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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen, in which Fix does not seem to understand
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  Speaker 1: in the least what is said to him. The Rangoon,
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  Speaker 1: one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's boats plying in
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  Speaker 1: the Chinese and Japanese seas, was a screw steamer built
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  Speaker 1: of iron, weighing about seventeen hundred and seventy tons and
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  Speaker 1: with engines of four hundred horse power. She was as fast,
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  Speaker 1: but not as well fitted up as the Mongolia, and
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  Speaker 1: Aouda was not as comfortably provided for on board of
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  Speaker 1: her as phileas Fogg could have wished. However, the trip
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  Speaker 1: from Calcutta to Hong Kong only comprised some three thousand,
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  Speaker 1: five hundred miles, occupying from ten to twelve days, and
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  Speaker 1: the young woman was not difficult to please. During the
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  Speaker 1: first days of the journey, Aouda became better acquainted with
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  Speaker 1: her protector and constantly gave evidence of her deep gratitude
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  Speaker 1: for what he had done. The phlegmatic gentleman listened to
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  Speaker 1: her dartly, at least with coldness, neither his voice nor
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  Speaker 1: his manner betraying the slightest emotion, but he seemed to
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  Speaker 1: be always on the watch that nothing should be wanting
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  Speaker 1: to Oude his comfort. He visited her regularly each day
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  Speaker 1: at certain hours, not so much to talk himself as
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  Speaker 1: to sit and hear her talk. He treated her with
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  Speaker 1: the strictest politeness, but with the precision of an automaton,
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  Speaker 1: the movements of which had been arranged for this purpose.
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  Speaker 1: Aouda did not know quite what to make of him,
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  Speaker 1: though Passepartout had given her some hints of his master's
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  Speaker 1: eccentricity and made her smile by telling her of the
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  Speaker 1: wager which was sending him around the world. After all,
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  Speaker 1: she owed phileas fogg her life, and she always regarded
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  Speaker 1: him through the exalting medium of her gratitude. Aouda confirmed
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  Speaker 1: the Parsi Guide's narrative of her touching history. She did
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  Speaker 1: indeed belong to the highest of the native races of India.
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  Speaker 1: Many the Parsi merchants have made great fortunes there by
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  Speaker 1: dealing in cotton, and one of them, Sir Jamut c Jijibhoi,
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  Speaker 1: was made a baronet by the English government. Aouda was
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  Speaker 1: a relative of this great man, and it was her
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  Speaker 1: cousin Jiji, whom she hoped to join at Hong Kong.
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  Speaker 1: Whether she would find a protector in him, she could
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  Speaker 1: not tell. But mister fogg essayed to calm her anxieties
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  Speaker 1: and to assure her that everything would be Mathematically he
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  Speaker 1: used the very word arranged. Aouda fastened her great eyes
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  Speaker 1: clear as the sacred lakes of the Himalaya upon him,
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  Speaker 1: But the intractable fog, as reserved as ever, did not
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  Speaker 1: seem at all inclined to throw himself into this lake.
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  Speaker 1: The first few days of the voyage passed prosperously amid
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  Speaker 1: favorable weather and propitious winds, and they soon came in
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  Speaker 1: sight of the great Andaman, the principle of the islands
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  Speaker 1: in the Bay of Bengal, with its picturesque saddle peak
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  Speaker 1: two thousand, four hundred feet high looming above the waters.
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  Speaker 1: The steamer passed along near the shores, but the savage Papuans,
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  Speaker 1: who are in the lowest scale of humanity but are not,
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  Speaker 1: as has been asserted, cannibals, did not make their appearance.
