الفصل الفصل 17 · SHOWING WHAT HAPPENED ON THE VOYAGE FROM SINGAPORE TO HONG KONG

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 cudgelled 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 Mr. Fogg, who is so honourable 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 travellers. 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 manœuvres, 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

clove-trees, whereof the cloves form the heart 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; while 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; and 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 colour 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 harbour, 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 travellers.

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 south-west, 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 coasts of Anam and Cochin China. Owing to

the defective construction of the “Rangoon,” however, unusual

precautions became necessary in unfavourable 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!”