chapter xxviin which phileas fogg and party travel by the pacific railroad "from ocean to ocean"--so say theamericans; and these four words compose the general designation of the "great trunkline" which crosses the entire width of the united states. the pacific railroad is, however, reallydivided into two distinct lines: the central pacific, between san francisco andogden, and the union pacific, between ogden and omaha. five main lines connect omaha with newyork.
new york and san francisco are thus unitedby an uninterrupted metal ribbon, which measures no less than three thousand sevenhundred and eighty-six miles. between omaha and the pacific the railwaycrosses a territory which is still infested by indians and wild beasts, and a largetract which the mormons, after they were driven from illinois in 1845, began tocolonise. the journey from new york to san franciscoconsumed, formerly, under the most favourable conditions, at least six months. it is now accomplished in seven days. it was in 1862 that, in spite of thesouthern members of congress, who wished a
more southerly route, it was decided to laythe road between the forty-first and forty- second parallels. president lincoln himself fixed the end ofthe line at omaha, in nebraska. the work was at once commenced, and pursuedwith true american energy; nor did the rapidity with which it went on injuriouslyaffect its good execution. the road grew, on the prairies, a mile anda half a day. a locomotive, running on the rails laiddown the evening before, brought the rails to be laid on the morrow, and advanced uponthem as fast as they were put in position. the pacific railroad is joined by severalbranches in iowa, kansas, colorado, and
oregon. on leaving omaha, it passes along the leftbank of the platte river as far as the junction of its northern branch, followsits southern branch, crosses the laramie territory and the wahsatch mountains, turns the great salt lake, and reaches salt lakecity, the mormon capital, plunges into the tuilla valley, across the american desert,cedar and humboldt mountains, the sierra nevada, and descends, via sacramento, to the pacific--its grade, even on the rockymountains, never exceeding one hundred and twelve feet to the mile.
such was the road to be traversed in sevendays, which would enable phileas fogg--at least, so he hoped--to take the atlanticsteamer at new york on the 11th for liverpool. the car which he occupied was a sort oflong omnibus on eight wheels, and with no compartments in the interior. it was supplied with two rows of seats,perpendicular to the direction of the train on either side of an aisle which conductedto the front and rear platforms. these platforms were found throughout thetrain, and the passengers were able to pass from one end of the train to the other.
it was supplied with saloon cars, balconycars, restaurants, and smoking-cars; theatre cars alone were wanting, and theywill have these some day. book and news dealers, sellers of edibles,drinkables, and cigars, who seemed to have plenty of customers, were continuallycirculating in the aisles. the train left oakland station at sixo'clock. it was already night, cold and cheerless,the heavens being overcast with clouds which seemed to threaten snow. the train did not proceed rapidly; countingthe stoppages, it did not run more than twenty miles an hour, which was asufficient speed, however, to enable it to
reach omaha within its designated time. there was but little conversation in thecar, and soon many of the passengers were overcome with sleep.passepartout found himself beside the detective; but he did not talk to him. after recent events, their relations witheach other had grown somewhat cold; there could no longer be mutual sympathy orintimacy between them. fix's manner had not changed; butpassepartout was very reserved, and ready to strangle his former friend on theslightest provocation. snow began to fall an hour after theystarted, a fine snow, however, which
happily could not obstruct the train;nothing could be seen from the windows but a vast, white sheet, against which the smoke of the locomotive had a greyishaspect. at eight o'clock a steward entered the carand announced that the time for going to bed had arrived; and in a few minutes thecar was transformed into a dormitory. the backs of the seats were thrown back,bedsteads carefully packed were rolled out by an ingenious system, berths weresuddenly improvised, and each traveller had soon at his disposition a comfortable bed, protected from curious eyes by thickcurtains.
the sheets were clean and the pillows soft. it only remained to go to bed and sleepwhich everybody did--while the train sped on across the state of california.the country between san francisco and sacramento is not very hilly. the central pacific, taking sacramento forits starting-point, extends eastward to meet the road from omaha. the line from san francisco to sacramentoruns in a north-easterly direction, along the american river, which empties into sanpablo bay. the one hundred and twenty miles betweenthese cities were accomplished in six
hours, and towards midnight, while fastasleep, the travellers passed through sacramento; so that they saw nothing of that important place, the seat of the stategovernment, with its fine quays, its broad streets, its noble hotels, squares, andchurches. the train, on leaving sacramento, andpassing the junction, roclin, auburn, and colfax, entered the range of the sierranevada. 'cisco was reached at seven in the morning;and an hour later the dormitory was transformed into an ordinary car, and thetravellers could observe the picturesque beauties of the mountain region throughwhich they were steaming.
the railway track wound in and out amongthe passes, now approaching the mountain- sides, now suspended over precipices,avoiding abrupt angles by bold curves, plunging into narrow defiles, which seemedto have no outlet. the locomotive, its great funnel emitting aweird light, with its sharp bell, and its cow-catcher extended like a spur, mingledits shrieks and bellowings with the noise of torrents and cascades, and twined its smoke among the branches of the giganticpines. there were few or no bridges or tunnels onthe route. the railway turned around the sides of themountains, and did not attempt to violate
nature by taking the shortest cut from onepoint to another. the train entered the state of nevadathrough the carson valley about nine o'clock, going always northeasterly; and atmidday reached reno, where there was a delay of twenty minutes for breakfast. from this point the road, running alonghumboldt river, passed northward for several miles by its banks; then it turnedeastward, and kept by the river until it reached the humboldt range, nearly at theextreme eastern limit of nevada. having breakfasted, mr. fogg and hiscompanions resumed their places in the car, and observed the varied landscape whichunfolded itself as they passed along the
vast prairies, the mountains lining the horizon, and the creeks, with their frothy,foaming streams. sometimes a great herd of buffaloes,massing together in the distance, seemed like a moveable dam. these innumerable multitudes of ruminatingbeasts often form an insurmountable obstacle to the passage of the trains;thousands of them have been seen passing over the track for hours together, incompact ranks. the locomotive is then forced to stop andwait till the road is once more clear. this happened, indeed, to the train inwhich mr. fogg was travelling.
about twelve o'clock a troop of ten ortwelve thousand head of buffalo encumbered the track. the locomotive, slackening its speed, triedto clear the way with its cow-catcher; but the mass of animals was too great. the buffaloes marched along with a tranquilgait, uttering now and then deafening bellowings. there was no use of interrupting them, for,having taken a particular direction, nothing can moderate and change theircourse; it is a torrent of living flesh which no dam could contain.
the travellers gazed on this curiousspectacle from the platforms; but phileas fogg, who had the most reason of all to bein a hurry, remained in his seat, and waited philosophically until it shouldplease the buffaloes to get out of the way. passepartout was furious at the delay theyoccasioned, and longed to discharge his arsenal of revolvers upon them. "what a country!" cried he."mere cattle stop the trains, and go by in a procession, just as if they were notimpeding travel! parbleu! i should like to know if mr. fogg foresawthis mishap in his programme!
and here's an engineer who doesn't dare torun the locomotive into this herd of beasts!" the engineer did not try to overcome theobstacle, and he was wise. he would have crushed the first buffaloes,no doubt, with the cow-catcher; but the locomotive, however powerful, would soonhave been checked, the train would inevitably have been thrown off the track,and would then have been helpless. the best course was to wait patiently, andregain the lost time by greater speed when the obstacle was removed. the procession of buffaloes lasted threefull hours, and it was night before the
track was clear. the last ranks of the herd were now passingover the rails, while the first had already disappeared below the southern horizon. it was eight o'clock when the train passedthrough the defiles of the humboldt range, and half-past nine when it penetrated utah,the region of the great salt lake, the singular colony of the mormons. > chapter xxviiin which passepartout undergoes, at a speed of twenty miles an hour, a course of mormonhistory
during the night of the 5th of december,the train ran south-easterly for about fifty miles; then rose an equal distance ina north-easterly direction, towards the great salt lake. passepartout, about nine o'clock, went outupon the platform to take the air. the weather was cold, the heavens grey, butit was not snowing. the sun's disc, enlarged by the mist,seemed an enormous ring of gold, and passepartout was amusing himself bycalculating its value in pounds sterling, when he was diverted from this interesting study by a strange-looking personage whomade his appearance on the platform.
this personage, who had taken the train atelko, was tall and dark, with black moustache, black stockings, a black silkhat, a black waistcoat, black trousers, a white cravat, and dogskin gloves. he might have been taken for a clergyman.he went from one end of the train to the other, and affixed to the door of each cara notice written in manuscript. passepartout approached and read one ofthese notices, which stated that elder william hitch, mormon missionary, takingadvantage of his presence on train no. 48, would deliver a lecture on mormonism in car no. 117, from eleven to twelve o'clock; andthat he invited all who were desirous of
being instructed concerning the mysteriesof the religion of the "latter day saints" to attend. "i'll go," said passepartout to himself.he knew nothing of mormonism except the custom of polygamy, which is itsfoundation. the news quickly spread through the train,which contained about one hundred passengers, thirty of whom, at most,attracted by the notice, ensconced themselves in car no. 117. passepartout took one of the front seats.neither mr. fogg nor fix cared to attend. at the appointed hour elder william hitchrose, and, in an irritated voice, as if he
had already been contradicted, said, "itell you that joe smith is a martyr, that his brother hiram is a martyr, and that the persecutions of the united statesgovernment against the prophets will also make a martyr of brigham young.who dares to say the contrary?" no one ventured to gainsay the missionary,whose excited tone contrasted curiously with his naturally calm visage. no doubt his anger arose from the hardshipsto which the mormons were actually subjected. the government had just succeeded, withsome difficulty, in reducing these
independent fanatics to its rule. it had made itself master of utah, andsubjected that territory to the laws of the union, after imprisoning brigham young on acharge of rebellion and polygamy. the disciples of the prophet had sinceredoubled their efforts, and resisted, by words at least, the authority of congress.elder hitch, as is seen, was trying to make proselytes on the very railway trains. then, emphasising his words with his loudvoice and frequent gestures, he related the history of the mormons from biblical times:how that, in israel, a mormon prophet of the tribe of joseph published the annals of
the new religion, and bequeathed them tohis son mormon; how, many centuries later, a translation of this precious book, whichwas written in egyptian, was made by joseph smith, junior, a vermont farmer, who revealed himself as a mystical prophet in1825; and how, in short, the celestial messenger appeared to him in an illuminatedforest, and gave him the annals of the lord. several of the audience, not being muchinterested in the missionary's narrative, here left the car; but elder hitch,continuing his lecture, related how smith, junior, with his father, two brothers, and
a few disciples, founded the church of the"latter day saints," which, adopted not only in america, but in england, norway andsweden, and germany, counts many artisans, as well as men engaged in the liberal professions, among its members; how acolony was established in ohio, a temple erected there at a cost of two hundredthousand dollars, and a town built at kirkland; how smith became an enterprising banker, and received from a simple mummyshowman a papyrus scroll written by abraham and several famous egyptians. the elder's story became somewhatwearisome, and his audience grew gradually
less, until it was reduced to twentypassengers. but this did not disconcert the enthusiast,who proceeded with the story of joseph smith's bankruptcy in 1837, and how hisruined creditors gave him a coat of tar and feathers; his reappearance some years afterwards, more honourable and honouredthan ever, at independence, missouri, the chief of a flourishing colony of threethousand disciples, and his pursuit thence by outraged gentiles, and retirement intothe far west. ten hearers only were now left, among themhonest passepartout, who was listening with all his ears.
