Chapter 6
In Which Fix, the Detective, Betrays a Very Natural Impatience
The circumstances under which this telegraphic despatch aboutPhileas Fogg was sent were as follows:
The steamer Mongolia, belonging to the Peninsular and OrientalCompany, built of iron, of two thousand eight hundred tonsburden, and five hundred horsepower, was due at eleven o'clockA.M. on Wednesday, the 9th of October, at Suez. The Mongoliaplied regularly between Brindisi and Bombay via the Suez Canal,and was one of the fastest steamers belonging to the company,always making more than ten knots an hour between Brindisi andSuez, and nine and a half between Suez and Bombay.
Two men were promenading up and down the wharves, among the crowdof natives and strangers who were sojourning at this oncestraggling village--now, thanks to the enterprise of M.Lesseps, a fast-growing town. One was the British consul at Suez,who, despite the prophecies of the English Government, and theunfavorable predictions of Stephenson, was in the habit ofseeing, from his office window, English ships daily passing toand fro on the great canal, by which the old roundabout routefrom England to India by the Cape of Good Hope was cut by atleast a half. The other was a small, slight-built person, with anervous, intelligent face, and bright eyes peering out from undereyebrows which he was incessantly twitching. He was just nowmanifesting unmistakable signs of impatience, nervously pacing upand down, and unable to stand still for a moment. This was Fix,one of the detectives who had been despatched from England insearch of the bank robber. It was his task to narrowly watchevery passenger who arrived at Suez, and to follow up all whoseemed to be suspicious characters, or bore a resemblance to thedescription of the criminal, which he had received two daysbefore from the police headquarters at London. The detective wasevidently inspired by the hope of obtaining the splendid rewardwhich would be the prize of success, and awaited with a feverishimpatience, easy to understand, the arrival of the steamerMongolia.
"So you say, consul," he asked for the twentieth time, "that thissteamer is never behind time?"
"No, Mr. Fix," replied the consul. "She was signaled yesterday atPort Said, and the rest of the way is of no account to such acraft. I repeat that the Mongolia has been in advance of the timerequired by the company's regulations, and gained the prizeawarded for excess of speed."
"Does she come directly from Brindisi?"
"Directly from Brindisi. She takes on the Indian mails there, andshe left there Saturday at five P.M. Have patience, Mr. Fix. Shewill not be late. But really, I don't see how, from thedescription you have, you will be able to recognize your man,even if he is on board the Mongolia."
"A man rather feels the presence of these fellows, consul, thanrecognizes them. You must have a scent for them, and a scent islike a sixth sense which combines hearing, seeing, and smelling.I've arrested more than one of these gentlemen in my time, and,if my thief is on board, I'll answer for it. He'll not slipthrough my fingers."
"I hope so, Mr. Fix, for it was a heavy robbery."
"A magnificent robbery, consul. Fifty-five thousand pounds! Wedon't often have such windfalls. Burglars are getting to be socontemptible nowadays! A fellow gets hung for a handful ofshillings!"
"Mr. Fix," said the consul, "I like your way of talking, and hopeyou'll succeed; but I fear you will find it far from easy. Don'tyou see, the description which you have there has a singularresemblance to an honest man?"
"Consul," remarked the detective, dogmatically, "great robbersalways resemble honest folks. Fellows who have rascally faceshave only one course to take, and that is to remain honest;otherwise they would be arrested offhand. The artistic thing isto unmask honest countenances. It's no light task, I admit, but areal art."
Mr. Fix evidently was not wanting in a tinge of self-conceit.
Little by little the scene on the quay became more animated.Sailors of various nations, merchants, ship-brokers, porters,fellahs, bustled to and fro as if the steamer were immediatelyexpected. The weather was clear, and slightly chilly. Theminarets of the town loomed above the houses in the pale rays ofthe sun. A jetty pier, some two thousand yards along, extendedinto the roadstead. A number of fishing smacks and coastingboats, some retaining the fantastic fashion of ancient galleys,were discernible on the Red Sea.
As he passed among the busy crowd, Fix, according to habit,scrutinized the passers-by with a keen, rapid glance.
It was now half-past ten.
"The steamer doesn't come!" he exclaimed, as the port clockstruck.
"She can't be far off now," returned his companion.
"How long will she stop at Suez?"
"Four hours. Long enough to get in her coal. It is thirteenhundred and ten miles from Suez to Aden, at the other end of theRed Sea, and she has to take in a fresh coal supply."
"And does she go from Suez directly to Bombay?"
"Without putting in anywhere."
"Good!" said Fix. "If the robber is on board he will no doubt getoff at Suez, so as to reach the Dutch or French coloniesin Asia by some other route. He ought to know that he would notbe safe an hour in India, which is English soil."
"Unless," objected the consul, "he is exceptionally shrewd. AnEnglish criminal, you know, is always better concealed in Londonthan anywhere else."
This observation furnished the detective food for thought, andmeanwhile the consul went away to his office. Fix, left alone,was more impatient than ever, having a presentiment that therobber was on board the Mongolia. If he had indeed left Londonintending to reach the New World, he would naturally take theroute via India, which was less watched and more difficult towatch than that of the Atlantic. But Fix's reflections were sooninterrupted by a succession of sharp whistles, which announcedthe arrival of the Mongolia. The porters and fellahs rushed downthe quay, and a dozen boats pushed off from the shore to go andmeet the steamer. Soon her gigantic hull appeared passing alongbetween the banks, and eleven o'clock struck as she anchored inthe road. She brought an unusual number of passengers, some ofwhom remained on deck to scan the picturesque panorama of thetown, while the greater part disembarked in the boats, and landedon the quay.
Fix took up a position, and carefully examined each face andfigure which made its appearance. Presently one of thepassengers, after vigorously pushing his way through theimportunate crowd of porters, came up to him and politely askedif he could point out the English consulate, at the same timeshowing a passport which he wished to have visaed. Fixinstinctively took the passport, and with a rapid glance read thedescription of its bearer. An involuntary motion of surprisenearly escaped him, for the description in the passport wasidentical with that of the hank robber which he had received fromScotland Yard.
"Is this your passport?" he asked.
"No, it's my master's."
"And your master is--"
"He stayed on board."
"But he must go to the consul's in person, so as to establish hisidentity."
"Oh, is that necessary?"
"Quite indispensable."
"And where is the consulate?"
"There, on the corner of the square," said Fix, pointing to ahouse two hundred steps off.
"I'll go and fetch my master, who won't be much pleased, however,to be disturbed."
The passenger bowed to Fix, and returned to the steamer.