Chapter 11
“Where is the train?” asked Phileas Fogg the moment he returned.
“Gone,” said Aouda, sobbing with relief in Passepartout’s arms.
“When will the next train pass through?”
“Not until this evening.”
Fogg was already 20 hours behind schedule, and he had to reach New York by 9:00 in the evening on December 11 in order to catch the steamer for Liverpool.
“If you are really in such a great hurry, perhaps I can help you regain some time,” offered Fix, who, at Fogg’s request, had stayed to take care of Aouda at Kearney station.
“What do you have in mind, Mr. Fix?”
“There is an American named Mudge who has a sledge here—a sledge with sails! He can drive us to Omaha. There it will be easy to catch a train for New York!”
The sledge was designed to carry passengers from one station to another when heavy snow blocked the train tracks. The strong winds on the prairie could carry a sledge at a speed as fast as that of an express train.
At 8:00, the sledge was ready to start. The passengers wrapped themselves in warm travelling cloaks. The two great sails were hoisted, and the wind pushed the vehicle over the snow-covered prairie at a speed of 40 miles an hour. The distance from Fort Kearney to Omaha was about 200 miles. With luck, it could be covered in five hours.
Mudge had a personal interest in reaching Omaha on time, because Phileas Fogg had promised him a generous reward.
The sledge was aided by strong winds, which, however, chilled the passengers to the bone. Howling bands of prairie wolves nipped at the back of the vehicle, and Passepartout kept his gun ready to shoot them, if necessary.
Mudge reached Omaha at noon. Fogg paid him and went directly to the railroad station. A train took Fogg’s party to Chicago, where another train was waiting to make the 900-mile trip to New York.
At 11:35 p.m on December 11, Fogg, Passepartout, Aouda and Fix arrived at New York harbour. However, the China, one of the fastest steamers on the New York to Liverpool run, had sailed 45 minutes before.
The China must have carried Phileas Fogg’s last hope of winning his bet out to sea. But he remained as calm as ever. The travellers hired a carriage to take them to the St. Nicholas Hotel on Broadway. Phileas Fogg spent a restful night, but the others were too upset to sleep.
The next day was December 12, just nine days before Fogg’s scheduled return to the Reform Club on December 21. The gentleman’s entire fortune was now at stake as never before on his round-the-world voyage.
After ordering Aouda and Passepartout to be ready to leave New York at a moment’s notice, Mr. Fogg left the hotel and went to the harbour. When he found a ship nearly ready to sail, he climbed aboard.
“I am Phileas Fogg, of London,” He greeted the captain.
“And my name is Andrew Speedy, the captain of the Henrietta.”
“Are you going to put to sea?”
“Yes, in an hour.”
“Does your ship travel fast?”
“Its speed is 11 or 12 knots.”
“That’s good! Will you take me and three other people to Liverpool?”
“No, I’m going to Bordeaux, in France. Besides. I never carry passengers. They get in my way.”
“Will money make a difference to you?” asked Fogg, always willing to reward generously those who performed favours for him.
“Money means nothing to me,” replied the captain firmly.
“If you won’t take me along, let me buy the Henrietta from you.”
“No.”
“Will you take me to Bordeaux, then?”
“No, not even if you pay me $200.”
“I will pay you $2,000!”
“A piece? There are four crew members.”
“A piece.”
“All right,” said Captain Speedy. “I will sail promptly at 9:00.”
“We’ll be ready,” Fogg replied.
It was already 8:30. Phileas Fogg gathered up Aouda, Passepartout and Fix and brought them to the Henrietta. Fix’s heart sank when he learnt the cost of the trip. Fogg would have no money left to return to the bank when he was arrested!
By the time the Henrietta sailed into the Atlantic Ocean, Phileas Fogg was in charge. He had bribed the crew to lock Captain Speedy in his cabin and then change the ship’s course from Bordeaux to Liverpool.
There were 3,000 miles between America and England. If the weather remained good, the ocean crossing could be made easily by December 21. The engineer, however, informed ‘Captain’ Fogg that there wasn’t enough fuel to reach England!
“Feed all the fires until the coal is gone!” Fogg ordered. Within minutes, the Henrietta’s smokestacks sent up great clouds of steam. On December 18, however, it became clear that the coal would be gone by nightfall.
“Bring Captain Speedy to the deck!” commanded Phileas Fogg.
“Where are we?” bellowed the captain.
“We are 707 miles from Liverpool,” Fogg replied very calmly.
“You are indeed a pirate!”
“I have sent for you, sir, to ask you to sell me your ship.”
“No! Never!”
“But I shall have to burn it—at least her upper part. The coal has run out.”
“Burn my ship? The Henrietta is worth 50,000 dollars!”
“Here is 60,000 dollars,” said Fogg, “You see, if I don’t reach London by 8:45 p.m. on December 21, I shall lose 20,000 pounds. I missed steamer at New York, and you refused to take me to Liverpool.”
“I made a wise decision,” replied the captain, “for you have paid me handsomely for my ship!”
Phileas Fogg ordered all the wooden parts of the Henrietta burnt. The crew tore the ship down to its flat metal hull.
On December 20, with the fires still burning, Fogg sighted the coast of Ireland. By evening, however, the steam pressure, which had been kept up by the burning wood, was about to give out completely. Mr. Fogg had less than 24 hours to reach London.
“We shall dock at Queenstown,” he announced. This was the Irish port to which transatlantic steamers brought the mails. The mails were carried from the ships to Dublin, the capital of Ireland, by express trains and then sent to Liverpool by the fastest boats available. By taking the same route as the mails, Phileas Fogg could gain 12 hours over the Atlantic steamers in getting to London!
At 1:00 in the morning, the hulk of the Henrietta docked at Queenstown. Fogg, Aouda, Passepartout and Detective Fix boarded the express train at once. It left the station at 1:30 and arrived Dublin at sunrise. The travellers then caught a steamer, and on December 21 at 11:40, they sailed into Liverpool. Phileas Fogg was now only six hours away from London by train.
Suddenly, Fix pulled the warrant from his pocket, walked up to Mr. Fogg, and declared, “I arrest you in the name of the Queen of England!”
