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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty one, in which the master of the Takadare
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  Speaker 1: runs great risk of losing a reward of two hundred pounds.
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  Speaker 1: This voyage of eight hundred miles was a perilous venture
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  Speaker 1: on a craft of twenty tons, and at that season
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  Speaker 1: of the year, the Chinese seas are usually boisterous, subject
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  Speaker 1: to terrible gales of wind, and especially during the equinoxes,
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  Speaker 1: and it was now early November. It would clearly have
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  Speaker 1: been to the master's advantage to carry his passengers to Yokohama,
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  Speaker 1: since he was paid a certain sum per day. But
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  Speaker 1: he would have been rash to attempt such a voyage,
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  Speaker 1: and it was imprudent even to attempt to reach Shanghai.
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  Speaker 1: But John Bunsby believed in the Takadare, which rode on
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  Speaker 1: the waves like a sea gull, and perhaps he was
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  Speaker 1: not wrong. Late in the day they passed through the
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  Speaker 1: capricious channels of Hong Kong, and the Takadar, impelled by
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  Speaker 1: favorable winds, conducted herself admirably. I do not need pilot,
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  Speaker 1: said Phileas Fogg when they got into the open sea.
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  Speaker 1: To advise you to use all possible speed, dressed me
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  Speaker 1: your honor. We are carrying all the sail the wind
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  Speaker 1: will let us. The poles would add nothing and are
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  Speaker 1: only used when we are going into port. It's your trade,
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  Speaker 1: not mine, pilot, and I confide in you. Phileas Fogg,
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  Speaker 1: with body erect and legs wide apart, standing like a sailor,
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  Speaker 1: gazed without staggering at the swelling waters. The young woman
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  Speaker 1: who was seated aft, was profoundly affected as she looked
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  Speaker 1: out upon the ocean darkening now with a twilight on
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  Speaker 1: which she had ventured in so frail. A vessel above
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  Speaker 1: her head rustled the white sails, which seemed like great
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  Speaker 1: white wings. The boat, carried forward by the wind, seemed
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  Speaker 1: to be flying in the air. Night came. The moon
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  Speaker 1: was entering her first quarter, and her insufficient light would
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  Speaker 1: soon die out. In the midst on the horizon, clouds
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  Speaker 1: were rising from the east and already overcast a part
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  Speaker 1: of the heavens. The pilot had hung out his lights,
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  Speaker 1: which was very necessary in these seas crowded with vessels
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  Speaker 1: bound landward, for collisions are not uncommon occurrences, and at
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  Speaker 1: the speed she was going, the least shock would shatter
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  Speaker 1: the gallant little craft. Fix seated in the bow, gave
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  Speaker 1: himself up to meditation. He kept apart from his fellow travelers,
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  Speaker 1: knowing mister Fogg's taciturn tastes. Besides, he did not quite
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  Speaker 1: like to talk to the man whose favors he had accepted.
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  Speaker 1: He was thinking too of the future. It seemed certain
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  Speaker 1: that Fogg would not stop at Yokohama, but would at
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  Speaker 1: once take the boat for San Francisco, and the vast
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  Speaker 1: extent of America would insure him impunity and safety. Fogg's
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  Speaker 1: plan appeared to him the simplest in the world. Instead
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  Speaker 1: of sailing directly from England to the United States like
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  Speaker 1: a common villain, he had traversed three quarters of the
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  Speaker 1: globe so as to gain the American continent more surely,
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  Speaker 1: and there after throwing the police off his track, he
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  Speaker 1: would quietly enjoy himself with the fortunes stolen from the bank.
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  Speaker 1: But once in the United States, what should he fix do?
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  Speaker 1: Should he abandon this man? No? A hundred times No.
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  Speaker 1: Until he had secured his extradition, he would not lose
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  Speaker 1: sight of him for an hour. It was his duty,
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  Speaker 1: and he would fulfill it to the end. At all events,
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  Speaker 1: there was one thing to be thankful for. Passepartout was
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  Speaker 1: not with his master, and it was above all important
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  Speaker 1: after the confidence's fix had imparted to him that the
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  Speaker 1: servant should never have speech with his master. Phileas Fogg
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  Speaker 1: was also thinking of Passepartout, who had so strangely disappeared.