thus he learned that, after longpersecutions, smith reappeared in illinois, and in 1839 founded a community at nauvoo,on the mississippi, numbering twenty-five thousand souls, of which he became mayor, chief justice, and general-in-chief; thathe announced himself, in 1843, as a candidate for the presidency of the unitedstates; and that finally, being drawn into ambuscade at carthage, he was thrown into prison, and assassinated by a band of mendisguised in masks. passepartout was now the only person leftin the car, and the elder, looking him full in the face, reminded him that, two yearsafter the assassination of joseph smith,
the inspired prophet, brigham young, his successor, left nauvoo for the banks of thegreat salt lake, where, in the midst of that fertile region, directly on the routeof the emigrants who crossed utah on their way to california, the new colony, thanks to the polygamy practised by the mormons,had flourished beyond expectations. "and this," added elder william hitch,"this is why the jealousy of congress has been aroused against us! why have the soldiers of the union invadedthe soil of utah? why has brigham young, our chief, beenimprisoned, in contempt of all justice?
shall we yield to force? never! driven from vermont, driven from illinois,driven from ohio, driven from missouri, driven from utah, we shall yet find someindependent territory on which to plant our tents. and you, my brother," continued the elder,fixing his angry eyes upon his single auditor, "will you not plant yours there,too, under the shadow of our flag?" "no!" replied passepartout courageously, inhis turn retiring from the car, and leaving the elder to preach to vacancy.
during the lecture the train had beenmaking good progress, and towards half-past twelve it reached the northwest border ofthe great salt lake. thence the passengers could observe thevast extent of this interior sea, which is also called the dead sea, and into whichflows an american jordan. it is a picturesque expanse, framed inlofty crags in large strata, encrusted with white salt--a superb sheet of water, whichwas formerly of larger extent than now, its shores having encroached with the lapse of time, and thus at once reduced its breadthand increased its depth. the salt lake, seventy miles long andthirty-five wide, is situated three miles
eight hundred feet above the sea. quite different from lake asphaltite, whosedepression is twelve hundred feet below the sea, it contains considerable salt, and onequarter of the weight of its water is solid matter, its specific weight being 1,170,and, after being distilled, 1,000. fishes are, of course, unable to live init, and those which descend through the jordan, the weber, and other streams soonperish. the country around the lake was wellcultivated, for the mormons are mostly farmers; while ranches and pens fordomesticated animals, fields of wheat, corn, and other cereals, luxuriant
prairies, hedges of wild rose, clumps ofacacias and milk-wort, would have been seen six months later.now the ground was covered with a thin powdering of snow. the train reached ogden at two o'clock,where it rested for six hours, mr. fogg and his party had time to pay a visit to saltlake city, connected with ogden by a branch road; and they spent two hours in this strikingly american town, built on thepattern of other cities of the union, like a checker-board, "with the sombre sadnessof right-angles," as victor hugo expresses it.
the founder of the city of the saints couldnot escape from the taste for symmetry which distinguishes the anglo-saxons. in this strange country, where the peopleare certainly not up to the level of their institutions, everything is done"squarely"--cities, houses, and follies. the travellers, then, were promenading, atthree o'clock, about the streets of the town built between the banks of the jordanand the spurs of the wahsatch range. they saw few or no churches, but theprophet's mansion, the court-house, and the arsenal, blue-brick houses with verandasand porches, surrounded by gardens bordered with acacias, palms, and locusts.
a clay and pebble wall, built in 1853,surrounded the town; and in the principal street were the market and several hotelsadorned with pavilions. the place did not seem thickly populated. the streets were almost deserted, except inthe vicinity of the temple, which they only reached after having traversed severalquarters surrounded by palisades. there were many women, which was easilyaccounted for by the "peculiar institution" of the mormons; but it must not be supposedthat all the mormons are polygamists. they are free to marry or not, as theyplease; but it is worth noting that it is mainly the female citizens of utah who areanxious to marry, as, according to the
mormon religion, maiden ladies are not admitted to the possession of its highestjoys. these poor creatures seemed to be neitherwell off nor happy. some--the more well-to-do, no doubt--woreshort, open, black silk dresses, under a hood or modest shawl; others were habitedin indian fashion. passepartout could not behold without acertain fright these women, charged, in groups, with conferring happiness on asingle mormon. his common sense pitied, above all, thehusband. it seemed to him a terrible thing to haveto guide so many wives at once across the
vicissitudes of life, and to conduct them,as it were, in a body to the mormon paradise with the prospect of seeing them in the company of the glorious smith, whodoubtless was the chief ornament of that delightful place, to all eternity. he felt decidedly repelled from such avocation, and he imagined--perhaps he was mistaken--that the fair ones of salt lakecity cast rather alarming glances on his person. happily, his stay there was but brief.at four the party found themselves again at the station, took their places in thetrain, and the whistle sounded for
starting. just at the moment, however, that thelocomotive wheels began to move, cries of "stop! stop!" were heard.trains, like time and tide, stop for no one. the gentleman who uttered the cries wasevidently a belated mormon. he was breathless with running.happily for him, the station had neither gates nor barriers. he rushed along the track, jumped on therear platform of the train, and fell, exhausted, into one of the seats.
passepartout, who had been anxiouslywatching this amateur gymnast, approached him with lively interest, and learned thathe had taken flight after an unpleasant domestic scene. when the mormon had recovered his breath,passepartout ventured to ask him politely how many wives he had; for, from the mannerin which he had decamped, it might be thought that he had twenty at least. "one, sir," replied the mormon, raising hisarms heavenward--"one, and that was enough!" chapter xxviiiin which passepartout does not succeed in
making anybody listen to reason the train, on leaving great salt lake atogden, passed northward for an hour as far as weber river, having completed nearlynine hundred miles from san francisco. from this point it took an easterlydirection towards the jagged wahsatch mountains. it was in the section included between thisrange and the rocky mountains that the american engineers found the mostformidable difficulties in laying the road, and that the government granted a subsidy of forty-eight thousand dollars per mile,instead of sixteen thousand allowed for the
work done on the plains. but the engineers, instead of violatingnature, avoided its difficulties by winding around, instead of penetrating the rocks. one tunnel only, fourteen thousand feet inlength, was pierced in order to arrive at the great basin.the track up to this time had reached its highest elevation at the great salt lake. from this point it described a long curve,descending towards bitter creek valley, to rise again to the dividing ridge of thewaters between the atlantic and the pacific.
there were many creeks in this mountainousregion, and it was necessary to cross muddy creek, green creek, and others, uponculverts. passepartout grew more and more impatientas they went on, while fix longed to get out of this difficult region, and was moreanxious than phileas fogg himself to be beyond the danger of delays and accidents,and set foot on english soil. at ten o'clock at night the train stoppedat fort bridger station, and twenty minutes later entered wyoming territory, followingthe valley of bitter creek throughout. the next day, 7th december, they stoppedfor a quarter of an hour at green river station.
snow had fallen abundantly during thenight, but, being mixed with rain, it had half melted, and did not interrupt theirprogress. the bad weather, however, annoyedpassepartout; for the accumulation of snow, by blocking the wheels of the cars, wouldcertainly have been fatal to mr. fogg's tour. "what an idea!" he said to himself."why did my master make this journey in winter?couldn't he have waited for the good season to increase his chances?" while the worthy frenchman was absorbed inthe state of the sky and the depression of
the temperature, aouda was experiencingfears from a totally different cause. several passengers had got off at greenriver, and were walking up and down the platforms; and among these aouda recognisedcolonel stamp proctor, the same who had so grossly insulted phileas fogg at the sanfrancisco meeting. not wishing to be recognised, the youngwoman drew back from the window, feeling much alarm at her discovery. she was attached to the man who, howevercoldly, gave her daily evidences of the most absolute devotion. she did not comprehend, perhaps, the depthof the sentiment with which her protector
inspired her, which she called gratitude,but which, though she was unconscious of it, was really more than that. her heart sank within her when sherecognised the man whom mr. fogg desired, sooner or later, to call to account for hisconduct. chance alone, it was clear, had broughtcolonel proctor on this train; but there he was, and it was necessary, at all hazards,that phileas fogg should not perceive his adversary. aouda seized a moment when mr. fogg wasasleep to tell fix and passepartout whom she had seen."that proctor on this train!" cried fix.
"well, reassure yourself, madam; before hesettles with mr. fogg; he has got to deal with me!it seems to me that i was the more insulted of the two." "and, besides," added passepartout, "i'lltake charge of him, colonel as he is." "mr. fix," resumed aouda, "mr. fogg willallow no one to avenge him. he said that he would come back to americato find this man. should he perceive colonel proctor, wecould not prevent a collision which might have terrible results. he must not see him.""you are right, madam," replied fix; "a
meeting between them might ruin all.whether he were victorious or beaten, mr. fogg would be delayed, and--" "and," added passepartout, "that would playthe game of the gentlemen of the reform club.in four days we shall be in new york. well, if my master does not leave this carduring those four days, we may hope that chance will not bring him face to face withthis confounded american. we must, if possible, prevent his stirringout of it." the conversation dropped.mr. fogg had just woke up, and was looking out of the window.
soon after passepartout, without beingheard by his master or aouda, whispered to the detective, "would you really fight forhim?" "i would do anything," replied fix, in atone which betrayed determined will, "to get him back living to europe!" passepartout felt something like a shuddershoot through his frame, but his confidence in his master remained unbroken. was there any means of detaining mr. foggin the car, to avoid a meeting between him and the colonel? it ought not to be a difficult task, sincethat gentleman was naturally sedentary and
little curious. the detective, at least, seemed to havefound a way; for, after a few moments, he said to mr. fogg, "these are long and slowhours, sir, that we are passing on the railway." "yes," replied mr. fogg; "but they pass.""you were in the habit of playing whist," resumed fix, "on the steamers.""yes; but it would be difficult to do so here. i have neither cards nor partners.""oh, but we can easily buy some cards, for they are sold on all the american trains.and as for partners, if madam plays--"
"certainly, sir," aouda quickly replied; "iunderstand whist. it is part of an english education.""i myself have some pretensions to playing a good game. well, here are three of us, and a dummy--""as you please, sir," replied phileas fogg, heartily glad to resume his favouritepastime even on the railway. passepartout was dispatched in search ofthe steward, and soon returned with two packs of cards, some pins, counters, and ashelf covered with cloth. the game commenced. aouda understood whist sufficiently well,and even received some compliments on her
playing from mr. fogg. as for the detective, he was simply anadept, and worthy of being matched against his present opponent."now," thought passepartout, "we've got him. he won't budge." at eleven in the morning the train hadreached the dividing ridge of the waters at bridger pass, seven thousand five hundredand twenty-four feet above the level of the sea, one of the highest points attained bythe track in crossing the rocky mountains. after going about two hundred miles, thetravellers at last found themselves on one
of those vast plains which extend to theatlantic, and which nature has made so propitious for laying the iron road. on the declivity of the atlantic basin thefirst streams, branches of the north platte river, already appeared. the whole northern and eastern horizon wasbounded by the immense semi-circular curtain which is formed by the southernportion of the rocky mountains, the highest being laramie peak. between this and the railway extended vastplains, plentifully irrigated. on the right rose the lower spurs of themountainous mass which extends southward to
the sources of the arkansas river, one ofthe great tributaries of the missouri. at half-past twelve the travellers caughtsight for an instant of fort halleck, which commands that section; and in a few morehours the rocky mountains were crossed. there was reason to hope, then, that noaccident would mark the journey through this difficult country.the snow had ceased falling, and the air became crisp and cold. large birds, frightened by the locomotive,rose and flew off in the distance. no wild beast appeared on the plain.it was a desert in its vast nakedness. after a comfortable breakfast, served inthe car, mr. fogg and his partners had just
resumed whist, when a violent whistling washeard, and the train stopped. passepartout put his head out of the door,but saw nothing to cause the delay; no station was in view. aouda and fix feared that mr. fogg mighttake it into his head to get out; but that gentleman contented himself with saying tohis servant, "see what is the matter." passepartout rushed out of the car. thirty or forty passengers had alreadydescended, amongst them colonel stamp proctor.the train had stopped before a red signal which blocked the way.
