Showing What Happened on the Voyage from Singapore to Hong Kong
The detective and Passepartout met often on deck after this
interview, though Fix was reserved, and did not attempt to induce
his companion to divulge any more facts concerning Mr. Fogg. He
caught a glimpse of that mysterious gentleman once or twice. But
Mr. Fogg usually confined himself to the cabin, where he kept
Aouda company, or, according to his inveterate habit, took a hand
at whist.
Passepartout began very seriously to conjecture what strange
chance kept Fix still on the route that his master was pursuing.
It was really worth considering why this certainly very amiable
and complacent person, whom he had first met at Suez, had then
encountered on board the Mongolia, who disembarked at Bombay,
which he announced as his destination, and now turned up so
unexpectedly on the Rangoon, was following Mr. Fogg's tracks
step by step. What was Fix's object? Passepartout was ready to
wager his Indian shoes--which he religiously preserved--that
Fix would also leave Hong Kong at the same time with them, and
probably on the same steamer.
Passepartout might have cudgeled his brain for a century without
hitting upon the real object which the detective had in view. He
never could have imagined that Phileas Fogg was being tracked as
a robber around the globe. But, as it is in human nature to
attempt the solution of every mystery, Passepartout suddenly
discovered an explanation of Fix's movements, which was in truth
far from unreasonable. Fix, he thought, could only be an agent of
Mr. Fogg's friends at the Reform Club, sent to follow him up, and
to ascertain that he really went round the world as had been
agreed upon.
"It's clear!" repeated the worthy servant to himself, proud of
his shrewdness. "He's a spy sent to keep us in view! That isn't
quite the thing, either, to be spying on Mr. Fogg, who is so
honorable a man! Ah, gentlemen of the Reform, this shall cost you
dear!"
Passepartout, enchanted with his discovery, resolved to say
nothing to his master, lest he should be justly offended at this
mistrust on the part of his adversaries. But he determined to
chaff Fix, when he had the chance, with mysterious allusions,
which, however, need not betray his real suspicions.
During the afternoon of Wednesday, 30th October, the Rangoon
entered the Strait of Malacca, which separates the peninsula of
that name from Sumatra. The mountainous and craggy islets
intercepted the beauties of this noble island from the view of
the travelers. The Rangoon weighed anchor at Singapore the next
day at four A.M., to receive coal, having gained half a day on
the prescribed time of her arrival. Phileas Fogg noted this gain
in his journal, and then, accompanied by Aouda, who betrayed a
desire for a walk on shore, disembarked.
Fix, who suspected Mr. Fogg's every movement, followed them
cautiously, without being himself perceived; while Passepartout,
laughing in his sleeve at Fix's maneuvers, went about his usual
errands.
The island of Singapore is not imposing in aspect, for there are
no mountains; yet its appearance is not without attractions. It
is a park checkered by pleasant highways and avenues. A handsome
carriage, drawn by a sleek pair of New Holland horses, carried
Phileas Fogg and Aouda into the midst of rows of palms with
brilliant foliage, and of clover-trees, whereof the cloves form
the head of a half-open flower. Pepper plants replaced the
prickly hedges of European fields. Sago-bushes, large ferns with
gorgeous branches, varied the aspect of this tropical clime.
Nutmeg trees in full foliage filled the air with a penetrating
perfume. Agile and grinning bands of monkeys skipped about in the
trees, nor were tigers wanting in the jungles.
After a drive of two hours through the country, Aouda and Mr.
Fogg returned to the town, which is a vast collection of
heavy-looking, irregular houses, surrounded by charming gardens
rich in tropical fruits and plants. At ten o'clock they
re-embarked, closely followed by the detective, who had kept them
constantly in sight.
Passepartout, who had been purchasing several dozen mangoes--a
fruit as large as good-sized apples, of a dark brown color
outside and a bright red within, and whose white pulp, melting in
the mouth, affords gourmands a delicious sensation--was waiting
for them on deck. He was only too glad to offer some mangoes to
Aouda, who thanked him very gracefully for them.
At eleven o'clock the Rangoon rode out of Singapore harbor, and
in a few hours the high mountains of Malacca, with their forests,
inhabited by the most beautifully furred tigers in the world,
were lost to view. Singapore is distant some thirteen hundred
miles from the island of Hong Kong, which is a little English
colony near the Chinese coast. Phileas Fogg hoped to accomplish
the journey in six days, so as to be in time for the steamer
which would leave on the 6th of November for Yokohama, the
principal Japanese port.
