Chapter 6
Phileas Fogg sailed from India to Hong Kong on the steamer Rangoon. During the trip, which normally took 10 to 12 days, Aouda related the story of her life, and Passepartout told her about his master’s 20,000 – pound bet. Fogg himself spent long hours with Aouda but rarely spoke to her. He seemed unmoved by her great beauty. Phileas Fogg was a strange man indeed!
Fix spent much of the trip hidden in his cabin. He had asked the London police to send the arrest warrant for the bank robber on to Hong Kong. That was the last English ruled place Fogg would visit before travelling to China, Japan and America. Once he left English soil, the robber might escape for good.
Did Fix dare tell Passepartout who he really was? He felt sure that the servant had not taken part in the bank robbery and didn’t even know that Fogg was a thief. If Fix could persuade Passepartout that he might have to share responsibility for his master’s crime, perhaps he would get his co-operation in arresting Fogg. On the other hand, Passepartout might reveal Fix’s real identity.
Fix approached the servant on deck and with an air of pretended surprise, asked what he was doing on the Rangoon.
“I should ask you the same question,” said Passepartout, “I thought we had left you at Bombay, Are you going around the world too?”
“No,” replied the detective. “I will stay at Hong Kong for a while. Tell me how Mr. Fogg is?”
“He’s quite well and still on schedule. Did you know that we also have a young lady travelling with us?”
Fix tried again to look surprised. Passepartout told him about their adventures in India, including the rescue of Aouda and the affair with the shoes in the pagoda at Bombay. He didn’t know, of course, that Fix had plotted to get him in trouble with the Bombay priests.
“Are you taking the young lady to Europe?” the detective asked.
“No, we will leave her with a cousin in Hong Kong.”
Fix saved his other questions for later, for fear of making Passepartout suspicious.
Passepartout wondered why Fix kept following them around the world, but not in his wildest dreams could he have imagined the real reason. He finally decided that Fix must be a spy sent by the members of the Reform Club to make sure that Phileas Fogg was really going around the world.
“Gentlemen of the Reform Club,” Passepartout said to himself, “you’ll be sorry for treating my master like this!” The servant said nothing to Mr. Fogg, however, for fear of insulting him.
On October 31, the Rangoon sailed into Singapore to take on coal. Phileas Fogg noted in his dairy that the ship was a half day ahead of schedule. Hong Kong was still 1,300 miles away. If he could reach Hong Kong in six days, he would be able to catch the steamer for Yokohama, Japan, on November 6.
After Phileas Fogg had left the ship with Aouda for a carriage ride through Singapore, Fix cornered Passepartout once again.
“You seem to be in a great hurry to reach Hong Kong,” he said.
“Mr. Fogg, I suppose, wants to catch the steamer for Yokohama.”
“That’s right.”
“Do you really believe, then, that he intends to go around the world?”
“Of course, I do. Don’t you?”
“No, I don’t believe a word of it.”
“You’re very sly,” said Passepartout, “Always full of tricks! Tell me, will we be so unlucky to lose you when we get to Hong Kong?’
“I’m not sure,” Fix answered.
“Ah, but you should come with us. You already have followed us from Suez to India and now to China. Japan will be next, and then America!”
Fix was getting more and more nervous.
“Do you make much money at your job?” asked Passepartout.
“That depends,” Fix said, “Sometimes my luck is good, sometimes bad. However, I don’t pay my own travel expenses.”
“I’m sure of that,” the servant retorted, thinking that the Reform Club members had hired Fix as a spy.
This conversation ended when Phileas Fogg and Aouda returned to the ship. But Fix was worried. Did Passepartout guess who he really was? And, if so, had he told Phileas Fogg?
On November 3, a terrible storm hit the Rangoon.
Calm seas returned the next day, but it was too late. The steamer, due in Hong Kong on November 5, didn’t arrive until November 6.
“When does the next ship leave for Yokohama?” Fogg asked the captain.
“The Carnatic leaves tomorrow at high tide. It was supposed to sail yesterday, but one of its boilers had to be fixed.”
This was indeed a stroke of luck for Phileas Fogg! If the Carnatic’s boiler had not broken down, she would have sailed, and Fogg would have to wait a week for the next steamer. As things stood, Mr. Fogg was 24 hours behind schedule, but the time probably could be made up later.
With 16 hours to spend in Hong Kong, Fogg left Passepartout with Aouda and set out to search for the young woman’s cousin, Jeejeeh. He learnt, however, that the cousin had moved from Hong Kong to Europe. There was thus no choice but to take Aouda along on the rest of the journey around the world. The young woman was, in fact, delighted by this turn of events. She had fallen in love with Phileas Fogg.