the engineer and conductor were talkingexcitedly with a signal-man, whom the station-master at medicine bow, the nextstopping place, had sent on before. the passengers drew around and took part inthe discussion, in which colonel proctor, with his insolent manner, was conspicuous.passepartout, joining the group, heard the signal-man say, "no! you can't pass. the bridge at medicine bow is shaky, andwould not bear the weight of the train." this was a suspension-bridge thrown oversome rapids, about a mile from the place where they now were. according to the signal-man, it was in aruinous condition, several of the iron
wires being broken; and it was impossibleto risk the passage. he did not in any way exaggerate thecondition of the bridge. it may be taken for granted that, rash asthe americans usually are, when they are prudent there is good reason for it. passepartout, not daring to apprise hismaster of what he heard, listened with set teeth, immovable as a statue. "hum!" cried colonel proctor; "but we arenot going to stay here, i imagine, and take root in the snow?" "colonel," replied the conductor, "we havetelegraphed to omaha for a train, but it is
not likely that it will reach medicine bowis less than six hours." "six hours!" cried passepartout. "certainly," returned the conductor,"besides, it will take us as long as that to reach medicine bow on foot.""but it is only a mile from here," said one of the passengers. "yes, but it's on the other side of theriver." "and can't we cross that in a boat?" askedthe colonel. "that's impossible. the creek is swelled by the rains.it is a rapid, and we shall have to make a
circuit of ten miles to the north to find aford." the colonel launched a volley of oaths,denouncing the railway company and the conductor; and passepartout, who wasfurious, was not disinclined to make common cause with him. here was an obstacle, indeed, which all hismaster's banknotes could not remove. there was a general disappointment amongthe passengers, who, without reckoning the delay, saw themselves compelled to trudgefifteen miles over a plain covered with snow. they grumbled and protested, and wouldcertainly have thus attracted phileas
fogg's attention if he had not beencompletely absorbed in his game. passepartout found that he could not avoidtelling his master what had occurred, and, with hanging head, he was turning towardsthe car, when the engineer, a true yankee, named forster called out, "gentlemen, perhaps there is a way, after all, to getover." "on the bridge?" asked a passenger."on the bridge." "with our train?" "with our train."passepartout stopped short, and eagerly listened to the engineer."but the bridge is unsafe," urged the
conductor. "no matter," replied forster; "i think thatby putting on the very highest speed we might have a chance of getting over.""the devil!" muttered passepartout. but a number of the passengers were at onceattracted by the engineer's proposal, and colonel proctor was especially delighted,and found the plan a very feasible one. he told stories about engineers leapingtheir trains over rivers without bridges, by putting on full steam; and many of thosepresent avowed themselves of the engineer's mind. "we have fifty chances out of a hundred ofgetting over," said one.
"eighty! ninety!" passepartout was astounded, and, thoughready to attempt anything to get over medicine creek, thought the experimentproposed a little too american. "besides," thought he, "there's a stillmore simple way, and it does not even occur to any of these people! sir," said he aloud to one of thepassengers, "the engineer's plan seems to me a little dangerous, but--""eighty chances!" replied the passenger, turning his back on him. "i know it," said passepartout, turning toanother passenger, "but a simple idea--"
"ideas are no use," returned the american,shrugging his shoulders, "as the engineer assures us that we can pass." "doubtless," urged passepartout, "we canpass, but perhaps it would be more prudent- -""what! prudent!" cried colonel proctor, whom thisword seemed to excite prodigiously. "at full speed, don't you see, at fullspeed!" "i know--i see," repeated passepartout;"but it would be, if not more prudent, since that word displeases you, at leastmore natural--" "who! what! what's the matter with thisfellow?" cried several.
the poor fellow did not know to whom toaddress himself. "are you afraid?" asked colonel proctor. "i afraid?very well; i will show these people that a frenchman can be as american as they!""all aboard!" cried the conductor. "yes, all aboard!" repeated passepartout,and immediately. "but they can't prevent me from thinkingthat it would be more natural for us to cross the bridge on foot, and let the traincome after!" but no one heard this sage reflection, norwould anyone have acknowledged its justice. the passengers resumed their places in thecars.
passepartout took his seat without tellingwhat had passed. the whist-players were quite absorbed intheir game. the locomotive whistled vigorously; theengineer, reversing the steam, backed the train for nearly a mile--retiring, like ajumper, in order to take a longer leap. then, with another whistle, he began tomove forward; the train increased its speed, and soon its rapidity becamefrightful; a prolonged screech issued from the locomotive; the piston worked up anddown twenty strokes to the second. they perceived that the whole train,rushing on at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, hardly bore upon the rails at all.
and they passed over!it was like a flash. no one saw the bridge. the train leaped, so to speak, from onebank to the other, and the engineer could not stop it until it had gone five milesbeyond the station. but scarcely had the train passed theriver, when the bridge, completely ruined, fell with a crash into the rapids ofmedicine bow. chapter xxixin which certain incidents are narrated which are only to be met with on americanrailroads the train pursued its course, that evening,without interruption, passing fort
saunders, crossing cheyne pass, andreaching evans pass. the road here attained the highestelevation of the journey, eight thousand and ninety-two feet above the level of thesea. the travellers had now only to descend tothe atlantic by limitless plains, levelled by nature. a branch of the "grand trunk" led offsouthward to denver, the capital of colorado. the country round about is rich in gold andsilver, and more than fifty thousand inhabitants are already settled there.
thirteen hundred and eighty-two miles hadbeen passed over from san francisco, in three days and three nights; four days andnights more would probably bring them to new york. phileas fogg was not as yet behind-hand.during the night camp walbach was passed on the left; lodge pole creek ran parallelwith the road, marking the boundary between the territories of wyoming and colorado. they entered nebraska at eleven, passednear sedgwick, and touched at julesburg, on the southern branch of the platte river. it was here that the union pacific railroadwas inaugurated on the 23rd of october,
1867, by the chief engineer, general dodge. two powerful locomotives, carrying ninecars of invited guests, amongst whom was thomas c. durant, vice-president of theroad, stopped at this point; cheers were given, the sioux and pawnees performed an imitation indian battle, fireworks were letoff, and the first number of the railway pioneer was printed by a press brought onthe train. thus was celebrated the inauguration ofthis great railroad, a mighty instrument of progress and civilisation, thrown acrossthe desert, and destined to link together cities and towns which do not yet exist.
the whistle of the locomotive, morepowerful than amphion's lyre, was about to bid them rise from american soil. fort mcpherson was left behind at eight inthe morning, and three hundred and fifty- seven miles had yet to be traversed beforereaching omaha. the road followed the capricious windingsof the southern branch of the platte river, on its left bank. at nine the train stopped at the importanttown of north platte, built between the two arms of the river, which rejoin each otheraround it and form a single artery, a large tributary, whose waters empty into themissouri a little above omaha.
the one hundred and first meridian waspassed. mr. fogg and his partners had resumed theirgame; no one--not even the dummy-- complained of the length of the trip. fix had begun by winning several guineas,which he seemed likely to lose; but he showed himself a not less eager whist-player than mr. fogg. during the morning, chance distinctlyfavoured that gentleman. trumps and honours were showered upon hishands. once, having resolved on a bold stroke, hewas on the point of playing a spade, when a voice behind him said, "i should play adiamond."
mr. fogg, aouda, and fix raised theirheads, and beheld colonel proctor. stamp proctor and phileas fogg recognisedeach other at once. "ah! it's you, is it, englishman?" criedthe colonel; "it's you who are going to play a spade!""and who plays it," replied phileas fogg coolly, throwing down the ten of spades. "well, it pleases me to have it diamonds,"replied colonel proctor, in an insolent tone. he made a movement as if to seize the cardwhich had just been played, adding, "you don't understand anything about whist.""perhaps i do, as well as another," said
phileas fogg, rising. "you have only to try, son of john bull,"replied the colonel. aouda turned pale, and her blood ran cold.she seized mr. fogg's arm and gently pulled him back. passepartout was ready to pounce upon theamerican, who was staring insolently at his opponent. but fix got up, and, going to colonelproctor said, "you forget that it is i with whom you have to deal, sir; for it was iwhom you not only insulted, but struck!" "mr. fix," said mr. fogg, "pardon me, butthis affair is mine, and mine only.
the colonel has again insulted me, byinsisting that i should not play a spade, and he shall give me satisfaction for it." "when and where you will," replied theamerican, "and with whatever weapon you choose." aouda in vain attempted to retain mr. fogg;as vainly did the detective endeavour to make the quarrel his. passepartout wished to throw the colonelout of the window, but a sign from his master checked him.phileas fogg left the car, and the american followed him upon the platform.
"sir," said mr. fogg to his adversary, "iam in a great hurry to get back to europe, and any delay whatever will be greatly tomy disadvantage." "well, what's that to me?" replied colonelproctor. "sir," said mr. fogg, very politely, "afterour meeting at san francisco, i determined to return to america and find you as soonas i had completed the business which called me to england." "really!""will you appoint a meeting for six months hence?""why not ten years hence?" "i say six months," returned phileas fogg;"and i shall be at the place of meeting
promptly.""all this is an evasion," cried stamp proctor. "now or never!""very good. you are going to new york?""no." "to chicago?" "no.""to omaha?" "what difference is it to you?do you know plum creek?" "no," replied mr. fogg. "it's the next station.the train will be there in an hour, and
will stop there ten minutes.in ten minutes several revolver-shots could be exchanged." "very well," said mr. fogg."i will stop at plum creek." "and i guess you'll stay there too," addedthe american insolently. "who knows?" replied mr. fogg, returning tothe car as coolly as usual. he began to reassure aouda, telling herthat blusterers were never to be feared, and begged fix to be his second at theapproaching duel, a request which the detective could not refuse. mr. fogg resumed the interrupted game withperfect calmness.
at eleven o'clock the locomotive's whistleannounced that they were approaching plum creek station. mr. fogg rose, and, followed by fix, wentout upon the platform. passepartout accompanied him, carrying apair of revolvers. aouda remained in the car, as pale asdeath. the door of the next car opened, andcolonel proctor appeared on the platform, attended by a yankee of his own stamp ashis second. but just as the combatants were about tostep from the train, the conductor hurried up, and shouted, "you can't get off,gentlemen!"
"why not?" asked the colonel. "we are twenty minutes late, and we shallnot stop." "but i am going to fight a duel with thisgentleman." "i am sorry," said the conductor; "but weshall be off at once. there's the bell ringing now."the train started. "i'm really very sorry, gentlemen," saidthe conductor. "under any other circumstances i shouldhave been happy to oblige you. but, after all, as you have not had time tofight here, why not fight as we go along?" "that wouldn't be convenient, perhaps, forthis gentleman," said the colonel, in a
jeering tone. "it would be perfectly so," replied phileasfogg. "well, we are really in america," thoughtpassepartout, "and the conductor is a gentleman of the first order!" so muttering, he followed his master.the two combatants, their seconds, and the conductor passed through the cars to therear of the train. the last car was only occupied by a dozenpassengers, whom the conductor politely asked if they would not be so kind as toleave it vacant for a few moments, as two gentlemen had an affair of honour tosettle.
the passengers granted the request withalacrity, and straightway disappeared on the platform. the car, which was some fifty feet long,was very convenient for their purpose. the adversaries might march on each otherin the aisle, and fire at their ease. never was duel more easily arranged. mr. fogg and colonel proctor, each providedwith two six-barrelled revolvers, entered the car.the seconds, remaining outside, shut them in. they were to begin firing at the firstwhistle of the locomotive.
after an interval of two minutes, whatremained of the two gentlemen would be taken from the car. nothing could be more simple.indeed, it was all so simple that fix and passepartout felt their hearts beating asif they would crack. they were listening for the whistle agreedupon, when suddenly savage cries resounded in the air, accompanied by reports whichcertainly did not issue from the car where the duellists were. the reports continued in front and thewhole length of the train. cries of terror proceeded from the interiorof the cars.
colonel proctor and mr. fogg, revolvers inhand, hastily quitted their prison, and rushed forward where the noise was mostclamorous. they then perceived that the train wasattacked by a band of sioux. this was not the first attempt of thesedaring indians, for more than once they had waylaid trains on the road. a hundred of them had, according to theirhabit, jumped upon the steps without stopping the train, with the ease of aclown mounting a horse at full gallop. the sioux were armed with guns, from whichcame the reports, to which the passengers, who were almost all armed, responded byrevolver-shots.
the indians had first mounted the engine,and half stunned the engineer and stoker with blows from their muskets. a sioux chief, wishing to stop the train,but not knowing how to work the regulator, had opened wide instead of closing thesteam-valve, and the locomotive was plunging forward with terrific velocity. the sioux had at the same time invaded thecars, skipping like enraged monkeys over the roofs, thrusting open the doors, andfighting hand to hand with the passengers. penetrating the baggage-car, they pillagedit, throwing the trunks out of the train. the cries and shots were constant.
the travellers defended themselves bravely;some of the cars were barricaded, and sustained a siege, like moving forts,carried along at a speed of a hundred miles an hour. aouda behaved courageously from the first.she defended herself like a true heroine with a revolver, which she shot through thebroken windows whenever a savage made his appearance. twenty sioux had fallen mortally wounded tothe ground, and the wheels crushed those who fell upon the rails as if they had beenworms. several passengers, shot or stunned, lay onthe seats.
it was necessary to put an end to thestruggle, which had lasted for ten minutes, and which would result in the triumph ofthe sioux if the train was not stopped. fort kearney station, where there was agarrison, was only two miles distant; but, that once passed, the sioux would bemasters of the train between fort kearney and the station beyond. the conductor was fighting beside mr. fogg,when he was shot and fell. at the same moment he cried, "unless thetrain is stopped in five minutes, we are lost!" "it shall be stopped," said phileas fogg,preparing to rush from the car.
