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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty six, in which Phileas Fogg's name is once
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  Speaker 1: more at a premium on change. It is time to
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  Speaker 1: relate what a change took place in English public opinion
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  Speaker 1: when it transpired that the real bank robber, a certain
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  Speaker 1: James Strand had been arrested on the seventeenth day of
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  Speaker 1: December at Edinburgh. Three days before, Phileas Fogg had been
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  Speaker 1: a criminal who was being desperately followed up by the police.
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  Speaker 1: Now he was an honorable gentleman, mathematically pursuing his eccentric
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  Speaker 1: journey round the world. The papers resumed their discussion about
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  Speaker 1: the wager. All those who had laid bets for or
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  Speaker 1: against him revived their interest, As if by magic, The
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg bonds again became negotiable, and many new wagers
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  Speaker 1: were made. Phileas Fogg's name was once more at a
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  Speaker 1: premium on change. His five friends of the Reform Club
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  Speaker 1: passed these three days in a state of feverish suspense.
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  Speaker 1: Would Phileas Fogg, whom they had forgotten, reappear before their eyes?
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  Speaker 1: Where was he at this moment? The seventeenth of December,
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  Speaker 1: the day of James Strand's arrest, was the seventy sixth
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  Speaker 1: since Phileas Fogg's departure, and no news of him had
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  Speaker 1: been received. Was he dead, had he abandoned the effort?
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  Speaker 1: Or was he continuing his journey along the route agreed upon?
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  Speaker 1: And would he appear on Saturday, the twenty first of
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  Speaker 1: December at a quarter before nine in the evening on
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  Speaker 1: the threshold of the Reform Club saloon. The anxiety in
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  Speaker 1: which for three days London society existed cannot be described.
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  Speaker 1: Telegrams were sent to America and Asia for news of
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg. Messengers were dispatched to the house in saddle
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  Speaker 1: Row morning and evening. No news. The police were ignorant
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  Speaker 1: what had become of the detective fix who had so
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  Speaker 1: unfortunately followed up a false cent Bets increased nevertheless in
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  Speaker 1: number and value. Phileas Fogg, like a race horse, was
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  Speaker 1: drawing near his last turning point. The bonds were quoted
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  Speaker 1: no longer at one hundred below par but at twenty,
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  Speaker 1: at ten and at five and paralytic Old Lord Albemarle
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  Speaker 1: bet even in his favor. A great crowd was collected
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  Speaker 1: in Pellmell and the neighboring streets on Saturday evening. It
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  Speaker 1: seemed like a multitude of brokers permanently established around the
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  Speaker 1: Reform Club. Circulation was impeded, and everywhere disputes, discussions and
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  Speaker 1: financial transactions were going on. The police had great difficulty
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  Speaker 1: in keeping back the crowd, and as the hour when
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg was due approached, the excitement rose to its
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  Speaker 1: highest pitch. The five antagonists of Phileas Fogg had met
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  Speaker 1: in the great saloon of the club, John Sullivan and
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  Speaker 1: Amuel Flanton, the bankers, Andrew Stewart, the engineer, Gouthier Ralph,
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  Speaker 1: the director of the Bank of England, and Thomas Flanagan,
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  Speaker 1: the brewer one and all waited anxiously. When the clock
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  Speaker 1: indicated twenty minutes past eight, Andrew Stuart got up, saying, gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: and in twenty minutes the time agreed upon between mister
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  Speaker 1: Fogg and ourselves will have expired. What time did the
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  Speaker 1: last train arrive from Liverpool, asked Thomas Flennigan. At twenty
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  Speaker 1: three minutes past seven, replied Gouthier Ralph. And the next
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  Speaker 1: does not arrive till ten minutes after twelve. Well, gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: resumed Andrew Stuart. If Phileas Fogg had come in on
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  Speaker 1: the seven twenty three train, he would have got here
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  Speaker 1: by this time. We can therefore regard the bet as one. Wait.
