In Which a Conversation Takes Place Which Seems
Likely to Cost Phileas Fogg Dearly
Phileas Fogg, having shut the door of his house at half-past
eleven, and having put his right foot before his left five
hundred and seventy-five times, and his left foot before his
right five hundred and seventy-six times, reached the Reform
Club, an imposing edifice in Pall Mall, which could not have cost
less than three millions.
He repaired at once to the dining-room, the nine windows of which
opened upon a tasteful garden, where the trees were already
gilded with an autumn coloring; and took his place at the
habitual table, the cover of which had already been laid for him.
His breakfast consisted of a side-dish, a broiled fish with
Reading sauce, a scarlet slice of roast beef garnished with
mushrooms, a rhubarb and gooseberry tart, and a morsel of
Cheshire cheese, the whole being washed down with several cups of
tea, for which the Reform is famous.
He rose at thirteen minutes to one, and walked towards the large
hall, a sumptuous apartment adorned with lavishly framed
paintings. A porter handed him an uncut Times, which he proceeded
to cut with a skill which betrayed familiarity with this delicate
operation. The reading of this paper absorbed Phileas Fogg until
a quarter before four, while the Standard, his next task,
occupied him till the dinner hour. Dinner passed as breakfast had
done, and Mr. Fogg reappeared in the reading-room and sat down to
the Pall Mall at twenty minutes before six.
Half an hour later several members of the Reform Club came in and
drew up to the fireplace, where a coal fire was steadily burning.
They were Mr. Fogg's usual partners at whist: Andrew Stuart, an
engineer; John Sullivan and Samuel Fallentin, bankers; Thomas
Flanagan, a brewer; and Gauthier Ralph, one of the Directors of
the Bank of England--all rich and highly respectable persons,
even in a club which comprises the princes of English trade and
finance.
"Well, Ralph," said Thomas Flanagan, "what about that robbery?"
"Oh," replied Stuart, "the Bank will lose the money."
"On the contrary," broke in Ralph, "I hope we may put our hands
on the robber. Skillful detectives have been sent to all the
principal ports of America and the Continent, and he'll be a
clever fellow if he slips through their fingers."
"But have you got the robber's description?" asked Stuart.
"In the first place, he is no robber at all," returned Ralph,
positively.
"What! A fellow who makes off with fifty-five thousand pounds, no
robber?"
"No."
"Perhaps he's a manufacturer, then."
"The Daily Telegraph says that he is a gentleman."
It was Phileas Fogg, whose head now emerged from behind his
newspapers, who made this remark. He bowed to his friends, and
entered into the conversation. The affair which formed its
subject, and which was town talk, had occurred three days before
at the Bank of England. A package of banknotes, to the value of
fifty-five thousand pounds, had been taken from the principal
cashier's table, while he was engaged in registering the receipt
of three shillings and sixpence. Of course, he could not have his
eyes everywhere. Let it be observed that the Bank of England has
a touching confidence in the honesty of the public. There are
neither guards nor gratings to protect its treasures; gold,
silver, banknotes are freely exposed, at the mercy of the first
comer. A keen observer of English customs relates that, being in
one of the rooms of the Bank one day, he had the curiosity to
examine a gold ingot weighing some seven or eight pounds. He took
it up, scrutinized it, passed it to his neighbor, he to the next
man, and so on until the ingot, going from hand to hand, was
transferred to the end of a dark entry; nor did it return to its
place for half an hour. Meanwhile, the cashier had not so much as
raised his head. But in the present instance things had not gone
so smoothly. The package of notes not being found when five
o'clock sounded from the ponderous clock in the "drawing office,"
the amount was passed to the account of profit and loss. As soon
as the robbery was discovered, picked detectives hastened off to
Liverpool, Glasgow, Havre, Suez, Brindisi, New York and other
ports, inspired by the promised reward of two thousand pounds,
and five per cent on the sum that might be recovered. Detectives
were also charged with narrowly watching those who arrived at or
left London by rail, and a judicial examination was at once
entered upon.
There were real grounds for supposing, as the Daily Telegraph
said, that the thief did not belong to a professional band. On
the day of the robbery a well-dressed gentleman of polished
manners, and with a well-to-do air, had been observed going to
and fro in the paying-room, where the crime was committed. A
description of him was easily procured and sent to the
detectives; and some hopeful spirits, of whom Ralph was one, did
not despair of his apprehension. The papers and clubs were full
of the affair, and everywhere people were discussing the
probabilities of a successful pursuit. The Reform Club was
especially agitated, several of its members being bank
officials.
Ralph would not concede that the work of the detectives was
likely to be in vain, for he thought that the prize offered would
greatly stimulate their zeal and activity. But Stuart was far
from sharing this confidence; and, as they placed themselves at
the whist-table, they continued to argue the matter. Stuart and
Flanagan played together, while Phileas Fogg had Fallentin for
his partner. As the game proceeded the conversation ceased,
excepting between the rubbers, when it revived again.
"I maintain," said Stuart, "that the chances are in favor of the
thief, who must be a shrewd fellow."
"Well, but where can he fly to?" asked Ralph. "No country is safe
for him."
"Pshaw!"
"Where could he go, then?"
"Oh, I don't know that. The world is big enough."
"It was once," said Phileas Fogg, in a low tone. "Cut, sir," he
added, handing the cards to Thomas Flanagan.
