Chương Chương 16 · IN WHICH FIX DOES NOT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND IN THE LEAST WHAT IS SAID TO

IN WHICH FIX DOES NOT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND IN THE LEAST WHAT IS SAID TO

HIM

The “Rangoon”—one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s boats plying

in the Chinese and Japanese seas—was a screw steamer, built of iron,

weighing about seventeen hundred and seventy tons, and with engines of

four hundred horse-power. She was as fast, but not as well fitted up,

as the “Mongolia,” and Aouda was not as comfortably provided for on

board of her as Phileas Fogg could have wished. However, the trip from

Calcutta to Hong Kong only comprised some three thousand five hundred

miles, occupying from ten to twelve days, and the young woman was not

difficult to please.

During the first days of the journey Aouda became better acquainted

with her protector, and constantly gave evidence of her deep gratitude

for what he had done. The phlegmatic gentleman listened to her,

apparently at least, with coldness, neither his voice nor his manner

betraying the slightest emotion; but he seemed to be always on the

watch that nothing should be wanting to Aouda’s comfort. He visited her

regularly each day at certain hours, not so much to talk himself, as to

sit and hear her talk. He treated her with the strictest politeness,

but with the precision of an automaton, the movements of which had been

arranged for this purpose. Aouda did not quite know what to make of

him, though Passepartout had given her some hints of his master’s

eccentricity, and made her smile by telling her of the wager which was

sending him round the world. After all, she owed Phileas Fogg her life,

and she always regarded him through the exalting medium of her

gratitude.

Aouda confirmed the Parsee guide’s narrative of her touching history.

She did, indeed, belong to the highest of the native races of India.

Many of the Parsee merchants have made great fortunes there by dealing

in cotton; and one of them, Sir Jametsee Jeejeebhoy, was made a baronet

by the English government. Aouda was a relative of this great man, and

it was his cousin, Jeejeeh, whom she hoped to join at Hong Kong.

Whether she would find a protector in him she could not tell; but Mr.

Fogg essayed to calm her anxieties, and to assure her that everything

would be mathematically—he used the very word—arranged. Aouda fastened

her great eyes, “clear as the sacred lakes of the Himalaya,” upon him;

but the intractable Fogg, as reserved as ever, did not seem at all

inclined to throw himself into this lake.

The first few days of the voyage passed prosperously, amid favourable

weather and propitious winds, and they soon came in sight of the great

Andaman, the principal of the islands in the Bay of Bengal, with its

picturesque Saddle Peak, two thousand four hundred feet high, looming

above the waters. The steamer passed along near the shores, but the

savage Papuans, who are in the lowest scale of humanity, but are not,

as has been asserted, cannibals, did not make their appearance.

The panorama of the islands, as they steamed by them, was superb. Vast

forests of palms, arecs, bamboo, teakwood, of the gigantic mimosa, and

tree-like ferns covered the foreground, while behind, the graceful

outlines of the mountains were traced against the sky; and along the

coasts swarmed by thousands the precious swallows whose nests furnish a

luxurious dish to the tables of the Celestial Empire. The varied

landscape afforded by the Andaman Islands was soon passed, however, and

the “Rangoon” rapidly approached the Straits of Malacca, which gave

access to the China seas.

What was detective Fix, so unluckily drawn on from country to country,

doing all this while? He had managed to embark on the “Rangoon” at

Calcutta without being seen by Passepartout, after leaving orders that,

if the warrant should arrive, it should be forwarded to him at Hong

Kong; and he hoped to conceal his presence to the end of the voyage. It

would have been difficult to explain why he was on board without

awakening Passepartout’s suspicions, who thought him still at Bombay.

But necessity impelled him, nevertheless, to renew his acquaintance

with the worthy servant, as will be seen.

All the detective’s hopes and wishes were now centred on Hong Kong; for

the steamer’s stay at Singapore would be too brief to enable him to

take any steps there. The arrest must be made at Hong Kong, or the

robber would probably escape him for ever. Hong Kong was the last

English ground on which he would set foot; beyond, China, Japan,

America offered to Fogg an almost certain refuge. If the warrant should

at last make its appearance at Hong Kong, Fix could arrest him and give

him into the hands of the local police, and there would be no further

trouble. But beyond Hong Kong, a simple warrant would be of no avail;

an extradition warrant would be necessary, and that would result in

delays and obstacles, of which the rascal would take advantage to elude

justice.

