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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty four, in which Phileas Fogg at last reaches London.
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg was in prison. He had been shut up
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  Speaker 1: in the custom house, and he was to be transferred
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  Speaker 1: to London the next day. Passpartout, when he saw his
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  Speaker 1: master arrested, would have fallen upon Fix, had he not
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  Speaker 1: been held back by some policeman. Aouda was thunderstruck at
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  Speaker 1: the suddenness of an event which she could not understand.
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  Speaker 1: Passepartout explained to her how it was that the honest
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  Speaker 1: and courageous Fogg was arrested as a robber. The young
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  Speaker 1: woman's heart revolted against so heinous a charge, and when
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  Speaker 1: she saw that she could attempt to do nothing to
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  Speaker 1: save her protector, she wept bitterly. As for Fix, he
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  Speaker 1: had arrested mister Fogg because it was his duty, whether
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  Speaker 1: mister Fogg were guilty or not. The thought then struck
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  Speaker 1: Passepartout that he was the cause of this new miss fortune.
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  Speaker 1: Had he not concealed Fix's errand from his master. When
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  Speaker 1: Fix revealed his true character and purpose, why had he
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  Speaker 1: not told mister Fogg. If the latter had been warned,
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  Speaker 1: he would no doubt have given Fix proof of his
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  Speaker 1: innocence and satisfied him of his mistake. At least Fix
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  Speaker 1: would not have continued his journey at the expense and
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  Speaker 1: on the heels of his master, only to arrest him
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  Speaker 1: the moment he set foot on English soil. Passpartout wept
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  Speaker 1: till he was blind and felt like blowing his brains out.
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  Speaker 1: auDA and he had remained, despite the cold, under the
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  Speaker 1: portico of the custom House. Neither wished to leave the place.
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  Speaker 1: Both were anxious to see mister Fogg again, that gentleman
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  Speaker 1: was really ruined, and that at the moment when he
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  Speaker 1: was about to attain his end, this arrest was fatal.
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  Speaker 1: Having arrived at Liverpool at twenty minutes before twelve on
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  Speaker 1: the twenty first of December, he had till a quarter
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  Speaker 1: before nine that evening to reach the Reform Club. That
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  Speaker 1: is nine hours and a quarter. The journey from Liverpool
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  Speaker 1: to London was six hours. If any one at this
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  Speaker 1: moment had entered the custom House, he would have found
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  Speaker 1: mister Fogg seated, motionless, calm and without apparent anger, upon
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  Speaker 1: a wooden bench. He was not, it is true, resigned,
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  Speaker 1: but this last blow failed to force him into an
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  Speaker 1: outward betrayal of any emotion. Was he being devoured by
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  Speaker 1: one of those secret rages, all the more terrible because contained,
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  Speaker 1: and which only burst forth with an irresistible force at
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  Speaker 1: the last moment, No one could tell. There he sat
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  Speaker 1: calmly waiting for what. Did he still cherish hope? Did
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  Speaker 1: he still believe, now that the door of this prison
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  Speaker 1: was closed upon him, that he would succeed? However that
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  Speaker 1: may have been. Mister Fogg carefully put his watch upon
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  Speaker 1: the table and observed its advancing hands. Not a word
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  Speaker 1: escaped his lips, but his look was singularly set and stern.
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  Speaker 1: The situation, in any event, was a terrible one, and
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  Speaker 1: might be thus stated. If Phileas Fogg was honest, he
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  Speaker 1: was ruined. If he was a knave, he was caught.
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  Speaker 1: Did escape occur to him? Did he examine to see
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  Speaker 1: if there were any practicable outlet from his prison? Did
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  Speaker 1: he think of escaping from it? Possibly? For once he
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  Speaker 1: walked slowly round the room, but the door was locked,
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  Speaker 1: and the window heavily barred with iron rods. He sat
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  Speaker 1: down again and drew his journal from his pocket. On
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  Speaker 1: the line where these words were written twenty first December Saturday, Liverpool.
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  Speaker 1: He added eightieth day, eleven forty a m. And waited.
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  Speaker 1: The custom house clock struck one. Mister Fogg observed that
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  Speaker 1: his watch was two hours too fast, two hours. Admitting
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  Speaker 1: that he was at this moment taking an express train,
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  Speaker 1: he could reach London and the Reform Club by a
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  Speaker 1: quarter before nine p m. His forehead slightly wrinkled. At
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  Speaker 1: thirty three minutes past two, he heard a singular noise outside,
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  Speaker 1: then a hasty opening of doors. Passepartout's voice was audible,
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  Speaker 1: and immediately after that of Fix. Phileas Fogg's eyes brightened.
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  Speaker 1: For an instant. The door swung open, and he saw Passepartout,
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  Speaker 1: a Uda, and Fix, who hurried towards him. Fix was
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  Speaker 1: out of breath and his hair was in disorder. He
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  Speaker 1: could not speak. Sir, he stammered, Sir, forgive me most
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  Speaker 1: unfortunate resemblance. Robber arrested three days ago. You were free,
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg was free. He walked to the detective, looked
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  Speaker 1: him steadily in the face, and, with the only rapid
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  Speaker 1: motion he ever made in his life, or which he
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  Speaker 1: ever would make, drew back his arms, and, with the
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  Speaker 1: precision of a machine knocked Fixed down. Well hit, cried Passepartout. Pombleur.
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  Speaker 1: That's what you might call a good application of English feists. Fix,
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  Speaker 1: who found himself on the floor, did not utter a word.
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  Speaker 1: He had only received his deserts. Mister Fogg, auDA and
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  Speaker 1: Passepartout left the custom house without delay, got into a cab,
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  Speaker 1: and in a few moments descended at the station. Phileas
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  Speaker 1: Fogg asked if there was an express train about to
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  Speaker 1: leave for London. It was forty minutes past two. The
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  Speaker 1: express train had left thirty five minutes before. Phileas Fogg
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  Speaker 1: then ordered a special train. There were several rapid locomotives
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  Speaker 1: on hand, but the railway arrangements did not permit the
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  Speaker 1: special train to leave until three o'clock. At that hour,
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg, having stimulated the engineer by the offer of
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  Speaker 1: a generous reward, at last, set out towards London with
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  Speaker 1: Aouda and his faithful servant. It was necessary to make
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  Speaker 1: the journey in five hours and a half, and this
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  Speaker 1: would have been easy on a clear road throughout, but
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  Speaker 1: there were forced delays, and when mister Fogg stepped from
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  Speaker 1: the train at the terminus, all the clocks in London
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  Speaker 1: were striking ten minutes before nine. Having made the tour
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  Speaker 1: of the world, he was behindhand five minutes he had
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  Speaker 1: lost the wager. End of chapter