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Chapter XVII 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 manoeuvres, 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!"