Fix thought over these probabilities during the long hours which he

spent in his cabin, and kept repeating to himself, “Now, either the

warrant will be at Hong Kong, in which case I shall arrest my man, or

it will not be there; and this time it is absolutely necessary that I

should delay his departure. I have failed at Bombay, and I have failed

at Calcutta; if I fail at Hong Kong, my reputation is lost: Cost what

it may, I _must_ succeed! But how shall I prevent his departure, if

that should turn out to be my last resource?”

Fix made up his mind that, if worst came to worst, he would make a

confidant of Passepartout, and tell him what kind of a fellow his

master really was. That Passepartout was not Fogg’s accomplice, he was

very certain. The servant, enlightened by his disclosure, and afraid of

being himself implicated in the crime, would doubtless become an ally

of the detective. But this method was a dangerous one, only to be

employed when everything else had failed. A word from Passepartout to

his master would ruin all. The detective was therefore in a sore

strait. But suddenly a new idea struck him. The presence of Aouda on

the “Rangoon,” in company with Phileas Fogg, gave him new material for

reflection.

Who was this woman? What combination of events had made her Fogg’s

travelling companion? They had evidently met somewhere between Bombay

and Calcutta; but where? Had they met accidentally, or had Fogg gone

into the interior purposely in quest of this charming damsel? Fix was

fairly puzzled. He asked himself whether there had not been a wicked

elopement; and this idea so impressed itself upon his mind that he

determined to make use of the supposed intrigue. Whether the young

woman were married or not, he would be able to create such difficulties

for Mr. Fogg at Hong Kong that he could not escape by paying any amount

of money.

But could he even wait till they reached Hong Kong? Fogg had an

abominable way of jumping from one boat to another, and, before

anything could be effected, might get full under way again for

Yokohama.

Fix decided that he must warn the English authorities, and signal the

“Rangoon” before her arrival. This was easy to do, since the steamer

stopped at Singapore, whence there is a telegraphic wire to Hong Kong.

He finally resolved, moreover, before acting more positively, to

question Passepartout. It would not be difficult to make him talk; and,

as there was no time to lose, Fix prepared to make himself known.

It was now the 30th of October, and on the following day the “Rangoon”

was due at Singapore.

Fix emerged from his cabin and went on deck. Passepartout was

promenading up and down in the forward part of the steamer. The

detective rushed forward with every appearance of extreme surprise, and

exclaimed, “You here, on the ‘Rangoon’?”

“What, Monsieur Fix, are you on board?” returned the really astonished

Passepartout, recognising his crony of the “Mongolia.” “Why, I left you

at Bombay, and here you are, on the way to Hong Kong! Are you going

round the world too?”

“No, no,” replied Fix; “I shall stop at Hong Kong—at least for some

days.”

“Hum!” said Passepartout, who seemed for an instant perplexed. “But how

is it I have not seen you on board since we left Calcutta?”

“Oh, a trifle of sea-sickness—I’ve been staying in my berth. The Gulf

of Bengal does not agree with me as well as the Indian Ocean. And how

is Mr. Fogg?”

“As well and as punctual as ever, not a day behind time! But, Monsieur

Fix, you don’t know that we have a young lady with us.”

“A young lady?” replied the detective, not seeming to comprehend what

was said.

Passepartout thereupon recounted Aouda’s history, the affair at the

Bombay pagoda, the purchase of the elephant for two thousand pounds,

the rescue, the arrest, and sentence of the Calcutta court, and the

restoration of Mr. Fogg and himself to liberty on bail. Fix, who was

familiar with the last events, seemed to be equally ignorant of all

that Passepartout related; and the later was charmed to find so

interested a listener.

“But does your master propose to carry this young woman to Europe?”

“Not at all. We are simply going to place her under the protection of

one of her relatives, a rich merchant at Hong Kong.”

“Nothing to be done there,” said Fix to himself, concealing his

disappointment. “A glass of gin, Mr. Passepartout?”

“Willingly, Monsieur Fix. We must at least have a friendly glass on

board the ‘Rangoon.’”