"stay, monsieur," cried passepartout; "iwill go." mr. fogg had not time to stop the bravefellow, who, opening a door unperceived by the indians, succeeded in slipping underthe car; and while the struggle continued and the balls whizzed across each other over his head, he made use of his oldacrobatic experience, and with amazing agility worked his way under the cars,holding on to the chains, aiding himself by the brakes and edges of the sashes, creeping from one car to another withmarvellous skill, and thus gaining the forward end of the train.
there, suspended by one hand between thebaggage-car and the tender, with the other he loosened the safety chains; but, owingto the traction, he would never have succeeded in unscrewing the yoking-bar, had not a violent concussion jolted this barout. the train, now detached from the engine,remained a little behind, whilst the locomotive rushed forward with increasedspeed. carried on by the force already acquired,the train still moved for several minutes; but the brakes were worked and at last theystopped, less than a hundred feet from kearney station.
the soldiers of the fort, attracted by theshots, hurried up; the sioux had not expected them, and decamped in a bodybefore the train entirely stopped. but when the passengers counted each otheron the station platform several were found missing; among others the courageousfrenchman, whose devotion had just saved them. chapter xxxin which phileas fogg simply does his duty three passengers including passepartout haddisappeared. had they been killed in the struggle?were they taken prisoners by the sioux? it was impossible to tell.
there were many wounded, but none mortally.colonel proctor was one of the most seriously hurt; he had fought bravely, anda ball had entered his groin. he was carried into the station with theother wounded passengers, to receive such attention as could be of avail. aouda was safe; and phileas fogg, who hadbeen in the thickest of the fight, had not received a scratch.fix was slightly wounded in the arm. but passepartout was not to be found, andtears coursed down aouda's cheeks. all the passengers had got out of thetrain, the wheels of which were stained with blood.
from the tyres and spokes hung raggedpieces of flesh. as far as the eye could reach on the whiteplain behind, red trails were visible. the last sioux were disappearing in thesouth, along the banks of republican river. mr. fogg, with folded arms, remainedmotionless. he had a serious decision to make. aouda, standing near him, looked at himwithout speaking, and he understood her look. if his servant was a prisoner, ought he notto risk everything to rescue him from the indians?"i will find him, living or dead," said he
quietly to aouda. "ah, mr.--mr. fogg!" cried she, claspinghis hands and covering them with tears. "living," added mr. fogg, "if we do notlose a moment." phileas fogg, by this resolution,inevitably sacrificed himself; he pronounced his own doom. the delay of a single day would make himlose the steamer at new york, and his bet would be certainly lost.but as he thought, "it is my duty," he did not hesitate. the commanding officer of fort kearney wasthere.
a hundred of his soldiers had placedthemselves in a position to defend the station, should the sioux attack it. "sir," said mr. fogg to the captain, "threepassengers have disappeared." "dead?" asked the captain."dead or prisoners; that is the uncertainty which must be solved. do you propose to pursue the sioux?""that's a serious thing to do, sir," returned the captain. "these indians may retreat beyond thearkansas, and i cannot leave the fort unprotected.""the lives of three men are in question,
sir," said phileas fogg. "doubtless; but can i risk the lives offifty men to save three?" "i don't know whether you can, sir; but youought to do so." "nobody here," returned the other, "has aright to teach me my duty." "very well," said mr. fogg, coldly."i will go alone." "you, sir!" cried fix, coming up; "you goalone in pursuit of the indians?" "would you have me leave this poor fellowto perish--him to whom every one present owes his life? i shall go.""no, sir, you shall not go alone," cried
the captain, touched in spite of himself."no! you are a brave man. thirty volunteers!" he added, turning tothe soldiers. the whole company started forward at once.the captain had only to pick his men. thirty were chosen, and an old sergeantplaced at their head. "thanks, captain," said mr. fogg."will you let me go with you?" asked fix. "do as you please, sir. but if you wish to do me a favour, you willremain with aouda. in case anything should happen to me--"a sudden pallor overspread the detective's face.
separate himself from the man whom he hadso persistently followed step by step! leave him to wander about in this desert! fix gazed attentively at mr. fogg, and,despite his suspicions and of the struggle which was going on within him, he loweredhis eyes before that calm and frank look. "i will stay," said he. a few moments after, mr. fogg pressed theyoung woman's hand, and, having confided to her his precious carpet-bag, went off withthe sergeant and his little squad. but, before going, he had said to thesoldiers, "my friends, i will divide five thousand dollars among you, if we save theprisoners."
it was then a little past noon. aouda retired to a waiting-room, and thereshe waited alone, thinking of the simple and noble generosity, the tranquil courageof phileas fogg. he had sacrificed his fortune, and was nowrisking his life, all without hesitation, from duty, in silence.fix did not have the same thoughts, and could scarcely conceal his agitation. he walked feverishly up and down theplatform, but soon resumed his outward composure.he now saw the folly of which he had been guilty in letting fogg go alone.
what!this man, whom he had just followed around the world, was permitted now to separatehimself from him! he began to accuse and abuse himself, and,as if he were director of police, administered to himself a sound lecture forhis greenness. "i have been an idiot!" he thought, "andthis man will see it. he has gone, and won't come back! but how is it that i, fix, who have in mypocket a warrant for his arrest, have been so fascinated by him?decidedly, i am nothing but an ass!" so reasoned the detective, while the hourscrept by all too slowly.
he did not know what to do. sometimes he was tempted to tell aouda all;but he could not doubt how the young woman would receive his confidences.what course should he take? he thought of pursuing fogg across the vastwhite plains; it did not seem impossible that he might overtake him.footsteps were easily printed on the snow! but soon, under a new sheet, every imprintwould be effaced. fix became discouraged.he felt a sort of insurmountable longing to abandon the game altogether. he could now leave fort kearney station,and pursue his journey homeward in peace.
towards two o'clock in the afternoon, whileit was snowing hard, long whistles were heard approaching from the east. a great shadow, preceded by a wild light,slowly advanced, appearing still larger through the mist, which gave it a fantasticaspect. no train was expected from the east,neither had there been time for the succour asked for by telegraph to arrive; the trainfrom omaha to san francisco was not due till the next day. the mystery was soon explained. the locomotive, which was slowlyapproaching with deafening whistles, was
that which, having been detached from thetrain, had continued its route with such terrific rapidity, carrying off theunconscious engineer and stoker. it had run several miles, when, the firebecoming low for want of fuel, the steam had slackened; and it had finally stoppedan hour after, some twenty miles beyond fort kearney. neither the engineer nor the stoker wasdead, and, after remaining for some time in their swoon, had come to themselves.the train had then stopped. the engineer, when he found himself in thedesert, and the locomotive without cars, understood what had happened.
he could not imagine how the locomotive hadbecome separated from the train; but he did not doubt that the train left behind was indistress. he did not hesitate what to do. it would be prudent to continue on toomaha, for it would be dangerous to return to the train, which the indians might stillbe engaged in pillaging. nevertheless, he began to rebuild the firein the furnace; the pressure again mounted, and the locomotive returned, runningbackwards to fort kearney. this it was which was whistling in themist. the travellers were glad to see thelocomotive resume its place at the head of
the train. they could now continue the journey soterribly interrupted. aouda, on seeing the locomotive come up,hurried out of the station, and asked the conductor, "are you going to start?" "at once, madam.""but the prisoners, our unfortunate fellow- travellers--""i cannot interrupt the trip," replied the "we are already three hours behind time.""and when will another train pass here from san francisco?""to-morrow evening, madam." "to-morrow evening!
but then it will be too late!we must wait--" "it is impossible," responded theconductor. "if you wish to go, please get in." "i will not go," said aouda.fix had heard this conversation. a little while before, when there was noprospect of proceeding on the journey, he had made up his mind to leave fort kearney;but now that the train was there, ready to start, and he had only to take his seat in the car, an irresistible influence held himback. the station platform burned his feet, andhe could not stir.
the conflict in his mind again began; angerand failure stifled him. he wished to struggle on to the end. meanwhile the passengers and some of thewounded, among them colonel proctor, whose injuries were serious, had taken theirplaces in the train. the buzzing of the over-heated boiler washeard, and the steam was escaping from the valves. the engineer whistled, the train started,and soon disappeared, mingling its white smoke with the eddies of the denselyfalling snow. the detective had remained behind.
several hours passed.the weather was dismal, and it was very cold.fix sat motionless on a bench in the station; he might have been thought asleep. aouda, despite the storm, kept coming outof the waiting-room, going to the end of the platform, and peering through thetempest of snow, as if to pierce the mist which narrowed the horizon around her, andto hear, if possible, some welcome sound. she heard and saw nothing. then she would return, chilled through, toissue out again after the lapse of a few moments, but always in vain.evening came, and the little band had not
returned. where could they be?had they found the indians, and were they having a conflict with them, or were theystill wandering amid the mist? the commander of the fort was anxious,though he tried to conceal his apprehensions.as night approached, the snow fell less plentifully, but it became intensely cold. absolute silence rested on the plains.neither flight of bird nor passing of beast troubled the perfect calm. throughout the night aouda, full of sadforebodings, her heart stifled with
anguish, wandered about on the verge of theplains. her imagination carried her far off, andshowed her innumerable dangers. what she suffered through the long hours itwould be impossible to describe. fix remained stationary in the same place,but did not sleep. once a man approached and spoke to him, andthe detective merely replied by shaking his head. thus the night passed.at dawn, the half-extinguished disc of the sun rose above a misty horizon; but it wasnow possible to recognise objects two miles off.
phileas fogg and the squad had gonesouthward; in the south all was still vacancy.it was then seven o'clock. the captain, who was really alarmed, didnot know what course to take. should he send another detachment to therescue of the first? should he sacrifice more men, with so fewchances of saving those already sacrificed? his hesitation did not last long, however. calling one of his lieutenants, he was onthe point of ordering a reconnaissance, when gunshots were heard.was it a signal? the soldiers rushed out of the fort, andhalf a mile off they perceived a little
band returning in good order. mr. fogg was marching at their head, andjust behind him were passepartout and the other two travellers, rescued from thesioux. they had met and fought the indians tenmiles south of fort kearney. shortly before the detachment arrived,passepartout and his companions had begun to struggle with their captors, three ofwhom the frenchman had felled with his fists, when his master and the soldiershastened up to their relief. all were welcomed with joyful cries. phileas fogg distributed the reward he hadpromised to the soldiers, while
passepartout, not without reason, mutteredto himself, "it must certainly be confessed that i cost my master dear!" fix, without saying a word, looked at mr.fogg, and it would have been difficult to analyse the thoughts which struggled withinhim. as for aouda, she took her protector's handand pressed it in her own, too much moved to speak. meanwhile, passepartout was looking aboutfor the train; he thought he should find it there, ready to start for omaha, and hehoped that the time lost might be regained. "the train! the train!" cried he.
