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20 - Around The World in Eighty Days - Jules Verne · Adventure Books Library

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  Chapter twenty, in which Fix comes face to face with Phileas Fogg. While
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  these events were passing at the Opium House, mister Fogg, unconscious of the
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  danger he was in of losing the steamer, was quietly escorting Aouda about the
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  streets of the English Quarter, making the necessary purchases for the long voyage before
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  them. It was all very well for an Englishman like mister Fogg to make
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  the tour of the world with a carpet bag. A lady could not be
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  expected to travel comfortably under such conditions. He acquitted his task with characteristic serenity,
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  and invariably replied to the remonstrances of his fair companion, who was confused
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  by his patience and generosity. It is in the interest of my journey,
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  a part of my program. The purchases made, they returned to the hotel,
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  where they dined at his sumptuously served table d'Hote, after which Aouda,
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  shaking hands with her protector after the English fashion, retired to her room for
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  rest. Mister Fogg absorbed himself throughout the evening in the perusal of the Times
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  and illustrated London news. Had he been capable of being astonished at anything it
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  would have been not to see his servant return at bedtime, but knowing that
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  the steamer was not to leave for Yokohama until the next morning, he did
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  not disturb himself about the matter. When Passepartout did not appear the next morning
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  to answer his master's bill, mister Fogg, not betraying the least vexation,
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  contented himself with taking his carpet bag, calling Aouda, and sending for a
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  palanquin. It was then eight o'clock at half past nine, it being then
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  high tide, the carnatic would leave the harbor. Mister Fogg and Aouda got
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  into the palanquin, their luggage being brought after on a wheelbarrow, and half
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  an hour later stepped upon the quay, whence they were to embark. Mister
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  Fogg then learned that the carnatic had sailed the evening before. He had expected
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  to find not only the steamer but his domestic, and was forced to give
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  up both. But no sign of disappointment appeared on his face, and he
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  merely remarked to Aouda, it is an accident, madam, nothing more.
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  At this moment, a man who had been observing him attentively approached. It
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  was Fix, who, bowing, addressed mister Fogg. Were you not,
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  like me, sir, a passenger by the Rangoon which arrived yesterday? I
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  was, Sir, replied mister Fogg coldly. But I have not the honor
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  pardon me. I thought I should find your servant here. Do you know
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  where he is, Sir? Asked Aouda anxiously, what responded Fix, feigning
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  surprise? Is he not with you? No, said Aouda. He has
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  not made his appearance since yesterday. Could he have gone on board the Carnatic
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  without us? Without you? Madam, answered the detective. Excuse me?
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  Did you intend to sail in the Carnatic? Yes, sir, so did
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  I, madam, and I am excessively disappointed. The Carnatic, its repairs
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  being completed, left Hong Kong twelve hours before the stated time, without any
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  notice being given. And we must now wait a week for another steamer.
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  As he said, a week, Fix felt his harp leap for joy.
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  Fogg detained at Hong Kong for a week there would be time for the warrant
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  to arrive, and Fortunate at last favored the representative of the law. His
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  horror may be imagined when he heard mister Fogg say in his placid voice,
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  but there are other vessels besides the Carnatic, it seems to me in the
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  harbor of Hong Kong, and offering his arm to aouda, he directed his
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  steps toward the docks in search of some craft about to start. Fix stupefied
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  followed. It seemed as if he were attached to mister Fogg by an invisible
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  thread. Chance, however, appeared really to have abandoned the man it had
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  hitherto served so well. For three hours, Phileas Fogg wandered about the docks,
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  with the determination, if necessary, to charter a vessel to carry him
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  to Yokohama. But he could only find vessels which were loading or unloading,
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  and which could not therefore set sail. Fix began to hope again, but
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  mister Fogg, far from being discouraged, was continuing his search, resolved not
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  to stop if he had to resort to Macao. When he was accosted by
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  a sailor on one of the whars, Is your honor looking for a boat?
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  Have you a boat ready to sail? Yes, your honor, a
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  pilot boat for number forty three, the best in the harbor. Does she
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  go fast between eight and nine knots the hour? Will you look at her?
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  Yes, your honor will be satisfied with her. Is it a sea
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  excursion? No? For a voyage? A voyage? Yes? Will you
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  agree to take me to Yokohama? The sailor leaned on the railing, opened
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  his eyes wide, and said, is your honor joking? No? I
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  have missed the Carnatic, and I must get to Yokohama by the fourteenth at
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  the latest to take the boat for San Francisco. I am sorry, said
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  the sailor, but it is impossible. I offer you a hundred pounds per
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  day and an additional reward of two hundred pounds if I reach Yokohama in time.