The discussion fell during the rubber, after which Stuart took up
its thread.
"What do you mean by 'once'? Has the world grown smaller?"
"Certainly," returned Ralph. "I agree with Mr. Fogg. The world
has grown smaller, since a man can now go round it ten times more
quickly than a hundred years ago. And that is why the search for
this thief will be more likely to succeed."
"And also why the thief can get away more easily."
"Be so good as to play, Mr. Stuart," said Phileas Fogg.
But the incredulous Stuart was not convinced, and when the hand
was finished, he said eagerly: "You have a strange way, Ralph, of
proving that the world has grown smaller. So, because you can go
round it in three months--"
"In eighty days," interrupted Phileas Fogg.
"That is true, gentlemen," added John Sullivan. "Only eighty
days, now that the section between Rothal and Allahabad, on the
Great Indian Peninsula Railway, has been opened. Here is the
estimate made by the Daily Telegraph:
From London to Suez via Mont Cenis and Brindisi by rail and
steamboats, 7 days
From Suez to Bombay, by steamer, 13 days
From Bombay to Calcutta, by rail, 3 days
From Calcutta to Hong Kong, by steamer, 13 days
From Hong Kong to Yokohama (Japan), by steamer, 6 days
From Yokohama to San Francisco, by steamer, 22 days
From San Francisco to New York, by rail, 7 days
From New York to London, by steamer and rail, 9 days
Total: 80 days"
"Yes, in eighty days!" exclaimed Stuart, who in his excitement
made a false deal. "But that doesn't take into account bad
weather, contrary winds, shipwrecks, railway accidents, and so
on."
"All included," returned Phileas Fogg, continuing to play despite
the discussion.
"But suppose the Hindoos or Indians pull up the rails," replied
Stuart. "Suppose they stop the trains, pillage the luggage vans,
and scalp the passengers!"
"All included," calmly retorted Fogg; adding, as he threw down
the cards, "Two trumps."
Stuart, whose turn it was to deal, gathered them up, and went on:
"You are right, theoretically, Mr. Fogg, but practically--"
"Practically also, Mr. Stuart."
"I'd like to see you do it in eighty days."
"It depends on you. Shall we go?"
"Heaven preserve me! But I would wager four thousand pounds that
such a journey, made under these conditions, is impossible."
"Quite possible, on the contrary," returned Mr. Fogg.
"Well, make it, then!"
"The journey round the world in eighty days?"
"Yes."
"I should like nothing better."
"When?"
"At once. Only I warn you that I shall do it at your expense.
"It's absurd!" cried Stuart, who was beginning to be annoyed at
the persistency of his friend. "Come, let's go on with the game."
"Deal over again, then," said Phileas Fogg. "There's a false
deal."
Stuart took up the pack with a feverish hand. Then he suddenly
put them down again.
"Well, Mr. Fogg," said he, "it shall be so. I will wager the
four thousand on it."
"Calm yourself, my dear Stuart," said Fallentin. "It's only a joke."
"When I say I'll wager," returned Stuart, "I mean it."
"All right," said Mr. Fogg; and, turning to the others, he
continued: "I have a deposit of twenty thousand at Baring's which
I will willingly risk upon it."
"Twenty thousand pounds!" cried Sullivan. "Twenty thousand
pounds, which you would lose by a single accidental delay!"
"The unforeseen does not exist," quietly replied Phileas Fogg.
"But, Mr. Fogg, eighty days are only the estimate of the least
possible time in which the journey can be made."
"A well-used minimum suffices for everything."
"But, in order not to exceed it, you must jump mathematically
from the trains upon the steamers, and from the steamers upon the
trains again."
"I will jump--mathematically."
"You are joking."
"A true Englishman doesn't joke when he is talking about so
serious a thing as a wager," replied Phileas Fogg, solemnly. "I
will bet twenty thousand pounds against anyone who wishes that I
will make the tour of the world in eighty days or less; in
nineteen hundred and twenty hours, or a hundred and fifteen
thousand two hundred minutes. Do you accept?"
"We accept," replied Messrs. Stuart, Fallentin, Sullivan,
Flanagan and Ralph, after consulting each other.
"Good," said Mr. Fogg. "The train leaves for Dover at a quarter
before nine. I will take it."
"This very evening?" asked Stuart.
"This very evening," returned Phileas Fogg. He took out and
consulted a pocket almanac, and added, "As today is Wednesday,
the 2nd of October, I shall be due in London, in this very room
of the Reform Club, on Saturday, the 21st of December, at a
quarter before nine P.M.; or else the twenty thousand pounds, now
deposited in my name at Baring's, will belong to you, in fact and
in right, gentlemen. Here is a check for the amount."
A memorandum of the wager was at once drawn up and signed by the
six parties, during which Phileas Fogg preserved a stoical
composure. He certainly did not bet to win, and had only staked
the twenty thousand pounds, half of his fortune, because he
foresaw that he might have to expend the other half to carry out
this difficult, not to say unattainable, project. As for his
antagonists, they seemed much agitated; not so much by the value
of their stake, as because they had some scruples about betting
under conditions so difficult to their friend.
The clock struck seven, and the party offered to suspend the game
so that Mr. Fogg might make his preparations for departure.
"I am quite ready now," was his tranquil response. "Diamonds are
trumps. Be so good as to play, gentlemen."