"gone," replied fix."and when does the next train pass here?" said phileas fogg."not till this evening." "ah!" returned the impassible gentlemanquietly. chapter xxxiin which fix, the detective, considerably furthers the interests of phileas fogg phileas fogg found himself twenty hoursbehind time. passepartout, the involuntary cause of thisdelay, was desperate. he had ruined his master! at this moment the detective approached mr.fogg, and, looking him intently in the
face, said:"seriously, sir, are you in great haste?" "quite seriously." "i have a purpose in asking," resumed fix."is it absolutely necessary that you should be in new york on the 11th, before nineo'clock in the evening, the time that the steamer leaves for liverpool?" "it is absolutely necessary.""and, if your journey had not been interrupted by these indians, you wouldhave reached new york on the morning of the 11th?" "yes; with eleven hours to spare before thesteamer left."
"good! you are therefore twenty hoursbehind. twelve from twenty leaves eight. you must regain eight hours.do you wish to try to do so?" "on foot?" asked mr. fogg."no; on a sledge," replied fix. "on a sledge with sails. a man has proposed such a method to me."it was the man who had spoken to fix during the night, and whose offer he had refused. phileas fogg did not reply at once; butfix, having pointed out the man, who was walking up and down in front of thestation, mr. fogg went up to him.
an instant after, mr. fogg and theamerican, whose name was mudge, entered a hut built just below the fort. there mr. fogg examined a curious vehicle,a kind of frame on two long beams, a little raised in front like the runners of asledge, and upon which there was room for five or six persons. a high mast was fixed on the frame, heldfirmly by metallic lashings, to which was attached a large brigantine sail.this mast held an iron stay upon which to hoist a jib-sail. behind, a sort of rudder served to guidethe vehicle.
it was, in short, a sledge rigged like asloop. during the winter, when the trains areblocked up by the snow, these sledges make extremely rapid journeys across the frozenplains from one station to another. provided with more sails than a cutter, andwith the wind behind them, they slip over the surface of the prairies with a speedequal if not superior to that of the express trains. mr. fogg readily made a bargain with theowner of this land-craft. the wind was favourable, being fresh, andblowing from the west. the snow had hardened, and mudge was veryconfident of being able to transport mr.
fogg in a few hours to omaha.thence the trains eastward run frequently to chicago and new york. it was not impossible that the lost timemight yet be recovered; and such an opportunity was not to be rejected. not wishing to expose aouda to thediscomforts of travelling in the open air, mr. fogg proposed to leave her withpassepartout at fort kearney, the servant taking upon himself to escort her to europe by a better route and under more favourableconditions. but aouda refused to separate from mr.fogg, and passepartout was delighted with
her decision; for nothing could induce himto leave his master while fix was with him. it would be difficult to guess thedetective's thoughts. was this conviction shaken by phileasfogg's return, or did he still regard him as an exceedingly shrewd rascal, who, hisjourney round the world completed, would think himself absolutely safe in england? perhaps fix's opinion of phileas fogg wassomewhat modified; but he was nevertheless resolved to do his duty, and to hasten thereturn of the whole party to england as much as possible. at eight o'clock the sledge was ready tostart.
the passengers took their places on it, andwrapped themselves up closely in their travelling-cloaks. the two great sails were hoisted, and underthe pressure of the wind the sledge slid over the hardened snow with a velocity offorty miles an hour. the distance between fort kearney andomaha, as the birds fly, is at most two hundred miles. if the wind held good, the distance mightbe traversed in five hours; if no accident happened the sledge might reach omaha byone o'clock. what a journey!
the travellers, huddled close together,could not speak for the cold, intensified by the rapidity at which they were going.the sledge sped on as lightly as a boat over the waves. when the breeze came skimming the earth thesledge seemed to be lifted off the ground by its sails. mudge, who was at the rudder, kept in astraight line, and by a turn of his hand checked the lurches which the vehicle had atendency to make. all the sails were up, and the jib was soarranged as not to screen the brigantine. a top-mast was hoisted, and another jib,held out to the wind, added its force to
the other sails. although the speed could not be exactlyestimated, the sledge could not be going at less than forty miles an hour."if nothing breaks," said mudge, "we shall get there!" mr. fogg had made it for mudge's interestto reach omaha within the time agreed on, by the offer of a handsome reward. the prairie, across which the sledge wasmoving in a straight line, was as flat as a sea.it seemed like a vast frozen lake. the railroad which ran through this sectionascended from the south-west to the north-
west by great island, columbus, animportant nebraska town, schuyler, and fremont, to omaha. it followed throughout the right bank ofthe platte river. the sledge, shortening this route, took achord of the arc described by the railway. mudge was not afraid of being stopped bythe platte river, because it was frozen. the road, then, was quite clear ofobstacles, and phileas fogg had but two things to fear--an accident to the sledge,and a change or calm in the wind. but the breeze, far from lessening itsforce, blew as if to bend the mast, which, however, the metallic lashings held firmly.
these lashings, like the chords of astringed instrument, resounded as if vibrated by a violin bow.the sledge slid along in the midst of a plaintively intense melody. "those chords give the fifth and theoctave," said mr. fogg. these were the only words he uttered duringthe journey. aouda, cosily packed in furs and cloaks,was sheltered as much as possible from the attacks of the freezing wind. as for passepartout, his face was as red asthe sun's disc when it sets in the mist, and he laboriously inhaled the biting air.with his natural buoyancy of spirits, he
began to hope again. they would reach new york on the evening,if not on the morning, of the 11th, and there was still some chances that it wouldbe before the steamer sailed for liverpool. passepartout even felt a strong desire tograsp his ally, fix, by the hand. he remembered that it was the detective whoprocured the sledge, the only means of reaching omaha in time; but, checked bysome presentiment, he kept his usual reserve. one thing, however, passepartout wouldnever forget, and that was the sacrifice which mr. fogg had made, withouthesitation, to rescue him from the sioux.
mr. fogg had risked his fortune and hislife. no! his servant would never forget that! while each of the party was absorbed inreflections so different, the sledge flew past over the vast carpet of snow.the creeks it passed over were not perceived. fields and streams disappeared under theuniform whiteness. the plain was absolutely deserted. between the union pacific road and thebranch which unites kearney with saint joseph it formed a great uninhabitedisland.
neither village, station, nor fortappeared. from time to time they sped by somephantom-like tree, whose white skeleton twisted and rattled in the wind. sometimes flocks of wild birds rose, orbands of gaunt, famished, ferocious prairie-wolves ran howling after thesledge. passepartout, revolver in hand, heldhimself ready to fire on those which came too near. had an accident then happened to thesledge, the travellers, attacked by these beasts, would have been in the mostterrible danger; but it held on its even
course, soon gained on the wolves, and ere long left the howling band at a safedistance behind. about noon mudge perceived by certainlandmarks that he was crossing the platte river. he said nothing, but he felt certain thathe was now within twenty miles of omaha. in less than an hour he left the rudder andfurled his sails, whilst the sledge, carried forward by the great impetus thewind had given it, went on half a mile further with its sails unspread. it stopped at last, and mudge, pointing toa mass of roofs white with snow, said: "we
have got there!"arrived! arrived at the station which is in dailycommunication, by numerous trains, with the atlantic seaboard! passepartout and fix jumped off, stretchedtheir stiffened limbs, and aided mr. fogg and the young woman to descend from thesledge. phileas fogg generously rewarded mudge,whose hand passepartout warmly grasped, and the party directed their steps to the omaharailway station. the pacific railroad proper finds itsterminus at this important nebraska town. omaha is connected with chicago by thechicago and rock island railroad, which
runs directly east, and passes fiftystations. a train was ready to start when mr. foggand his party reached the station, and they only had time to get into the cars. they had seen nothing of omaha; butpassepartout confessed to himself that this was not to be regretted, as they were nottravelling to see the sights. the train passed rapidly across the stateof iowa, by council bluffs, des moines, and iowa city. during the night it crossed the mississippiat davenport, and by rock island entered illinois.
the next day, which was the 10th, at fouro'clock in the evening, it reached chicago, already risen from its ruins, and moreproudly seated than ever on the borders of its beautiful lake michigan. nine hundred miles separated chicago fromnew york; but trains are not wanting at chicago. mr. fogg passed at once from one to theother, and the locomotive of the pittsburgh, fort wayne, and chicago railwayleft at full speed, as if it fully comprehended that that gentleman had notime to lose. it traversed indiana, ohio, pennsylvania,and new jersey like a flash, rushing
through towns with antique names, some ofwhich had streets and car-tracks, but as yet no houses. at last the hudson came into view; and, ata quarter-past eleven in the evening of the 11th, the train stopped in the station onthe right bank of the river, before the very pier of the cunard line. the china, for liverpool, had startedthree-quarters of an hour before! chapter xxxiiin which phileas fogg engages in a direct struggle with bad fortune the china, in leaving, seemed to havecarried off phileas fogg's last hope.
none of the other steamers were able toserve his projects. the pereire, of the french transatlanticcompany, whose admirable steamers are equal to any in speed and comfort, did not leaveuntil the 14th; the hamburg boats did not go directly to liverpool or london, but to havre; and the additional trip from havreto southampton would render phileas fogg's last efforts of no avail. the inman steamer did not depart till thenext day, and could not cross the atlantic in time to save the wager. mr. fogg learned all this in consulting hisbradshaw, which gave him the daily
movements of the trans-atlantic steamers. passepartout was crushed; it overwhelmedhim to lose the boat by three-quarters of it was his fault, for, instead of helpinghis master, he had not ceased putting obstacles in his path! and when he recalled all the incidents ofthe tour, when he counted up the sums expended in pure loss and on his ownaccount, when he thought that the immense stake, added to the heavy charges of this useless journey, would completely ruin mr.fogg, he overwhelmed himself with bitter self-accusations.
mr. fogg, however, did not reproach him;and, on leaving the cunard pier, only said: "we will consult about what is best to-morrow. come." the party crossed the hudson in the jerseycity ferryboat, and drove in a carriage to the st. nicholas hotel, on broadway. rooms were engaged, and the night passed,briefly to phileas fogg, who slept profoundly, but very long to aouda and theothers, whose agitation did not permit them to rest. the next day was the 12th of december.from seven in the morning of the 12th to a
quarter before nine in the evening of the21st there were nine days, thirteen hours, and forty-five minutes. if phileas fogg had left in the china, oneof the fastest steamers on the atlantic, he would have reached liverpool, and thenlondon, within the period agreed upon. mr. fogg left the hotel alone, after givingpassepartout instructions to await his return, and inform aouda to be ready at aninstant's notice. he proceeded to the banks of the hudson,and looked about among the vessels moored or anchored in the river, for any that wereabout to depart. several had departure signals, and werepreparing to put to sea at morning tide;
for in this immense and admirable portthere is not one day in a hundred that vessels do not set out for every quarter ofthe globe. but they were mostly sailing vessels, ofwhich, of course, phileas fogg could make no use. he seemed about to give up all hope, whenhe espied, anchored at the battery, a cable's length off at most, a tradingvessel, with a screw, well-shaped, whose funnel, puffing a cloud of smoke, indicatedthat she was getting ready for departure. phileas fogg hailed a boat, got into it,and soon found himself on board the henrietta, iron-hulled, wood-built above.
he ascended to the deck, and asked for thecaptain, who forthwith presented himself. he was a man of fifty, a sort of sea-wolf,with big eyes, a complexion of oxidised copper, red hair and thick neck, and agrowling voice. "the captain?" asked mr. fogg. "i am the captain.""i am phileas fogg, of london." "and i am andrew speedy, of cardiff.""you are going to put to sea?" "in an hour." "you are bound for--""bordeaux." "and your cargo?""no freight.
going in ballast." "have you any passengers?""no passengers. never have passengers.too much in the way." "is your vessel a swift one?" "between eleven and twelve knots.the henrietta, well known." "will you carry me and three other personsto liverpool?" "to liverpool? why not to china?""i said liverpool." "no!""no?"