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  Are you in earnest? Very much so? The pilot walked away a
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  little distance and gazed out to see, evidently struggling between the anxiety to gain
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  a large sum and the fear of venturing so far. Fix was in mortal
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  suspense. Mister Fogg turned to Aouda and asked her you would not be afraid,
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  would you? Madam? Not with you, mister Fogg, was her
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  answer. The pilot now returned, shuffling his hat in his hands. Well,
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  pilot, said mister Fogg. Well, your honor, replied he.
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  I could not risk myself, my men, or my little boat of scarcely
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  twenty tons on so long a voyage at this time of year. Besides,
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  we could not reach Yokohama in time, for it is sixteen hundred and sixty
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  miles from Hong Kong. Only sixteen hundred, said mister Fogg. It's the
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  same thing. Fix breathed more freely, but added the pilot it might be
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  arranged another way. Fix ceased to breathe at all, How, asked mister
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  Fogg, by going to Nagasaki, at the extreme south of Japan, or
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  even to Shanghai, which is only eight hundred miles from here. In going
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  to Shanghai, we should not be forced to sail wide of the Chinese coast,
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  which would be a great advantage, as the currents run northeast and would
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  aid us. Pilot said mister Fogg, I must take the American steamer at
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  Yokohama and not at Shanghai or Nagasaki. Why not, returned the pilot.
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  The San Francisco Steamer does not start from Yokohama. It puts in at Yokohama
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  and Nagasaki, but it starts from Shanghai. You are sure of that perfectly.
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  And when does the boat leave Shanghai on the eleventh at seven in the
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  evening. We have therefore four days before us, that is ninety six hours.
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  And in that time, if we had good luck and the southwest wind
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  and the sea was calm, we could make those eight hundred miles to Shanghai.
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  And you could go in an hour, as soon as provisions could be
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  got aboard and the sales put up. It is a bargain. Are you
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  the master of the boat? Yes, John Bunsby, master of the tankadare
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  would you like some earnest money if it would not put your honor out?
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  Here are two hundred pounds on account, Sir, added Phileas Fogg, turning
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  to fix if you would like to take advantage, Thanks, Sir, I
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  was about to ask the favor very well. In half an hour we shall
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  go on board. But poor passepart two, urged Aouda, who was much
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  disturbed by the servant's disappearance. I shall do all I can to find him,
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  replied Phileas Fogg, while fix in a feverish nervous state, repaired to
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  the pilot boat. The others directed their course to the police station at Hong
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  Kong, Phileas Fogg there gave Passepartout's description and left a sum of money to
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  be spent in the search for him, the same formalities having been gone through
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  at the French consulate, and the palanquin having stopped at the hotel for the
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  luggage which had been sent back there, they returned to the wharf. It
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  was now three o'clock and pilot boat number forty three, with its crew on
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  board and its provisions stored away, was ready for departure. The Takadare was
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  a neat little craft of twenty tons, as gracefully built as if she were
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  a racing yacht. Her shining copper sheathing, her galvanized iron work, her
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  deck white as ivory, betrayed the pride taken by John Bunsby in making her
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  presentable. Her two masts leaned a trifle backward. She carried brigantine foresail,
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  storm jib and standing jib, and was well rigged for running before the wind,
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  and she seemed capable of brisk speed, which indeed she had already proved
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  by gaining several prizes in pilot boat races. The crew of the Takadare was
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  composed of John Bunsby, the master, and four hardy mariners who were familiar
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  with the Chinese seas. John Bunsby himself, a man of forty five or
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  thereabouts, vigorous, sun burnt, with a sprightly expression of the eye.
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  An energetic and self reliant countenance would have inspired confidence in the most timid phileas.
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  Fogg and Aouda went on board, where they found Fix already installed.
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  Below deck was a square cabin of which the walls bulged out in the form
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  of cots, above a circular divan. In the center was a table provided
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  with the swinging lamp. The accommodation was confined. But neat I am sorry
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  to have nothing better to offer you, said mister Fogg to Fix, who
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  bowed without responding. The detective had a feeling akin to humiliation in profiting by
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  the kindness of mister Fogg. It's certain thought he though rascal as he is,
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  he is a polite one. The sails and the English flag were hoisted
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  at ten minutes past three. Mister Fogg and Aouda, who were seated on
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  deck, cast a last glance at the quay, in the hope of his
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  spying. Passepartout Fix was not without his fears lest chance should direct the steps
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  of the unfortunate servant, whom he had so badly treated, in this direction,
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  in which case an explanation the reverse of satisfactory to the detective must have
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  ensued. But the Frenchman did not appear, and without doubt was still lying
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  under the stupefying influence of the opium. John Bunsby Master at length gave the
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  order to start, and the Takadare taking the wind, and under her brigantine
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  foresail and standing jib bounded briskly forward over the waves. End of chapter