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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirteen, in which Passepartout receives a new proof that
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  Speaker 1: fortune favors the brave. The project was a bold one,
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  Speaker 1: full of difficulty, perhaps impracticable. Mister Fogg was going to
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  Speaker 1: risk life or at least liberty, and therefore the success
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  Speaker 1: of his tour. But he did not hesitate, and he
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  Speaker 1: found in Sir Francis Cromarty an enthusiastic ally. As for Passepartout,
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  Speaker 1: he was ready for anything that might be proposed. His
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  Speaker 1: master's idea charmed him. He perceived a heart, a soul
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  Speaker 1: under that icy exterior. He began to love Phileas Fogg.
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  Speaker 1: There remained the Guide. What course would he adopt? Would
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  Speaker 1: he not take part with the Indians in default of
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  Speaker 1: his assistance? It was necessary to be assured of his neutrality.
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  Speaker 1: Sir Francis frankly put the question to him. Officers replied
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  Speaker 1: the Guide, I am a Parsi, and this woman is
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  Speaker 1: a Parsi. Command me as you will, excellent, said mister Fogg, However,
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  Speaker 1: resumed the Guide. It is certain not only that we
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  Speaker 1: shall risk our lives, but horrible tortures if we are taken.
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  Speaker 1: That is foreseen, replied mister Fogg. I think we must
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  Speaker 1: wait till night before acting, I think so, said the guide.
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  Speaker 1: The worthy Indian then gave some account of the victim,
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  Speaker 1: who he said was a celebrated beauty of the Parsi
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  Speaker 1: race and the daughter of a wealthy Bombay merchant. She
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  Speaker 1: had received a thoroughly English education in that city, and
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  Speaker 1: from her manners and intelligence would be thought a European.
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  Speaker 1: Her name was Aouda, left an orphan. She was married
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  Speaker 1: against her will to the old Raja of Bundukund, and,
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  Speaker 1: knowing the fate that awaited her, she escaped, was retaken
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  Speaker 1: and devoted by the raja's relatives, who had an interest
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  Speaker 1: in her death, to the sacrifice from which it seemed
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  Speaker 1: she could not escape. The Parsis narrative only confirmed mister
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  Speaker 1: Fogg and his companions in their generous design. It was
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  Speaker 1: decided that the guide should direct the elephant towards the
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  Speaker 1: pagoda of Pelagi, which he accordingly approached as quickly as possible.
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  Speaker 1: They halted half an hour afterwards in a copse some
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  Speaker 1: five hundred feet from the pagoda, where they were well concealed,
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  Speaker 1: but they could hear the groans and cries of the
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  Speaker 1: fakirs distinctly. They then discussed the means of getting at
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  Speaker 1: the victim. The guide was familiar with the pagoda of Pelagi,
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  Speaker 1: in which, as he declared, the young woman was imprisoned.
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  Speaker 1: Could they enter any of its doors while the whole
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  Speaker 1: party of Indians was plunged in a drunken sleep, or
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  Speaker 1: was it safer to attempt to make a hole in
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  Speaker 1: the walls? This could only be determined at the moment
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  Speaker 1: and the place themselves. But it was certain that the
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  Speaker 1: abduction must be made that night night, and not when
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  Speaker 1: at break of day the victim was led to her
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  Speaker 1: funeral pyre. Then no human intervention could save her. As
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  Speaker 1: soon as night fell about six o'clock, they decided to
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  Speaker 1: make a reconnaissance around the pagoda. The cries of the
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  Speaker 1: fakirs were just ceasing. The Indians were in the act
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  Speaker 1: of plunging themselves into the drunkenness caused by liquid opium
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  Speaker 1: mingled with hemp, and it might be possible to slip
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  Speaker 1: between them to the temple itself. The parsee leading the
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  Speaker 1: others noiselessly crept through the wood, and in ten minutes
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  Speaker 1: they found themselves on the banks of a small stream, whence,
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  Speaker 1: by the light of the rosin torches, they perceived a
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  Speaker 1: pyre of wood, on the top of which lay the
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  Speaker 1: embalmed body of the Raja, which was to be burned
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  Speaker 1: with his wife. The pagoda, whose minarets loomed above the
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  Speaker 1: trees in the deepening dusk, stood a hundred steps away. Come,
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  Speaker 1: whispered the guide. He slipped more cautiously than ever through
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  Speaker 1: the brush, followed by his companions. The silence around was
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  Speaker 1: only broken by the low murmuring of the wind among
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  Speaker 1: the branches. Soon the Parsi stopped on the borders of
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  Speaker 1: the glade, which was lit up by the torches. The
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  Speaker 1: ground was covered by groups of the Indians, motionless in
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  Speaker 1: their drunken sleep. It seemed a battlefield strewn with the
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  Speaker 1: dead men. Women and children lay together in the background
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  Speaker 1: among the trees. The pagoda of Pelagi loomed distinctly, much
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  Speaker 1: to the guide's disappointment. The guards of the Raja, lighted
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  Speaker 1: by torches, were watching at the doors and marching to
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  Speaker 1: and fro with naked sabers. Probably the priests too were
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  Speaker 1: watching within the Parsi, now convinced that it was impossible
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  Speaker 1: to force on entrance to the temple, advanced no farther,
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  Speaker 1: but led his companions back again. Phileas Fogg and Sir
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  Speaker 1: Francis Cromarty also saw that nothing could be attempted in
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  Speaker 1: that direction. They stopped and engaged in a whispered colloquy.