"no. i am setting out for bordeaux, andshall go to bordeaux." "money is no object?""none." the captain spoke in a tone which did notadmit of a reply. "but the owners of the henrietta--" resumedphileas fogg. "the owners are myself," replied thecaptain. "the vessel belongs to me.""i will freight it for you." "no." "i will buy it of you.""no." phileas fogg did not betray the leastdisappointment; but the situation was a
grave one. it was not at new york as at hong kong, norwith the captain of the henrietta as with the captain of the tankadere.up to this time money had smoothed away every obstacle. now money failed.still, some means must be found to cross the atlantic on a boat, unless by balloon--which would have been venturesome, besides not being capable of being put in practice. it seemed that phileas fogg had an idea,for he said to the captain, "well, will you carry me to bordeaux?""no, not if you paid me two hundred
dollars." "i offer you two thousand.""apiece?" "apiece.""and there are four of you?" "four." captain speedy began to scratch his head.there were eight thousand dollars to gain, without changing his route; for which itwas well worth conquering the repugnance he had for all kinds of passengers. besides, passenger's at two thousanddollars are no longer passengers, but valuable merchandise."i start at nine o'clock," said captain
speedy, simply. "are you and your party ready?""we will be on board at nine o'clock," replied, no less simply, mr. fogg.it was half-past eight. to disembark from the henrietta, jump intoa hack, hurry to the st. nicholas, and return with aouda, passepartout, and eventhe inseparable fix was the work of a brief time, and was performed by mr. fogg withthe coolness which never abandoned him. they were on board when the henrietta madeready to weigh anchor. when passepartout heard what this lastvoyage was going to cost, he uttered a prolonged "oh!" which extended throughouthis vocal gamut.
as for fix, he said to himself that thebank of england would certainly not come out of this affair well indemnified. when they reached england, even if mr. foggdid not throw some handfuls of bank-bills into the sea, more than seven thousandpounds would have been spent! chapter xxxiiiin which phileas fogg shows himself equal to the occasion an hour after, the henrietta passed thelighthouse which marks the entrance of the hudson, turned the point of sandy hook, andput to sea. during the day she skirted long island,passed fire island, and directed her course
rapidly eastward.at noon the next day, a man mounted the bridge to ascertain the vessel's position. it might be thought that this was captainspeedy. not the least in the world.it was phileas fogg, esquire. as for captain speedy, he was shut up inhis cabin under lock and key, and was uttering loud cries, which signified ananger at once pardonable and excessive. what had happened was very simple. phileas fogg wished to go to liverpool, butthe captain would not carry him there. then phileas fogg had taken passage forbordeaux, and, during the thirty hours he
had been on board, had so shrewdly managedwith his banknotes that the sailors and stokers, who were only an occasional crew, and were not on the best terms with thecaptain, went over to him in a body. this was why phileas fogg was in commandinstead of captain speedy; why the captain was a prisoner in his cabin; and why, inshort, the henrietta was directing her course towards liverpool. it was very clear, to see mr. fogg managethe craft, that he had been a sailor. how the adventure ended will be seen anon.aouda was anxious, though she said nothing. as for passepartout, he thought mr. fogg'smanoeuvre simply glorious.
the captain had said "between eleven andtwelve knots," and the henrietta confirmed his prediction. if, then--for there were "ifs" still--thesea did not become too boisterous, if the wind did not veer round to the east, if noaccident happened to the boat or its machinery, the henrietta might cross the three thousand miles from new york toliverpool in the nine days, between the 12th and the 21st of december. it is true that, once arrived, the affairon board the henrietta, added to that of the bank of england, might create moredifficulties for mr. fogg than he imagined
or could desire. during the first days, they went alongsmoothly enough. the sea was not very unpropitious, the windseemed stationary in the north-east, the sails were hoisted, and the henriettaploughed across the waves like a real trans-atlantic steamer. passepartout was delighted.his master's last exploit, the consequences of which he ignored, enchanted him.never had the crew seen so jolly and dexterous a fellow. he formed warm friendships with thesailors, and amazed them with his acrobatic
feats. he thought they managed the vessel likegentlemen, and that the stokers fired up like heroes.his loquacious good-humour infected everyone. he had forgotten the past, its vexationsand delays. he only thought of the end, so nearlyaccomplished; and sometimes he boiled over with impatience, as if heated by thefurnaces of the henrietta. often, also, the worthy fellow revolvedaround fix, looking at him with a keen, distrustful eye; but he did not speak tohim, for their old intimacy no longer
existed. fix, it must be confessed, understoodnothing of what was going on. the conquest of the henrietta, the briberyof the crew, fogg managing the boat like a skilled seaman, amazed and confused him. he did not know what to think. for, after all, a man who began by stealingfifty-five thousand pounds might end by stealing a vessel; and fix was notunnaturally inclined to conclude that the henrietta under fogg's command, was not going to liverpool at all, but to some partof the world where the robber, turned into
a pirate, would quietly put himself insafety. the conjecture was at least a plausibleone, and the detective began to seriously regret that he had embarked on the affair. as for captain speedy, he continued to howland growl in his cabin; and passepartout, whose duty it was to carry him his meals,courageous as he was, took the greatest precautions. mr. fogg did not seem even to know thatthere was a captain on board. on the 13th they passed the edge of thebanks of newfoundland, a dangerous locality; during the winter, especially,there are frequent fogs and heavy gales of
wind. ever since the evening before thebarometer, suddenly falling, had indicated an approaching change in the atmosphere;and during the night the temperature varied, the cold became sharper, and thewind veered to the south-east. this was a misfortune. mr. fogg, in order not to deviate from hiscourse, furled his sails and increased the force of the steam; but the vessel's speedslackened, owing to the state of the sea, the long waves of which broke against thestern. she pitched violently, and this retardedher progress.
the breeze little by little swelled into atempest, and it was to be feared that the henrietta might not be able to maintainherself upright on the waves. passepartout's visage darkened with theskies, and for two days the poor fellow experienced constant fright. but phileas fogg was a bold mariner, andknew how to maintain headway against the sea; and he kept on his course, withouteven decreasing his steam. the henrietta, when she could not rise uponthe waves, crossed them, swamping her deck, but passing safely. sometimes the screw rose out of the water,beating its protruding end, when a mountain
of water raised the stern above the waves;but the craft always kept straight ahead. the wind, however, did not grow asboisterous as might have been feared; it was not one of those tempests which burst,and rush on with a speed of ninety miles an hour. it continued fresh, but, unhappily, itremained obstinately in the south-east, rendering the sails useless. the 16th of december was the seventy-fifthday since phileas fogg's departure from london, and the henrietta had not yet beenseriously delayed. half of the voyage was almost accomplished,and the worst localities had been passed.
in summer, success would have been well-nigh certain. in winter, they were at the mercy of thebad season. passepartout said nothing; but he cherishedhope in secret, and comforted himself with the reflection that, if the wind failedthem, they might still count on the steam. on this day the engineer came on deck, wentup to mr. fogg, and began to speak earnestly with him.without knowing why it was a presentiment, perhaps passepartout became vaguely uneasy. he would have given one of his ears to hearwith the other what the engineer was saying.
he finally managed to catch a few words,and was sure he heard his master say, "you are certain of what you tell me?""certain, sir," replied the engineer. "you must remember that, since we started,we have kept up hot fires in all our furnaces, and, though we had coal enough togo on short steam from new york to bordeaux, we haven't enough to go with allsteam from new york to liverpool." "i will consider," replied mr. fogg.passepartout understood it all; he was seized with mortal anxiety. the coal was giving out!"ah, if my master can get over that," muttered he, "he'll be a famous man!"he could not help imparting to fix what he
had overheard. "then you believe that we really are goingto liverpool?" "of course.""ass!" replied the detective, shrugging his shoulders and turning on his heel. passepartout was on the point of vigorouslyresenting the epithet, the reason of which he could not for the life of himcomprehend; but he reflected that the unfortunate fix was probably very much disappointed and humiliated in his self-esteem, after having so awkwardly followed a false scent around the world, andrefrained.
and now what course would phileas foggadopt? it was difficult to imagine. nevertheless he seemed to have decided uponone, for that evening he sent for the engineer, and said to him, "feed all thefires until the coal is exhausted." a few moments after, the funnel of thehenrietta vomited forth torrents of smoke. the vessel continued to proceed with allsteam on; but on the 18th, the engineer, as he had predicted, announced that the coalwould give out in the course of the day. "do not let the fires go down," replied mr.fogg. "keep them up to the last.let the valves be filled."
towards noon phileas fogg, havingascertained their position, called passepartout, and ordered him to go forcaptain speedy. it was as if the honest fellow had beencommanded to unchain a tiger. he went to the poop, saying to himself, "hewill be like a madman!" in a few moments, with cries and oaths, abomb appeared on the poop-deck. the bomb was captain speedy.it was clear that he was on the point of bursting. "where are we?" were the first words hisanger permitted him to utter. had the poor man be an apoplectic, he couldnever have recovered from his paroxysm of
wrath. "where are we?" he repeated, with purpleface. "seven hundred and seven miles fromliverpool," replied mr. fogg, with imperturbable calmness. "pirate!" cried captain speedy."i have sent for you, sir--" "pickaroon!""--sir," continued mr. fogg, "to ask you to sell me your vessel." "no! by all the devils, no!""but i shall be obliged to burn her." "burn the henrietta!""yes; at least the upper part of her.
the coal has given out." "burn my vessel!" cried captain speedy, whocould scarcely pronounce the words. "a vessel worth fifty thousand dollars!" "here are sixty thousand," replied phileasfogg, handing the captain a roll of bank- bills.this had a prodigious effect on andrew speedy. an american can scarcely remain unmoved atthe sight of sixty thousand dollars. the captain forgot in an instant his anger,his imprisonment, and all his grudges against his passenger.
the henrietta was twenty years old; it wasa great bargain. the bomb would not go off after all.mr. fogg had taken away the match. "and i shall still have the iron hull,"said the captain in a softer tone. "the iron hull and the engine.is it agreed?" "agreed." and andrew speedy, seizing the banknotes,counted them and consigned them to his pocket. during this colloquy, passepartout was aswhite as a sheet, and fix seemed on the point of having an apoplectic fit.
nearly twenty thousand pounds had beenexpended, and fogg left the hull and engine to the captain, that is, near the wholevalue of the craft! it was true, however, that fifty-fivethousand pounds had been stolen from the bank. when andrew speedy had pocketed the money,mr. fogg said to him, "don't let this astonish you, sir. you must know that i shall lose twentythousand pounds, unless i arrive in london by a quarter before nine on the evening ofthe 21st of december. i missed the steamer at new york, and asyou refused to take me to liverpool--"
"and i did well!" cried andrew speedy; "fori have gained at least forty thousand dollars by it!" he added, more sedately, "do you know onething, captain--" "fogg.""captain fogg, you've got something of the yankee about you." and, having paid his passenger what heconsidered a high compliment, he was going away, when mr. fogg said, "the vessel nowbelongs to me?" "certainly, from the keel to the truck ofthe masts--all the wood, that is." "very well.have the interior seats, bunks, and frames
pulled down, and burn them." it was necessary to have dry wood to keepthe steam up to the adequate pressure, and on that day the poop, cabins, bunks, andthe spare deck were sacrificed. on the next day, the 19th of december, themasts, rafts, and spars were burned; the crew worked lustily, keeping up the fires.passepartout hewed, cut, and sawed away with all his might. there was a perfect rage for demolition.the railings, fittings, the greater part of the deck, and top sides disappeared on the20th, and the henrietta was now only a flat hulk.
but on this day they sighted the irishcoast and fastnet light. by ten in the evening they were passingqueenstown. phileas fogg had only twenty-four hoursmore in which to get to london; that length of time was necessary to reach liverpool,with all steam on. and the steam was about to give outaltogether! "sir," said captain speedy, who was nowdeeply interested in mr. fogg's project, "i really commiserate you. everything is against you.we are only opposite queenstown." "ah," said mr. fogg, "is that place wherewe see the lights queenstown?"