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  Speaker 1: The panorama of the islands as they steamed by them
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  Speaker 1: was superb vast forests of palms, racks, bamboo, teak, wood
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  Speaker 1: of the giant mimosa and treelike ferns covered the foreground,
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  Speaker 1: while behind the graceful outlines of the mountains were traced
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  Speaker 1: against the sky, and along the coast swarmed by thousands
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  Speaker 1: the precious swallows, whose nests furnish a luxurious dish to
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  Speaker 1: the tables of the celestial Empire. The varied landscape afforded
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  Speaker 1: by the Andaman Islands was soon passed, however, and the
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  Speaker 1: Rangoon rapidly approached the Straits of Malacca, which gave access
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  Speaker 1: to the China Seas. What was Detective Fix so unluckily
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  Speaker 1: drawn on from country to country doing all this while
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  Speaker 1: he had managed to embark on the Rangoon at Calcutta
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  Speaker 1: without being seen by Passepartout, after leaving orders that if
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  Speaker 1: the warrant should arrive, it should be forwarded to him
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  Speaker 1: at Hong Kong, and he hoped to conceal his presence
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  Speaker 1: to the end of the voyage. It would have been
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  Speaker 1: difficult to explain why he was on board without awakening
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  Speaker 1: Passepartout's suspicions, who thought him still at Bombay. But necessity
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  Speaker 1: impelled him, nevertheless, to renew his acquaintance with a worthy servant.
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  Speaker 1: As will be seen, all the detectives, hopes and wishes
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  Speaker 1: were now centered on Hong Kong. For the steamer's stay
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  Speaker 1: at Singapore would be too brief to enable him to
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  Speaker 1: take any steps there. The arrest must be made at
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  Speaker 1: Hong Kong or the robber would probably escape him forever.
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  Speaker 1: Hong Kong was the last England fish ground on which
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  Speaker 1: he could set foot. Beyond China, Japan, America offered De
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  Speaker 1: fog an almost certain refuge. If the warrant should at
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  Speaker 1: last make its appearance at Hong Kong, Fix could arrest
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  Speaker 1: him and give him into the hands of the local police,
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  Speaker 1: and there would be no further trouble. But beyond Hong Kong,
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  Speaker 1: a simple warrant would be of no avail. An extradition
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  Speaker 1: warrant would be necessary, and that would result in delays
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  Speaker 1: and obstacles of which the rascal would take advantage to
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  Speaker 1: elude justice. Fix thought over these probabilities during the long
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  Speaker 1: hours which he spent in his cabin and kept repeating
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  Speaker 1: to himself. Now, either the warrant will be at Hong Kong,
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  Speaker 1: in which case I shall arrest my man, or it
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  Speaker 1: will not be there, and this time it is absolutely
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  Speaker 1: necessary that I should delay his departure. I have failed
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  Speaker 1: at Bombay, and I have failed at Calcutta. If I
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  Speaker 1: fail at home Hung Kong, my reputation is lost. Cost
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  Speaker 1: what it may, I must succeed. But how shall I
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  Speaker 1: prevent his departure? If that should turn out to be
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  Speaker 1: my last resource? Fix made up his mind that if
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  Speaker 1: worst came to worst, he would make a confidant of
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  Speaker 1: Passepartout and tell him what kind of a fellow his
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  Speaker 1: master really was. That Passepartout was not Fogg's accomplice. He
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  Speaker 1: was very certain the servant, enlightened by his disclosure and
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  Speaker 1: afraid of being himself implicated in the crime, would doubtless
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  Speaker 1: become an ally of the detective. But this method was
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  Speaker 1: a dangerous one, only to be employed when everything else
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  Speaker 1: had failed. A word from Passepartout to his master would
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  Speaker 1: ruin all. The detective was therefore in a sore strait.