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  Speaker 1: Looking at the matter from every point of view, it
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  Speaker 1: did not seem to him impossible that by some mistake
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  Speaker 1: the man might have embarked on the Carnatic at the
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  Speaker 1: last moment. And this was also Ouda's opinion, who regretted
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  Speaker 1: very much the loss of the worthy fellow to whom
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  Speaker 1: she owed so much. They might then find him at Yokohama,
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  Speaker 1: for if the Carnatic was carrying him thither, it would
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  Speaker 1: be easy to ascertain if he had been on board.
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  Speaker 1: A brisk breeze arose about ten o'clock, but though it
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  Speaker 1: might have been prudent to take in a reef, the pilot,
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  Speaker 1: after carefully examining the heavens, let the craft remain rigged
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  Speaker 1: as before. The Tankadere bore sail admirably, as she drew
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  Speaker 1: a great deal of water, and everything was prepared for
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  Speaker 1: high speed in case of a gale. Mister Fogg and
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  Speaker 1: Aouda descended into the cabin at midnight, having been already
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  Speaker 1: preceded by Fix, who had lain down on one of
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  Speaker 1: the cots. The pilot and crew remained on deck all night.
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  Speaker 1: At sunrise the next day, which was eighth November, the
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  Speaker 1: boat had made more than one hundred miles. The log
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  Speaker 1: indicated a mean speed of between eight and nine miles.
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  Speaker 1: The Takadare still carried all sail and was accomplishing her
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  Speaker 1: greatest capacity of speed. If the wind held as it was,
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  Speaker 1: the chances would be in her favor. During the day.
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  Speaker 1: She kept along the coast where the currents were favorable.
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  Speaker 1: The coast, irregular in profile, invisible sometimes across the clearings,
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  Speaker 1: was at most five miles distant. The sea was less
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  Speaker 1: boisterous since the wind came off land, a fortunate circumstance
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  Speaker 1: for the boat, which would suffer, owing to its small tonnage,
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  Speaker 1: by a heavy surge on the sea. The breeze subsided
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  Speaker 1: a little towards noon and set in from the southwest.
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  Speaker 1: The pilot put up his poles, but took them down
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  Speaker 1: again within two hours as the wind freshened up anew
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  Speaker 1: Mister Fogg and Aouda, happily unaffected by the roughness of
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  Speaker 1: the sea, ate with a good appetite. Fixed being invited
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  Speaker 1: to share their repast, which he accepted with secret chagrin.
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  Speaker 1: To travel at this man's expense and live upon his
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  Speaker 1: provisions was not palatable to him. Still, he was obliged
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  Speaker 1: to eat, and so he ate. When the meal was over,
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  Speaker 1: he took mister Fogg apart and said, Sir, This Sir
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  Speaker 1: scorched his lips, and he had to control himself to
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  Speaker 1: avoid collaring this gentleman. Sir, you have been very kind
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  Speaker 1: to give me a passage on this boat, but though
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  Speaker 1: my means will not admit of my expecting them as
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  Speaker 1: freely as you, I must ask to pay my share.
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  Speaker 1: Let us not speak of that, sir, replied mister Fogg.
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  Speaker 1: But if I insist, no, Sir, repeated mister Fogg, in
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  Speaker 1: a tone which did not admit of a reply, this
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  Speaker 1: enters into my general expenses. Fix, as he bowed, had
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  Speaker 1: a stifled feeling, and going forward where he ensconced himself,
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  Speaker 1: did not open his mouth for the rest of the day. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: they were progressing famously, and John Bunsby was in high
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  Speaker 1: hope He several times assured mister Fogg that they would
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  Speaker 1: reach Shanghai in time, to which that gentleman responded that
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  Speaker 1: he counted upon it. The crew set to work in
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  Speaker 1: good earnest, inspired by the reward to be gained. There
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  Speaker 1: was not a sheet which was not tightened, not a
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  Speaker 1: sail which was not vigorously hoisted, not a lurch could
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  Speaker 1: be charged to the man at the helm. They worked
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  Speaker 1: as desperately as if they were contesting in a royal
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  Speaker 1: yacht regatta. By evening, the log showed that two hundred
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  Speaker 1: and twenty miles had been accomplished from Hong Kong, and
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  Speaker 1: mister Fogg might hope that he would be able to
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  Speaker 1: reach Yokohama without recording any delay in his journal, in
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  Speaker 1: which case the many misadventures which had overtaken him since
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  Speaker 1: he left London would not seriously affect his journey. The
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  Speaker 1: Takadare entered the Straits of folk Kin, which separate the
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  Speaker 1: island of Formosa from the Chinese coast, in the small
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  Speaker 1: hours of the night, and crossed the Tropic of Cancer.