The Rangoon had a large quota of passengers, many of whom
disembarked at Singapore, among them a number of Indians,
Ceylonese, Chinamen, Malays and Portuguese, mostly second-class
travelers.
The weather, which had hitherto been fine, changed with the last
quarter of the moon. The sea rolled heavily, and the wind at
intervals rose almost to a storm, but happily blew from the
southwest, and thus aided the steamer's progress. The captain as
often as possible put up his sails, and under the double action
of steam and sail the vessel made rapid progress along the coast
of Anam and Cochin China. Owing to the defective construction of
the Rangoon, however, unusual precautions became necessary in
unfavorable weather; but the loss of time which resulted from
this cause, while it nearly drove Passepartout out of his senses,
did not seem to affect his master in the least. Passepartout
blamed the captain, the engineer and the crew, and
consigned all who were connected with the ship to the land where
the pepper grows. Perhaps the thought of the gas, which was
remorselessly burning at his expense in Saville Row, had
something to do with his hot impatience.
"You are in a great hurry, then," said Fix to him one day, "to
reach Hong Kong?"
"A very great hurry!"
"Mr. Fogg, I suppose, is anxious to catch the steamer for
Yokohama?"
"Terribly anxious."
"You believe in this journey around the world, then?"
"Absolutely. Don't you, Mr. Fix?"
"I? I don't believe a word of it."
"You're a sly dog!" said Passepartout, winking at him.
This expression rather disturbed Fix, without his knowing why.
Had the Frenchman guessed his real purpose? He knew not what to
think. But how could Passepartout have discovered that he was a
detective? Yet, in speaking as he did, the man evidently meant
more than he expressed.
Passepartout went still further the next day. He could not hold
his tongue.
"Mr. Fix," said he, in a bantering tone, "shall we be so
unfortunate as to lose you when we get to Hong Kong?"
"Why," responded Fix, a little embarrassed, "I don't know;
perhaps--"
"Ah, if you would only go on with us! An agent of the Peninsular
Company, you know, can't stop on the way! You were only going to
Bombay, and here you are in China. America is not far off, and
from America to Europe is only a step."
Fix looked intently at his companion, whose countenance was as
serene as possible, and laughed with him. But Passepartout
persisted in chaffing him by asking him if he made much by his
present occupation.
"Yes, and no," returned Fix. "There is good and bad luck in such
things. But you must understand that I don't travel at my own
expense."
"Oh, I am quite sure of that!" cried Passepartout, laughing
heartily.
Fix, fairly puzzled, descended to his cabin and gave himself up
to his reflections. He was evidently suspected; somehow or other
the Frenchman had found out that he was a detective. But had he
told his master? What part was he playing in all this. Was he an
accomplice or not? Was the game, then, up? Fix spent several
hours turning these things over in his mind, sometimes thinking
that all was lost, then persuading himself that Fogg was ignorant
of his presence, and then undecided what course it was best to
take.
Nevertheless, he preserved his coolness of mind, and at last
resolved to deal plainly with Passepartout. If he did not find it
practicable to arrest Fogg at Hong Kong, and if Fogg made
preparations to leave that last foothold of English territory,
he, Fix, would tell Passepartout all. Either the servant was the
accomplice of his master, and in this case the master knew of his
operations, and he should fail; or else the servant knew nothing
about the robbery, and then his interest would be to abandon the
robber.
Such was the situation between Fix and Passepartout. Meanwhile
Phileas Fogg moved about above them in the most majestic and
unconscious indifference. He was passing methodically in his
orbit around the world, regardless of the lesser stars which
gravitated around him. Yet there was near by what the astronomers
would call a disturbing star, which might have produced an
agitation in this gentleman's heart. But no! The charms of Aouda
failed to act, to Passepartout's great surprise; and the
disturbances, if they existed, would have been more difficult to
calculate than those of Uranus which led to the discovery of
Neptune.
It was every day an increasing wonder to Passepartout, who read
in Aouda's eyes the depths of her gratitude to his master.
Phileas Fogg, though brave and gallant, must be, he thought,
quite heartless. As to the sentiment which this journey might
have awakened in him, there was clearly no trace of such a thing;
while poor Passepartout existed in perpetual reveries.
One day he was leaning on the railing of the engine room, and was
observing the engine, when a sudden pitch of the steamer threw
the screw out of the water. The steam came hissing out of the
valves; and this made Passepartout indignant.
"The valves are not sufficiently charged!" he exclaimed. "We are
not going. Oh, these English! If this was an American craft, we
should blow up, perhaps, but we should at all events go faster!"