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  Speaker 1: But suddenly a new idea struck him. The presence of
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  Speaker 1: Aouda on the rangoon in company with Phileas Fogg gave
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  Speaker 1: him new material for reflection. Who was this woman? What
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  Speaker 1: combination of events had made her Fogg's traveling companion. They
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  Speaker 1: had evidently met somewhere between Bombay and Calcutta. But where
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  Speaker 1: had they met accidentally or had Fogg gone into the
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  Speaker 1: interior purposely in quest of the charming damsel. Fix was
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  Speaker 1: fairly puzzled. He asked himself whether there had not been
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  Speaker 1: a wicked elopement. And this idea so impressed itself upon
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  Speaker 1: his mind that he determined to make use of the
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  Speaker 1: supposed intrigue. Whether the young woman was married or not,
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  Speaker 1: he would be able to create such difficulties for mister
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  Speaker 1: Fogg at Hong Kong that he could not escape by
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  Speaker 1: paying any amount of money. But could he even wait
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  Speaker 1: till they reached Hong Kong. Fogg had an abominable way
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  Speaker 1: of jumping from one boat to another, and before anything
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  Speaker 1: could be effected, might get full underway again for Yokohama.
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  Speaker 1: Fix decided that he must warn the English authorities and
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  Speaker 1: signal the rangoon before her arrival. This was easy to
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  Speaker 1: do since the steamer stopped at Singapore, whence there is
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  Speaker 1: a telegraphic wire to Hong Kong. He finally resolved. Moreover,
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  Speaker 1: before acting more positively to question passpartout, it would not
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  Speaker 1: be difficult to make him talk, and as there was
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  Speaker 1: no time to lose, Fix prepared to make himself known.
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  Speaker 1: It was now the thirtieth of October, and on the
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  Speaker 1: following day the rangoon was due at Singapore. Fix emerged
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  Speaker 1: from his cabin and went on deck. Passepartout was promenading
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  Speaker 1: up and down in the forward part of the steamer.
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  Speaker 1: The detective rushed forward with every appearance of extreme surprise
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  Speaker 1: and exclaimed, you here on the rangoon, What, monsieur Fix
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  Speaker 1: saw you on board? Returned the really doonished past Partout,
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  Speaker 1: recognizing his crony of the Mongolia. Why I left you
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  Speaker 1: at Bombay and here you are on the way to
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  Speaker 1: Hong Kong. Are you going round the world too? No, no,
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  Speaker 1: replied Fix. I shall stop at Hong Kong at least
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  Speaker 1: for some days. Hum said Passepartout, who seemed for an
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  Speaker 1: instant perplexed. But how is it that I have not
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  Speaker 1: seen you on board since we left Calcutta? Oh ah,
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  Speaker 1: a trifle of sea sickness. I've been staying in my berth.
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  Speaker 1: The Gulf of Bengal does not agree with me as
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  Speaker 1: well as the Indian Ocean. And how is mister Fogg
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  Speaker 1: as well and as punctual as ever? Not a day
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  Speaker 1: behind time. But Monsieur Fix, you don't know that we
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  Speaker 1: have a young lady with us, A young lady, replied
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  Speaker 1: the detective, not seeming to comprehend what was said. Pass
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  Speaker 1: Partout there thereupon recounted Aouda's history, the affair of the
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  Speaker 1: Bombay Pagoda, the purchase of the elephant for two thousand pounds,
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  Speaker 1: the rescue, the arrest and sentence of the Calcutta court,
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  Speaker 1: and the restoration of mister Fogg and himself to liberty
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  Speaker 1: on bail. Fix, who was familiar with the last events,
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  Speaker 1: seemed to be equally ignorant of all that Passepartout related,
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  Speaker 1: and the latter was charmed to find so interested a listener.
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  Speaker 1: But does your master propose to carry this young woman
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  Speaker 1: to Europe? Not at all. We are simply going to
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  Speaker 1: place her under the protection of one of her relatives,
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  Speaker 1: a rich merchant at Hong Kong. Nothing to be done, there,
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  Speaker 1: said Fix to himself, concealing his disappointment. A glass of gin,
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  Speaker 1: mister Paspartout willing me, Monsieur Fix, we must at least
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  Speaker 1: have a friendly glass on board the rangoon. End of
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  Speaker 1: chapter