by Jules Verne
Chapter XVI
IN WHICH FIX DOES NOT SEEM TO UNDERSTAND IN THE LEAST WHAT IS SAID TOHIM
The Rangoon--one of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's boats plyingin the Chinese and Japanese seas--was a screw steamer, built of iron,weighing about seventeen hundred and seventy tons, and with engines offour 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 boardof her as Phileas Fogg could have wished. However, the trip fromCalcutta to Hong Kong only comprised some three thousand five hundredmiles, occupying from ten to twelve days, and the young woman was notdifficult to please.
During the first days of the journey Aouda became better acquaintedwith her protector, and constantly gave evidence of her deep gratitudefor what he had done. The phlegmatic gentleman listened to her,apparently at least, with coldness, neither his voice nor his mannerbetraying the slightest emotion; but he seemed to be always on thewatch that nothing should be wanting to Aouda's comfort. He visitedher regularly each day at certain hours, not so much to talk himself,as to sit and hear her talk. He treated her with the strictestpoliteness, but with the precision of an automaton, the movements ofwhich had been arranged for this purpose. Aouda did not quite knowwhat to make of him, though Passepartout had given her some hints ofhis master's eccentricity, and made her smile by telling her of thewager which was sending him round the world. After all, she owedPhileas Fogg her life, and she always regarded him through the exaltingmedium 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 dealingin cotton; and one of them, Sir Jametsee Jeejeebhoy, was made a baronetby the English government. Aouda was a relative of this great man, andit 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 everythingwould be mathematically--he used the very word--arranged. Aoudafastened her great eyes, "clear as the sacred lakes of the Himalaya,"upon him; but the intractable Fogg, as reserved as ever, did not seemat all inclined to throw himself into this lake.
The first few days of the voyage passed prosperously, amid favourableweather and propitious winds, and they soon came in sight of the greatAndaman, the principal of the islands in the Bay of Bengal, with itspicturesque Saddle Peak, two thousand four hundred feet high, loomingabove the waters. The steamer passed along near the shores, but thesavage 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. Vastforests of palms, arecs, bamboo, teakwood, of the gigantic mimosa, andtree-like ferns covered the foreground, while behind, the gracefuloutlines of the mountains were traced against the sky; and along thecoasts swarmed by thousands the precious swallows whose nests furnish aluxurious dish to the tables of the Celestial Empire. The variedlandscape afforded by the Andaman Islands was soon passed, however, andthe Rangoon rapidly approached the Straits of Malacca, which gaveaccess 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 atCalcutta without being seen by Passepartout, after leaving orders that,if the warrant should arrive, it should be forwarded to him at HongKong; 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 withoutawakening Passepartout's suspicions, who thought him still at Bombay.But necessity impelled him, nevertheless, to renew his acquaintancewith the worthy servant, as will be seen.
All the detective's hopes and wishes were now centred on Hong Kong; forthe steamer's stay at Singapore would be too brief to enable him totake any steps there. The arrest must be made at Hong Kong, or therobber would probably escape him for ever. Hong Kong was the lastEnglish ground on which he would set foot; beyond, China, Japan,America offered to Fogg an almost certain refuge. If the warrantshould at last make its appearance at Hong Kong, Fix could arrest himand give him into the hands of the local police, and there would be nofurther trouble. But beyond Hong Kong, a simple warrant would be of noavail; an extradition warrant would be necessary, and that would resultin delays and obstacles, of which the rascal would take advantage toelude justice.
Fix thought over these probabilities during the long hours which hespent in his cabin, and kept repeating to himself, "Now, either thewarrant will be at Hong Kong, in which case I shall arrest my man, orit will not be there; and this time it is absolutely necessary that Ishould delay his departure. I have failed at Bombay, and I have failedat Calcutta; if I fail at Hong Kong, my reputation is lost: Cost whatit may, I must succeed! But how shall I prevent his departure, if thatshould turn out to be my last resource?"
Fix made up his mind that, if worst came to worst, he would make aconfidant of Passepartout, and tell him what kind of a fellow hismaster really was. That Passepartout was not Fogg's accomplice, he wasvery certain. The servant, enlightened by his disclosure, and afraidof being himself implicated in the crime, would doubtless become anally of the detective. But this method was a dangerous one, only to beemployed when everything else had failed. A word from Passepartout tohis master would ruin all. The detective was therefore in a sorestrait. But suddenly a new idea struck him. The presence of Aouda onthe Rangoon, in company with Phileas Fogg, gave him new material forreflection.
Who was this woman? What combination of events had made her Fogg'stravelling companion? They had evidently met somewhere between Bombayand Calcutta; but where? Had they met accidentally, or had Fogg goneinto the interior purposely in quest of this charming damsel? Fix wasfairly puzzled. He asked himself whether there had not been a wickedelopement; and this idea so impressed itself upon his mind that hedetermined to make use of the supposed intrigue. Whether the youngwoman were married or not, he would be able to create such difficultiesfor Mr. Fogg at Hong Kong that he could not escape by paying any amountof money.
But could he even wait till they reached Hong Kong? Fogg had anabominable way of jumping from one boat to another, and, beforeanything could be effected, might get full under way again for Yokohama.
Fix decided that he must warn the English authorities, and signal theRangoon before her arrival. This was easy to do, since the steamerstopped at Singapore, whence there is a telegraphic wire to Hong Kong.He finally resolved, moreover, before acting more positively, toquestion 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 Rangoonwas due at Singapore.
Fix emerged from his cabin and went on deck. Passepartout waspromenading up and down in the forward part of the steamer. Thedetective rushed forward with every appearance of extreme surprise, andexclaimed, "You here, on the Rangoon?"
"What, Monsieur Fix, are you on board?" returned the really astonishedPassepartout, recognising his crony of the Mongolia. "Why, I left youat Bombay, and here you are, on the way to Hong Kong! Are you goinground the world too?"
"No, no," replied Fix; "I shall stop at Hong Kong--at least for somedays."
"Hum!" said Passepartout, who seemed for an instant perplexed. "Buthow 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 Gulfof Bengal does not agree with me as well as the Indian Ocean. And howis Mr. Fogg?"
"As well and as punctual as ever, not a day behind time! But, MonsieurFix, you don't know that we have a young lady with us."
"A young lady?" replied the detective, not seeming to comprehend whatwas said.
Passepartout thereupon recounted Aouda's history, the affair at theBombay pagoda, the purchase of the elephant for two thousand pounds,the rescue, the arr
est, and sentence of the Calcutta court, and therestoration of Mr. Fogg and himself to liberty on bail. Fix, who wasfamiliar with the last events, seemed to be equally ignorant of allthat Passepartout related; and the later was charmed to find sointerested 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 ofone of her relatives, a rich merchant at Hong Kong."
"Nothing to be done there," said Fix to himself, concealing hisdisappointment. "A glass of gin, Mr. Passepartout?"
"Willingly, Monsieur Fix. We must at least have a friendly glass onboard the Rangoon."