"yes." "can we enter the harbour?""not under three hours. only at high tide." "stay," replied mr. fogg calmly, withoutbetraying in his features that by a supreme inspiration he was about to attempt oncemore to conquer ill-fortune. queenstown is the irish port at which thetrans-atlantic steamers stop to put off the mails. these mails are carried to dublin byexpress trains always held in readiness to start; from dublin they are sent on toliverpool by the most rapid boats, and thus
gain twelve hours on the atlantic steamers. phileas fogg counted on gaining twelvehours in the same way. instead of arriving at liverpool the nextevening by the henrietta, he would be there by noon, and would therefore have time toreach london before a quarter before nine in the evening. the henrietta entered queenstown harbour atone o'clock in the morning, it then being high tide; and phileas fogg, after beinggrasped heartily by the hand by captain speedy, left that gentleman on the levelled hulk of his craft, which was still worthhalf what he had sold it for.
the party went on shore at once.fix was greatly tempted to arrest mr. fogg on the spot; but he did not. why? what struggle was going on within him?had he changed his mind about "his man"? did he understand that he had made a gravemistake? he did not, however, abandon mr. fogg. they all got upon the train, which was justready to start, at half-past one; at dawn of day they were in dublin; and they lostno time in embarking on a steamer which, disdaining to rise upon the waves,invariably cut through them. phileas fogg at last disembarked on theliverpool quay, at twenty minutes before
twelve, 21st december. he was only six hours distant from london.but at this moment fix came up, put his hand upon mr. fogg's shoulder, and, showinghis warrant, said, "you are really phileas fogg?" "i am.""i arrest you in the queen's name!" chapter xxxivin which phileas fogg at last reaches london phileas fogg was in prison.he had been shut up in the custom house, and he was to be transferred to london thenext day.
passepartout, when he saw his masterarrested, would have fallen upon fix had he not been held back by some policemen.aouda was thunderstruck at the suddenness of an event which she could not understand. passepartout explained to her how it wasthat the honest and courageous fogg was arrested as a robber. the young woman's heart revolted against soheinous a charge, and when she saw that she could attempt to do nothing to save herprotector, she wept bitterly. as for fix, he had arrested mr. foggbecause it was his duty, whether mr. fogg were guilty or not.the thought then struck passepartout, that
he was the cause of this new misfortune! had he not concealed fix's errand from hismaster? when fix revealed his true character andpurpose, why had he not told mr. fogg? if the latter had been warned, he would nodoubt have given fix proof of his innocence, and satisfied him of hismistake; at least, fix would not have continued his journey at the expense and on the heels of his master, only to arrest himthe moment he set foot on english soil. passepartout wept till he was blind, andfelt like blowing his brains out. aouda and he had remained, despite thecold, under the portico of the custom
house.neither wished to leave the place; both were anxious to see mr. fogg again. that gentleman was really ruined, and thatat the moment when he was about to attain his end.this arrest was fatal. having arrived at liverpool at twentyminutes before twelve on the 21st of december, he had till a quarter before ninethat evening to reach the reform club, that is, nine hours and a quarter; the journeyfrom liverpool to london was six hours. if anyone, at this moment, had entered thecustom house, he would have found mr. fogg seated, motionless, calm, and withoutapparent anger, upon a wooden bench.
he was not, it is true, resigned; but thislast blow failed to force him into an outward betrayal of any emotion. was he being devoured by one of thosesecret rages, all the more terrible because contained, and which only burst forth, withan irresistible force, at the last moment? no one could tell. there he sat, calmly waiting--for what?did he still cherish hope? did he still believe, now that the door ofthis prison was closed upon him, that he would succeed? however that may have been, mr. foggcarefully put his watch upon the table, and
observed its advancing hands.not a word escaped his lips, but his look was singularly set and stern. the situation, in any event, was a terribleone, and might be thus stated: if phileas fogg was honest he was ruined; if he was aknave, he was caught. did escape occur to him? did he examine to see if there were anypracticable outlet from his prison? did he think of escaping from it?possibly; for once he walked slowly around the room. but the door was locked, and the windowheavily barred with iron rods.
he sat down again, and drew his journalfrom his pocket. on the line where these words were written,"21st december, saturday, liverpool," he added, "80th day, 11.40 a.m.," and waited.the custom house clock struck one. mr. fogg observed that his watch was twohours too fast. two hours! admitting that he was at this moment takingan express train, he could reach london and the reform club by a quarter before nine,p.m. his forehead slightly wrinkled. at thirty-three minutes past two he heard asingular noise outside, then a hasty
opening of doors.passepartout's voice was audible, and immediately after that of fix. phileas fogg's eyes brightened for aninstant. the door swung open, and he sawpassepartout, aouda, and fix, who hurried towards him. fix was out of breath, and his hair was indisorder. he could not speak. "sir," he stammered, "sir--forgive me--most--unfortunate resemblance--robber arrested three days ago--you are free!"phileas fogg was free!
he walked to the detective, looked himsteadily in the face, and with the only rapid motion he had ever made in his life,or which he ever would make, drew back his arms, and with the precision of a machineknocked fix down. "well hit!" cried passepartout, "parbleu!that's what you might call a good application of english fists!" fix, who found himself on the floor, didnot utter a word. he had only received his deserts. mr. fogg, aouda, and passepartout left thecustom house without delay, got into a cab, and in a few moments descended at thestation.
phileas fogg asked if there was an expresstrain about to leave for london. it was forty minutes past two.the express train had left thirty-five minutes before. phileas fogg then ordered a special train.there were several rapid locomotives on hand; but the railway arrangements did notpermit the special train to leave until three o'clock. at that hour phileas fogg, havingstimulated the engineer by the offer of a generous reward, at last set out towardslondon with aouda and his faithful servant. it was necessary to make the journey infive hours and a half; and this would have
been easy on a clear road throughout. but there were forced delays, and when mr.fogg stepped from the train at the terminus, all the clocks in london werestriking ten minutes before nine. having made the tour of the world, he wasbehind-hand five minutes. he had lost the wager! chapter xxxvin which phileas fogg does not have to repeat his orders to passepartout twice the dwellers in saville row would have beensurprised the next day, if they had been told that phileas fogg had returned home.his doors and windows were still closed, no
appearance of change was visible. after leaving the station, mr. fogg gavepassepartout instructions to purchase some provisions, and quietly went to hisdomicile. he bore his misfortune with his habitualtranquillity. ruined!and by the blundering of the detective! after having steadily traversed that longjourney, overcome a hundred obstacles, braved many dangers, and still found timeto do some good on his way, to fail near the goal by a sudden event which he could not have foreseen, and against which he wasunarmed; it was terrible!
but a few pounds were left of the large sumhe had carried with him. there only remained of his fortune thetwenty thousand pounds deposited at barings, and this amount he owed to hisfriends of the reform club. so great had been the expense of his tourthat, even had he won, it would not have enriched him; and it is probable that hehad not sought to enrich himself, being a man who rather laid wagers for honour'ssake than for the stake proposed. but this wager totally ruined him. mr. fogg's course, however, was fullydecided upon; he knew what remained for him to do.
a room in the house in saville row was setapart for aouda, who was overwhelmed with grief at her protector's misfortune. from the words which mr. fogg dropped, shesaw that he was meditating some serious project. knowing that englishmen governed by a fixedidea sometimes resort to the desperate expedient of suicide, passepartout kept anarrow watch upon his master, though he carefully concealed the appearance of sodoing. first of all, the worthy fellow had gone upto his room, and had extinguished the gas burner, which had been burning for eightydays.
he had found in the letter-box a bill fromthe gas company, and he thought it more than time to put a stop to this expense,which he had been doomed to bear. the night passed. mr. fogg went to bed, but did he sleep?aouda did not once close her eyes. passepartout watched all night, like afaithful dog, at his master's door. mr. fogg called him in the morning, andtold him to get aouda's breakfast, and a cup of tea and a chop for himself. he desired aouda to excuse him frombreakfast and dinner, as his time would be absorbed all day in putting his affairs torights.
in the evening he would ask permission tohave a few moment's conversation with the young lady.passepartout, having received his orders, had nothing to do but obey them. he looked at his imperturbable master, andcould scarcely bring his mind to leave him. his heart was full, and his consciencetortured by remorse; for he accused himself more bitterly than ever of being the causeof the irretrievable disaster. yes! if he had warned mr. fogg, and hadbetrayed fix's projects to him, his master would certainly not have given thedetective passage to liverpool, and then-- passepartout could hold in no longer.
"my master!mr. fogg!" he cried, "why do you not curse me?it was my fault that--" "i blame no one," returned phileas fogg,with perfect calmness. "go!" passepartout left the room, and went tofind aouda, to whom he delivered his master's message."madam," he added, "i can do nothing myself--nothing! i have no influence over my master; butyou, perhaps--" "what influence could i have?" repliedaouda.
"mr. fogg is influenced by no one. has he ever understood that my gratitude tohim is overflowing? has he ever read my heart?my friend, he must not be left alone an instant! you say he is going to speak with me thisevening?" "yes, madam; probably to arrange for yourprotection and comfort in england." "we shall see," replied aouda, becomingsuddenly pensive. throughout this day (sunday) the house insaville row was as if uninhabited, and phileas fogg, for the first time since hehad lived in that house, did not set out
for his club when westminster clock struckhalf-past eleven. why should he present himself at thereform? his friends no longer expected him there. as phileas fogg had not appeared in thesaloon on the evening before (saturday, the 21st of december, at a quarter beforenine), he had lost his wager. it was not even necessary that he should goto his bankers for the twenty thousand pounds; for his antagonists already had hischeque in their hands, and they had only to fill it out and send it to the barings to have the amount transferred to theircredit.
mr. fogg, therefore, had no reason forgoing out, and so he remained at home. he shut himself up in his room, and busiedhimself putting his affairs in order. passepartout continually ascended anddescended the stairs. the hours were long for him. he listened at his master's door, andlooked through the keyhole, as if he had a perfect right so to do, and as if he fearedthat something terrible might happen at any moment. sometimes he thought of fix, but no longerin anger. fix, like all the world, had been mistakenin phileas fogg, and had only done his duty
in tracking and arresting him; while he,passepartout. . .. this thought haunted him, and he neverceased cursing his miserable folly. finding himself too wretched to remainalone, he knocked at aouda's door, went into her room, seated himself, withoutspeaking, in a corner, and looked ruefully at the young woman. aouda was still pensive.about half-past seven in the evening mr. fogg sent to know if aouda would receivehim, and in a few moments he found himself
alone with her. phileas fogg took a chair, and sat downnear the fireplace, opposite aouda. no emotion was visible on his face. fogg returned was exactly the fogg who hadgone away; there was the same calm, the same impassibility. he sat several minutes without speaking;then, bending his eyes on aouda, "madam," said he, "will you pardon me for bringingyou to england?" "i, mr. fogg!" replied aouda, checking thepulsations of her heart. "please let me finish," returned mr. fogg.
"when i decided to bring you far away fromthe country which was so unsafe for you, i was rich, and counted on putting a portionof my fortune at your disposal; then your existence would have been free and happy. but now i am ruined." "i know it, mr. fogg," replied aouda; "andi ask you in my turn, will you forgive me for having followed you, and--who knows?--for having, perhaps, delayed you, and thus contributed to your ruin?" "madam, you could not remain in india, andyour safety could only be assured by bringing you to such a distance that yourpersecutors could not take you."