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  Speaker 1: It is only eight now, said the brigadier, and these
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  Speaker 1: gods may also go to sleep. It is not impossible,
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  Speaker 1: returned the Parsi. They lay down at the foot of
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  Speaker 1: a tree and waited. The time seemed long. The guide,
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  Speaker 1: ever and Anon left them to take an observation on
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  Speaker 1: the edge of the wood, but the guards watched steadily
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  Speaker 1: by the glare of the torches, and a dim light
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  Speaker 1: crept through the windows of the pagoda. They waited till midnight,
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  Speaker 1: but no change took place among the guards, and it
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  Speaker 1: became apparent that their yielding to sleep could not be
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  Speaker 1: counted on. The other plan must be carried out. An
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  Speaker 1: opening in the walls of the pagoda must be made.
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  Speaker 1: It remained to ascertain whether the priests were watching by
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  Speaker 1: the side of their victim as assiduously as were the
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  Speaker 1: soldiers at the door. After a less consultation, the guide
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  Speaker 1: announced that he was ready for the attempt, and advanced,
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  Speaker 1: followed by the others. They took a roundabout way so
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  Speaker 1: as to get at the pagoda on the rear. They
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  Speaker 1: reached the walls about half past twelve without having met
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  Speaker 1: any one either. There was no guard, nor were there
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  Speaker 1: either windows or doors. The night was dark, the moon
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  Speaker 1: on the wane scarcely left the horizon and was covered
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  Speaker 1: with heavy clouds. The height of the trees deepened the darkness.
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  Speaker 1: It was not enough to reach the walls, and opening
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  Speaker 1: in them must be accomplished, and to attain this purpose
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  Speaker 1: the party only had their pocket knives. Happily, the temple
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  Speaker 1: walls were built of brick and wood, which could be
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  Speaker 1: penetrated with little difficulty. After one brick had been taken out,
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  Speaker 1: the rest would yield easily. They set noiselessly to work,
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  Speaker 1: and the Parsie on one side and Passepartout on the
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  Speaker 1: other began to loosen the bricks so as to make
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  Speaker 1: an aperture two feet wide. They were getting on rapidly
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  Speaker 1: when suddenly a cry was heard in the interior of
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  Speaker 1: the temple, followed almost instantly by other cries replying from
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  Speaker 1: the outside. Passepartout and the guide stopped. Had they been heard?
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  Speaker 1: Was the alarm being given? Common prudence urged them to retire,
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  Speaker 1: and they did so, followed by Phileas Fogg and Sir Francis.
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  Speaker 1: They again hid themselves in the wood and waited till
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  Speaker 1: the disturbance, whatever it might be, ceased, holding themselves ready
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  Speaker 1: to resume their attempt without delay. But awkwardly enough, the
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  Speaker 1: guards now appeared at the rear of the temple, and
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  Speaker 1: there installed themselves in readiness to prevent a surprise. It
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  Speaker 1: would be difficult to describe the disappointment of the party
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  Speaker 1: thus interrupted in their works. They could not now reach
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  Speaker 1: the victim. How then could they save her? Sir Francis
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  Speaker 1: shook his fists, passepartout, was beside himself, and the Guide
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  Speaker 1: gnashed his teeth with rage. The tranquil Fogg waited without
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  Speaker 1: betraying any emotion. We have nothing to do but to
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  Speaker 1: go away, whispered Sir Francis. Nothing but to go away,
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  Speaker 1: echoed the guide. Stop, said Fogg. I am only due
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  Speaker 1: at Allahabad tomorrow before noon. But what can you hope
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  Speaker 1: to do? Asked Sir Francis. In a few hours it
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  Speaker 1: will be daylight, and the chance which now seems lost,
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  Speaker 1: may present itself at the last moment. Sir Francis would
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  Speaker 1: have liked to read phileas Fogg's eyes. What was this
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  Speaker 1: cool englishman thinking of? Was he planning to make a
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  Speaker 1: rush for the young woman at the very moment of
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  Speaker 1: the sacrifice and oldly snatcher from her executioners. This would
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  Speaker 1: be utter folly, and it was hard to admit that
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  Speaker 1: Fogg was such a fool. Sir Francis consented, however, to
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  Speaker 1: remain to the end of this terrible drama. The guide
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  Speaker 1: led them to the rear of the glade, where they
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  Speaker 1: were able to observe the sleeping groups. Meanwhile, Passepartout, who
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  Speaker 1: had perched himself on the lower branches of a tree,
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  Speaker 1: was resolving an idea which had first struck him like
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  Speaker 1: a flash, and which was now firmly lodged in his brain.