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  Speaker 1: The sea was very rough in the straits, full of
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  Speaker 1: eddies formed by the counter currents and the chopping waves
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  Speaker 1: broke her course, whilst it became very difficult to stand
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  Speaker 1: on deck. At daybreak, the wind began to blow hard again,
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  Speaker 1: and the heavens seemed to predict a gale. The barometer
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  Speaker 1: announced a speedy change, the mercury rising and falling capriciously.
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  Speaker 1: The sea, also in the southeast, raised long surges, which
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  Speaker 1: indicated a tempest. The sun had set the evening before
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  Speaker 1: in a red mist. In the midst of the phosphorescent
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  Speaker 1: scintillations of the ocean. John Bunsby long examined the threatening
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  Speaker 1: aspect of the heavens, muttering indistinctly between his teeth. At last,
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  Speaker 1: he said, in a low voice to mister Fogg, Shall
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  Speaker 1: I speak out to your honor? Of course? Well, we
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  Speaker 1: are going to have a squaw. Is the wind north
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  Speaker 1: or south? Asked mister Fogg quietly South. Look a typhoon
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  Speaker 1: is coming up. Glad it's a typhoon from the south,
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  Speaker 1: for it will carry us forward. Oh, if you take
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  Speaker 1: it that way, said John Bunsby, I've nothing more to say.
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  Speaker 1: John Bunsby's suspicions were confirmed at at less advanced season
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  Speaker 1: of the year. The typhoon, according to a famous meteorologist,
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  Speaker 1: would have passed away like a luminous cascade of electric flame.
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  Speaker 1: But in the winter equinox it was to be feared
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  Speaker 1: that it would burst upon them with great violence. The
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  Speaker 1: pilot took his precautions in advance. He reefed all sail,
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  Speaker 1: The pole masts were dispensed with all hand went forward
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  Speaker 1: to the bows. A single triangular sail of strong canvas
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  Speaker 1: was hoisted as a storm jib, so as to hold
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  Speaker 1: the wind from behind. Then they waited. John Bunsby had
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  Speaker 1: requested his passengers to go below. But this imprisonment in
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  Speaker 1: so narrow a space, with little air, and the boat
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  Speaker 1: bouncing in the gale, was far from pleasant. Neither mister
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  Speaker 1: Fogg fixed nor Ouda consented to leave the deck. The
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  Speaker 1: storm of rain and wind descended upon them towards eight o'clock.
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  Speaker 1: With but its bit of sail, the Tankadere was lifted
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  Speaker 1: like a feather by a wind, an idea of whose
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  Speaker 1: violence can scarcely be given. To compare her speed to
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  Speaker 1: four times that of a locomotive going on full steam
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  Speaker 1: would be below the truth. The boats scudded thus northward
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  Speaker 1: during the whole day, borne on by monstrous waves, preserving
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  Speaker 1: always fortunately a speed equal to theirs. Twenty times. She
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  Speaker 1: seemed almost to be submerged by those mountains of water
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  Speaker 1: which rose behind her, but the adroit management of the
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  Speaker 1: pilot saved her. The passengers were often bathed in spray,
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  Speaker 1: but they submitted to it philosophically. Fix cursed it, no doubt.
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  Speaker 1: But Aouda, with her eyes fastened upon her protector, whose
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  Speaker 1: coolness amazed her, showed herself worthy of him, and bravely
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  Speaker 1: weathered the storm. As for Phileas Fogg, it seemed just
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  Speaker 1: as if the typhoon were a part of his program.
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  Speaker 1: Up to this time, the Takadare had always held her
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  Speaker 1: course to the north, But towards evening, the wind veering
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  Speaker 1: three quarters bore down from the northwest. The boat, now
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  Speaker 1: lying in the trough of the waves, shook and rolled terribly.
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  Speaker 1: The sea struck her with fearful violence. At night, the
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  Speaker 1: tempest increased in violence. John Bunsby saw the approach of
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  Speaker 1: darkness and the rising of the storm dark misgivings. He thought, awhile,
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  Speaker 1: and then asked his crew if it was not time
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  Speaker 1: to slacken speed. After a consultation, he approached mister Fogg
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  Speaker 1: and said, I think your honor that we should do
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  Speaker 1: well to make for one of the ports on the coast.