"so, mr. fogg," resumed aouda, "not contentwith rescuing me from a terrible death, you thought yourself bound to secure my comfortin a foreign land?" "yes, madam; but circumstances have beenagainst me. still, i beg to place the little i haveleft at your service." "but what will become of you, mr. fogg?" "as for me, madam," replied the gentleman,coldly, "i have need of nothing." "but how do you look upon the fate, sir,which awaits you?" "as i am in the habit of doing." "at least," said aouda, "want should notovertake a man like you.
your friends--""i have no friends, madam." "your relatives--" "i have no longer any relatives.""i pity you, then, mr. fogg, for solitude is a sad thing, with no heart to which toconfide your griefs. they say, though, that misery itself,shared by two sympathetic souls, may be borne with patience.""they say so, madam." "mr. fogg," said aouda, rising and seizinghis hand, "do you wish at once a kinswoman and friend?will you have me for your wife?" mr. fogg, at this, rose in his turn.
there was an unwonted light in his eyes,and a slight trembling of his lips. aouda looked into his face. the sincerity, rectitude, firmness, andsweetness of this soft glance of a noble woman, who could dare all to save him towhom she owed all, at first astonished, then penetrated him. he shut his eyes for an instant, as if toavoid her look. when he opened them again, "i love you!" hesaid, simply. "yes, by all that is holiest, i love you,and i am entirely yours!" "ah!" cried aouda, pressing his hand to herheart.
passepartout was summoned and appearedimmediately. mr. fogg still held aouda's hand in hisown; passepartout understood, and his big, round face became as radiant as thetropical sun at its zenith. mr. fogg asked him if it was not too lateto notify the reverend samuel wilson, of marylebone parish, that evening.passepartout smiled his most genial smile, and said, "never too late." it was five minutes past eight."will it be for to-morrow, monday?" "for to-morrow, monday," said mr. fogg,turning to aouda. "yes; for to-morrow, monday," she replied.
passepartout hurried off as fast as hislegs could carry him. chapter xxxviin which phileas fogg's name is once more at a premium on 'change it is time to relate what a change tookplace in english public opinion when it transpired that the real bankrobber, acertain james strand, had been arrested, on the 17th day of december, at edinburgh. three days before, phileas fogg had been acriminal, who was being desperately followed up by the police; now he was anhonourable gentleman, mathematically pursuing his eccentric journey round theworld.
the papers resumed their discussion aboutthe wager; all those who had laid bets, for or against him, revived their interest, asif by magic; the "phileas fogg bonds" again became negotiable, and many new wagers weremade. phileas fogg's name was once more at apremium on 'change. his five friends of the reform club passedthese three days in a state of feverish suspense.would phileas fogg, whom they had forgotten, reappear before their eyes! where was he at this moment?the 17th of december, the day of james strand's arrest, was the seventy-sixthsince phileas fogg's departure, and no news
of him had been received. was he dead?had he abandoned the effort, or was he continuing his journey along the routeagreed upon? and would he appear on saturday, the 21stof december, at a quarter before nine in the evening, on the threshold of the reformclub saloon? the anxiety in which, for three days,london society existed, cannot be described.telegrams were sent to america and asia for news of phileas fogg. messengers were dispatched to the house insaville row morning and evening.
no news. the police were ignorant what had become ofthe detective, fix, who had so unfortunately followed up a false scent.bets increased, nevertheless, in number and value. phileas fogg, like a racehorse, was drawingnear his last turning-point. the bonds were quoted, no longer at ahundred below par, but at twenty, at ten, and at five; and paralytic old lordalbemarle bet even in his favour. a great crowd was collected in pall malland the neighbouring streets on saturday evening; it seemed like a multitude ofbrokers permanently established around the
reform club. circulation was impeded, and everywheredisputes, discussions, and financial transactions were going on. the police had great difficulty in keepingback the crowd, and as the hour when phileas fogg was due approached, theexcitement rose to its highest pitch. the five antagonists of phileas fogg hadmet in the great saloon of the club. john sullivan and samuel fallentin, thebankers, andrew stuart, the engineer, gauthier ralph, the director of the bank ofengland, and thomas flanagan, the brewer, one and all waited anxiously.
when the clock indicated twenty minutespast eight, andrew stuart got up, saying, "gentlemen, in twenty minutes the timeagreed upon between mr. fogg and ourselves will have expired." "what time did the last train arrive fromliverpool?" asked thomas flanagan. "at twenty-three minutes past seven,"replied gauthier ralph; "and the next does not arrive till ten minutes after twelve." "well, gentlemen," resumed andrew stuart,"if phileas fogg had come in the 7:23 train, he would have got here by this time.we can, therefore, regard the bet as won." "wait; don't let us be too hasty," repliedsamuel fallentin.
"you know that mr. fogg is very eccentric. his punctuality is well known; he neverarrives too soon, or too late; and i should not be surprised if he appeared before usat the last minute." "why," said andrew stuart nervously, "if ishould see him, i should not believe it was he.""the fact is," resumed thomas flanagan, "mr. fogg's project was absurdly foolish. whatever his punctuality, he could notprevent the delays which were certain to occur; and a delay of only two or threedays would be fatal to his tour." "observe, too," added john sullivan, "thatwe have received no intelligence from him,
though there are telegraphic lines allalong is route." "he has lost, gentleman," said andrewstuart, "he has a hundred times lost! you know, besides, that the china the onlysteamer he could have taken from new york to get here in time arrived yesterday. i have seen a list of the passengers, andthe name of phileas fogg is not among them. even if we admit that fortune has favouredhim, he can scarcely have reached america. i think he will be at least twenty daysbehind-hand, and that lord albemarle will lose a cool five thousand." "it is clear," replied gauthier ralph; "andwe have nothing to do but to present mr.
fogg's cheque at barings to-morrow."at this moment, the hands of the club clock pointed to twenty minutes to nine. "five minutes more," said andrew stuart.the five gentlemen looked at each other. their anxiety was becoming intense; but,not wishing to betray it, they readily assented to mr. fallentin's proposal of arubber. "i wouldn't give up my four thousand of thebet," said andrew stuart, as he took his seat, "for three thousand nine hundred andninety-nine." the clock indicated eighteen minutes tonine. the players took up their cards, but couldnot keep their eyes off the clock.
certainly, however secure they felt,minutes had never seemed so long to them! "seventeen minutes to nine," said thomasflanagan, as he cut the cards which ralph handed to him. then there was a moment of silence.the great saloon was perfectly quiet; but the murmurs of the crowd outside wereheard, with now and then a shrill cry. the pendulum beat the seconds, which eachplayer eagerly counted, as he listened, with mathematical regularity. "sixteen minutes to nine!" said johnsullivan, in a voice which betrayed his emotion.one minute more, and the wager would be
won. andrew stuart and his partners suspendedtheir game. they left their cards, and counted theseconds. at the fortieth second, nothing. at the fiftieth, still nothing.at the fifty-fifth, a loud cry was heard in the street, followed by applause, hurrahs,and some fierce growls. the players rose from their seats. at the fifty-seventh second the door of thesaloon opened; and the pendulum had not beat the sixtieth second when phileas foggappeared, followed by an excited crowd who
had forced their way through the club doors, and in his calm voice, said, "here iam, gentlemen!" chapter xxxviiin which it is shown that phileas fogg gained nothing by his tour around theworld, unless it were happiness yes; phileas fogg in person. the reader will remember that at fiveminutes past eight in the evening--about five and twenty hours after the arrival ofthe travellers in london--passepartout had been sent by his master to engage the services of the reverend samuel wilson in acertain marriage ceremony, which was to
take place the next day.passepartout went on his errand enchanted. he soon reached the clergyman's house, butfound him not at home. passepartout waited a good twenty minutes,and when he left the reverend gentleman, it was thirty-five minutes past eight. but in what a state he was! with his hair in disorder, and without hishat, he ran along the street as never man was seen to run before, overturningpassers-by, rushing over the sidewalk like a waterspout. in three minutes he was in saville rowagain, and staggered back into mr. fogg's
room.he could not speak. "what is the matter?" asked mr. fogg. "my master!" gasped passepartout--"marriage--impossible--" "impossible?""impossible--for to-morrow." "why so?" "because to-morrow--is sunday!""monday," replied mr. fogg. "no--to-day is saturday.""saturday? impossible!" "yes, yes, yes, yes!" cried passepartout."you have made a mistake of one day!
we arrived twenty-four hours ahead of time;but there are only ten minutes left!" passepartout had seized his master by thecollar, and was dragging him along with irresistible force. phileas fogg, thus kidnapped, withouthaving time to think, left his house, jumped into a cab, promised a hundredpounds to the cabman, and, having run over two dogs and overturned five carriages,reached the reform club. the clock indicated a quarter before ninewhen he appeared in the great saloon. phileas fogg had accomplished the journeyround the world in eighty days! phileas fogg had won his wager of twentythousand pounds!
how was it that a man so exact andfastidious could have made this error of a day? how came he to think that he had arrived inlondon on saturday, the twenty-first day of december, when it was really friday, thetwentieth, the seventy-ninth day only from his departure? the cause of the error is very simple. phileas fogg had, without suspecting it,gained one day on his journey, and this merely because he had travelled constantlyeastward; he would, on the contrary, have lost a day had he gone in the oppositedirection, that is, westward.
in journeying eastward he had gone towardsthe sun, and the days therefore diminished for him as many times four minutes as hecrossed degrees in this direction. there are three hundred and sixty degreeson the circumference of the earth; and these three hundred and sixty degrees,multiplied by four minutes, gives precisely twenty-four hours--that is, the dayunconsciously gained. in other words, while phileas fogg, goingeastward, saw the sun pass the meridian eighty times, his friends in london onlysaw it pass the meridian seventy-nine times. this is why they awaited him at the reformclub on saturday, and not sunday, as mr.
fogg thought. and passepartout's famous family watch,which had always kept london time, would have betrayed this fact, if it had markedthe days as well as the hours and the minutes! phileas fogg, then, had won the twentythousand pounds; but, as he had spent nearly nineteen thousand on the way, thepecuniary gain was small. his object was, however, to be victorious,and not to win money. he divided the one thousand pounds thatremained between passepartout and the unfortunate fix, against whom he cherishedno grudge.
he deducted, however, from passepartout'sshare the cost of the gas which had burned in his room for nineteen hundred and twentyhours, for the sake of regularity. that evening, mr. fogg, as tranquil andphlegmatic as ever, said to aouda: "is our marriage still agreeable to you?""mr. fogg," replied she, "it is for me to ask that question. you were ruined, but now you are richagain." "pardon me, madam; my fortune belongs toyou. if you had not suggested our marriage, myservant would not have gone to the reverend samuel wilson's, i should not have beenapprised of my error, and--"
"dear mr. fogg!" said the young woman. "dear aouda!" replied phileas fogg.it need not be said that the marriage took place forty-eight hours after, and thatpassepartout, glowing and dazzling, gave the bride away. had he not saved her, and was he notentitled to this honour? the next day, as soon as it was light,passepartout rapped vigorously at his master's door. mr. fogg opened it, and asked, "what's thematter, passepartout?" "what is it, sir?why, i've just this instant found out--"
"what?" "that we might have made the tour of theworld in only seventy-eight days." "no doubt," returned mr. fogg, "by notcrossing india. but if i had not crossed india, i shouldnot have saved aouda; she would not have been my wife, and--"mr. fogg quietly shut the door. phileas fogg had won his wager, and hadmade his journey around the world in eighty days. to do this he had employed every means ofconveyance--steamers, railways, carriages, yachts, trading-vessels, sledges,elephants.
the eccentric gentleman had throughoutdisplayed all his marvellous qualities of coolness and exactitude.but what then? what had he really gained by all thistrouble? what had he brought back from this long andweary journey? nothing, say you? perhaps so; nothing but a charming woman,who, strange as it may appear, made him the happiest of men!truly, would you not for less than that make the tour around the world?