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  Speaker 1: He had commenced by saying to himself, what folly? And
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  Speaker 1: then he repeated, why not? After all, it's a chance,
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  Speaker 1: perhaps the only one. And with such sots thinking thus
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  Speaker 1: he slipped, with the suppleness of a serpent, to the
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  Speaker 1: lowest branches, the ends of which bent almost to the ground.
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  Speaker 1: The hours passed and The lighter shades now announced the
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  Speaker 1: approach of day, though it was not yet light. This
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  Speaker 1: was the moment the slumbering multitude became animated. The tambourines sounded, songs,
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  Speaker 1: and cries arose. The hour of the sacrifice had come.
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  Speaker 1: The doors of the pagoda swung open, and a bright
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  Speaker 1: light escaped from its interior, in the midst of which
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  Speaker 1: mister Fogg and Sir Francis espied the victim. She seemed,
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  Speaker 1: having shaken off the stupor of intoxication, to be striving
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  Speaker 1: to escape from her executioner. Sir Francis's heart throbbed, and convulsively,
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  Speaker 1: seizing mister Fogg's hand, found in it an open knife.
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  Speaker 1: Just at this moment the crowd began to move. The
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  Speaker 1: young woman had again fallen into a stupor caused by
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  Speaker 1: the fumes of hemp, and passed among the fakirs, who
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  Speaker 1: escorted her with their wild religious cries. Phileas Fogg and
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  Speaker 1: his companions, mingling in the rear ranks of the crowd, followed,
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  Speaker 1: and in two minutes they reached the banks of the
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  Speaker 1: stream and stopped fifty paces from the pyre, upon which
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  Speaker 1: still lay the Raja's corpse. In the semi obscurity, they
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  Speaker 1: saw the victim, quite senseless, stretched out beside her husband's body.
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  Speaker 1: Then a torch was brought and the wood, heavily soaked
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  Speaker 1: with oil, instantly took fire. At this moment, Sir Francis
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  Speaker 1: and the guide seized Phileas Fogg, who, in an instant
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  Speaker 1: of mad generosity, was about to rush upon the pyre,
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  Speaker 1: But he had quickly pushed them aside. When the whole
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  Speaker 1: scene suddenly changed, a cry of terror arose. The whole
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  Speaker 1: multitude prostrated themselves, terror stricken on the ground. The old
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  Speaker 1: Raja was not dead then, since he rose of a
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  Speaker 1: sudden like a specter, took up his wife in his arms,
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  Speaker 1: and descended from the pyre in the midst of the
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  Speaker 1: clouds of smoke, which only heightened his ghostly appearance. Fakirs
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  Speaker 1: and soldiers and priests, seized with instant terror, lay there
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  Speaker 1: with their faces on the grid, not daring to lift
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  Speaker 1: their eyes and behold such a prodigy. The inanimate victim
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  Speaker 1: was borne along by the vigorous arms which supported her,
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  Speaker 1: and which she did not seem in the least to burden.
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  Speaker 1: Mister Fogg and Sir Francis stood erect, The Parsi bowed
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  Speaker 1: his head, and Passepartout was, no doubt scarcely less stupefied.
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  Speaker 1: The resuscitated Raja approached Sir Francis and mister Fogg, and
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  Speaker 1: in an abrupt tone, said, let us be off. It
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  Speaker 1: was Passepartout himself who had slipped upon the pyre in
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  Speaker 1: the midst of the smoke, and, profiting by the still
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  Speaker 1: overhanging darkness, had delivered the young woman from death. It
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  Speaker 1: was Passpartou, who, playing his part with a happy audacity,
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  Speaker 1: had passed through the crowd amid the general terror. A
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  Speaker 1: moment after all four of the party had disappeared in
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  Speaker 1: the woods, and the elephant was bearing them away at
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  Speaker 1: a rapid pace. But the cries and noise, and a
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  Speaker 1: ball which whiz through Phileas Fogg's hat apprized them that
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  Speaker 1: the trick had been discovered. The old Raja's body indeed
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  Speaker 1: now appeared upon the burning pyre, and the priests, recovering
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  Speaker 1: from their terror, perceived that an abduction had taken place.
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  Speaker 1: They hastened into the forest, followed by the soldiers, who
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  Speaker 1: fired a volley after the fugitives, but the latter rapidly
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  Speaker 1: increased the distance between them, and ere long found themselves
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  Speaker 1: beyond the reach of the bullets and arrows. End of
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  Speaker 1: chapter