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  Speaker 1: Don't let us be too hasty, replied Samuel Fallenton. You
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  Speaker 1: know that mister Fogg is very eccentric. His punctuality is
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  Speaker 1: well known. He never arrives too soon or too late.
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  Speaker 1: And I should not be surprised if he appeared before
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  Speaker 1: us at the last minute. Why, said Andrew Stuart nervously,
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  Speaker 1: if I should see him, I should not believe it
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  Speaker 1: was he. The fact is, resumed Thomas Flannagan. Mister Fogg's
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  Speaker 1: project was absurdly foolish. Whatever his punctuality, he could not
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  Speaker 1: prevent the delays which were certain to occur, and a
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  Speaker 1: delay of only two or three days would be fatal
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  Speaker 1: to his tour. I observe too, added John Sullivan, that
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  Speaker 1: we have received no intelligence from him, though there are
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  Speaker 1: telegraphic lines all along his route. He has lost, gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: said Andrew Stuart. He has a hundred times lost. You know,
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  Speaker 1: besides that, the China, the only steamer he could have
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  Speaker 1: taken from New York to get here in time, arrived yesterday.
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  Speaker 1: I have seen a list of the passengers, and the
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  Speaker 1: name of Phileas Fogg is not among them. Even if
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  Speaker 1: we admit that fortune has favored him, he can scarcely
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  Speaker 1: have reached America. I think he will be at least
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  Speaker 1: twenty days behindhand, and that Lord Albemarle will lose a
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  Speaker 1: cool five thousand. It is clear, replied Gothier Ralph. And
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  Speaker 1: we have nothing to do but to present mister Fogg's
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  Speaker 1: check at Bearings tomorrow. At this moment, the hands of
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  Speaker 1: the club clock pointed to twenty minutes to nine. Five
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  Speaker 1: minutes more, said Andrew Stuart. The five gentlemen looked at
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  Speaker 1: each other. Their anxiety was becoming intense, but not wishing
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  Speaker 1: to betray it, they readily assented to mister Fallaton's proposal
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  Speaker 1: of a rubber I wouldn't give up my four thousand
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  Speaker 1: of the bet, said Andrew Stuart, as he took his
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  Speaker 1: seat for three thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine. The
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  Speaker 1: clock indicated eighteen minutes to nine. The players took up
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  Speaker 1: their cards, but could not keep their eyes off the clock. Certainly,
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  Speaker 1: however secure, they felt, minutes had never seemed so long
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  Speaker 1: to them. Seventeen minutes to nine, said Thomas Flannigan, as
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  Speaker 1: he cut the cards which Ralph handed to him. Then
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  Speaker 1: there was a moment of silence. The great saloon was
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  Speaker 1: perfectly quiet, but the murmurs of the crowd outside were
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  Speaker 1: heard with now and then a shrill cry. The pendulum
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  Speaker 1: beat the seconds, which each player eagerly counted as he
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  Speaker 1: listened with mathematical regularity. Sixteen minutes to nine, said John Sullivan,
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  Speaker 1: in a voice which betrayed his emotion. One minute more
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  Speaker 1: and the wager would be won. Andrew Stewart and his
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  Speaker 1: partners suspended their game. They left their cards and counted
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  Speaker 1: the seconds. At the fortieth second, nothing, At the fiftieth
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  Speaker 1: still nothing. At the fifty fifth a loud cry was
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  Speaker 1: heard in the street, followed by applause, hurrahs, and some
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  Speaker 1: fierce growls. The players arose from their seats. At the
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  Speaker 1: fifty seventh second, the door of the saloon opened, and
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  Speaker 1: the pendulum had not beat the sixtieth second, when Phileas
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  Speaker 1: Fogg appeared, followed by an excited crowd who had forced
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  Speaker 1: their way through the club doors, and in his calm voice, said,
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  Speaker 1: here I am, gentlemen. End of chapter