steamer Mongolia. So you say,
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  Speaker 1: Conseil asked he for the twentieth time that this steamer
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  Speaker 1: is never behind time. No, mister Fix, replied the consul.
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  Speaker 1: She was bespoken yesterday at port, said, and the rest
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  Speaker 1: of the way is of no account to such a craft.
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  Speaker 1: I repeat that the Mongolia has been in advance of
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  Speaker 1: the time required by the company's regulations and gained the
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  Speaker 1: prize awarded for excess of speed. Does she come directly
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  Speaker 1: from Brindisi? Directly from Brindisi, she takes on the Indian
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  Speaker 1: males there, and she left there Saturday at five p m.
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  Speaker 1: Have patience, mister Fix, she will not be late. But really,
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  Speaker 1: I don't see how from the description you have you
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  Speaker 1: will be able to recognize your man, even if he
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  Speaker 1: is on board the Mongolia. A man rather feels the
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  Speaker 1: presence of these fellows console than recognizes them. You must
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  Speaker 1: have a cent for them, and a scent is like
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  Speaker 1: a sixth sense, which combines hearing, seeing, and smelling. I've
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  Speaker 1: arrested more than one of these gentlemen in my time,
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  Speaker 1: and if my thief is on board, I'll answer for it.
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  Speaker 1: He'll not slip through my fingers. I hope so, mister Fix,
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  Speaker 1: for it was a heavy robbery, a magnificent robbery, Consul
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  Speaker 1: fifty five thousand pounds. We don't often have such windfalls.
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  Speaker 1: Burglars are getting to be so contemptible nowadays A fellow
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  Speaker 1: gets hung for a handful of shillings. Mister Fix, said
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  Speaker 1: the consul. I like your way of talking, and hope
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  Speaker 1: you'll succeed. But I fear you will find it far
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  Speaker 1: from easy. Don't you see the description which you have
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  Speaker 1: there has a singular resemblance to an honest man, Consul
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  Speaker 1: remarked the detective dogmatically. Great robbers always resemble honest folks.
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  Speaker 1: Fellows who have rascally faces have only one course to take,
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  Speaker 1: and that is to remain honest, otherwise they would be
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  Speaker 1: arrested off hand. The artistic thing is to unmask honest countenances.
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  Speaker 1: Is no like task, I admit, but a real art.
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  Speaker 1: Mister Fix evidently was not wanting in a tinge of
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  Speaker 1: self conceit. Little by little, the scene on the quay
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  Speaker 1: became more animated. Sailors of various nations, merchants, ship brokers, porters,
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  Speaker 1: fellows bustled to and fro, as if the steamer were
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  Speaker 1: immediately expected. The weather was clear and slightly chilly. The
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  Speaker 1: minarets of the town loomed above the houses in the
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  Speaker 1: pale rays of the sun. A jetty pier some two
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  Speaker 1: thousand yards along extended into the roadstead. A number of
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  Speaker 1: fishing smacks and coasting boats, some retaining the fantastic fashion
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  Speaker 1: of ancient galleries, were discernible on the Red Sea as
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  Speaker 1: he passed among the busy crowd. Fix, according to Habit,
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  Speaker 1: scrutinized the passers by with a keen, rapid glance. It
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  Speaker 1: was now half past ten. The steamer doesn't come, he exclaimed,
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  Speaker 1: as the port clock struck. She can't be far off, now,
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  Speaker 1: returned his companion. How long will she stop at Suez?
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  Speaker 1: Four hours long enough to get in her coal? It
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  Speaker 1: is thirteen hundred and ten miles from Suez to Aden,
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  Speaker 1: at the other end of the Red Sea, and she
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  Speaker 1: has to take in a fresh coal supply. And does
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  Speaker 1: she go from Suis directly to Bombay without putting in anywhere? Good?
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  Speaker 1: Said Fix. If the robber is on board, he will
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  Speaker 1: no doubt get off at Suez so as to reach
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  Speaker 1: the Dutch or French colonies in Asia by some other route.
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  Speaker 1: He ought to know that he would not be safe
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  Speaker 1: an hour in India, which is English soil. Unless objected
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  Speaker 1: the Consul, he is exceptionally shrewd. An English criminal, you know,
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  Speaker 1: is always better concealed in London than anywhere else. This
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  Speaker 1: observation furnished the detective food for thought, and meanwhile the
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  Speaker 1: Consul went away to his office. Fix, left alone, was
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  Speaker 1: more impatient than ever, having a presentiment that the robber
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  Speaker 1: was on board the Mongolia. If he had indeed left
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  Speaker 1: London intending to reach the New World, he would naturally
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  Speaker 1: take the route via India, which was less watched and
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  Speaker 1: more difficult to watch than that of the Atlantic. But
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  Speaker 1: Fix's reflections were soon interrupted by a succession of sharp
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  Speaker 1: whistles which announced the arrival of the Mongolia. The porters
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  Speaker 1: and fellahs rushed down the key, and a dozen boats
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  Speaker 1: pushed off from the shore to go and meet the steamer.
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  Speaker 1: Soon her gigantic hull appeared, passing along between the banks
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  Speaker 1: and eleven o'clock struck. As she anchored in the road.
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  Speaker 1: She brought an unusual number of passengers, some of whom
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  Speaker 1: remained on deck to scan the picturesque panorama of the town,
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  Speaker 1: while the greater part disembarked in the boats and landed
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  Speaker 1: on the quy. Fix took up a position and carefully
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  Speaker 1: examined each face and figure which made its appearance. Presently,
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  Speaker 1: one of the passengers, after vigorously pushing his way through
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  Speaker 1: the importunate crowd of porters, came up to him and
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  Speaker 1: politely asked if he could point out the English consulate,
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  Speaker 1: at the same time showing a passport which he wished
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  Speaker 1: to have visaed. Fix instinctively took the passport and with
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  Speaker 1: a rapid glance read the description of its bearer. An
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  Speaker 1: involuntary motion of surprise nearly escaped him, for the description
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  Speaker 1: in the passport was identical with that of the bank
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  Speaker 1: robber which he had received from Scotland. Yard. Is this
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  Speaker 1: your passport? Asked he. No, it is my master's, and
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  Speaker 1: your master is he stayed on board? But he must
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  Speaker 1: go to the consuls in person so as to establish
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  Speaker 1: his identity. Oh, is that necessary? Quite indispensable? And where
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  Speaker 1: is the consulate? There on the corner of the square,
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  Speaker 1: said Fix, pointing to a house two hundred steps off.
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  Speaker 1: I'll go and fetch my master, who won't be much pleased, however,
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  Speaker 1: to be disturbed. The passenger bowed to fix and returned
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  Speaker 1: to the steamer. End of chapter