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  Speaker 1: I think so too, ah, said the pilot. But which
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  Speaker 1: one I know of? But one, returned mister Fogg tranquility,
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  Speaker 1: and that is Shanghai. The pilot at first did not
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  Speaker 1: seem to comprehend. He could scarcely realize so much determination
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  Speaker 1: and tenacity. Then he cried, well, yes, your honor is
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  Speaker 1: right to Shanghai. So the takadere kept steadily on her
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  Speaker 1: northward track. The night was really terrible. It would be
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  Speaker 1: a miracle. If the craft did not found her twice.
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  Speaker 1: It could have been all over with her if the
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  Speaker 1: crew had not been constantly on the watch. A Uda
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  Speaker 1: was exhausted, but did not utter a complaint. More than once.
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  Speaker 1: Mister Fogg rushed to protect her from the violence of
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  Speaker 1: the waves. Day reappeared, the tempest still raged with undiminished fury,
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  Speaker 1: but the wind now returned to the southeast. It was
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  Speaker 1: a favorable change, and the takada again bounded forward on
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  Speaker 1: this mountainous sea, though the waves crossed each other and
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  Speaker 1: imparted shocks and counter shocks which would have crushed a
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  Speaker 1: craft less solidly built. From time to time, the coast
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  Speaker 1: was visible through the broken mist, but no vessel was
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  Speaker 1: in sight. The Takada was alone upon the sea. There
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: were some signs of a calm at noon, and these
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  Speaker 1: became more distinct as the sun descended toward the horizon.
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  Speaker 1: The tempest had been as brief as terrific. The passengers,
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  Speaker 1: thoroughly exhausted, could now eat a little and take some repose.
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  Speaker 1: The night was comparatively quiet. Some of the sails were
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  Speaker 1: again hoisted, and the speed of the boat was very good.
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  Speaker 1: The next morning, at dawn they espied the coast, and
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  Speaker 1: John Bunsby was able to assert that they were not
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  Speaker 1: one hundred miles from Shanghai, one hundred miles, and only
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  Speaker 1: one day to traverse them. That very evening, mister Fogg
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  Speaker 1: was due at Shanghai if he did not wish to
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  Speaker 1: miss the steamer to Yokohama. Had there been no storm
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: during which several hours were lost, they would be at
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  Speaker 1: this moment within thirty miles of their destination. The wind
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  Speaker 1: grew decidedly calmer, and happily the sea fell with it.
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  Speaker 1: All sails were now hoisted, and at noon the Takadere
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  Speaker 1: was within forty five miles of Shanghai. There remained yet
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  Speaker 1: six hours in which to accomplish that distance. All on
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: board feared that it could not be done, and every one,
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  Speaker 1: Phileas Fogg, no doubt excepted, felt his heart beat with him.
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  Speaker 1: Pay Patis. The boat must keep up an average of
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: nine miles an hour, and the wind was becoming calmer
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  Speaker 1: every moment. It was a capricious breeze coming from the coast,
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: and after it passed the sea became smooth still. The
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  Speaker 1: tankadere was so light, and her fine sails caught the
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: fickle zephyrs so well, that, with the aid of the currents,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: John Bunsby found himself at six o'clock not more than
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  Speaker 1: ten miles from the mouth of Shanghai River. Shanghai itself
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: is situated at least twelve miles up the stream. At
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: seven they were still three miles from Shanghai. The pilot
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: swore an angry oath. The reward of two hundred pounds
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: was evidently on the point of escaping him. He looked
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: at mister Fogg. Mister Fogg was perfectly tranquil, and yet
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: his whole fortune was at this moment at stake. At
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: this moment also, a long black funnel crowned with wreaths
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: of smoke appeared on the edge of the waters. It
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  Speaker 1: was the American steamer leaving for Yokohama at the appointed time.
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  Speaker 1: Confound her, cried John bunsby pushing back the rudder with
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: a desperate jerk. Signal her, said Phileas Fogg quietly. A
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: small brass cannon stood on the forward deck of the
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: tankadere for making signals in the fogs. It was loaded
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  Speaker 1: to the muzzle, but just as the pilot was about
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  Speaker 1: to apply a red hot coal to the touch hole,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: mister Fogg said, hoist your flag. The flag was run
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  Speaker 1: up at half mast, and this being the signal of distress,
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: it was hoped that the American steamer, perceiving it, would
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: change her course a little so as to suck her
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: the pilot boat fire, said mister Fogg, and the booming
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  Speaker 1: of the little cannon resounded in the air. End of
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  Speaker 1: Chapter