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 todivulge any more facts concerning Mr. Fogg. He caught a glimpse ofthat mysterious gentleman once or twice; but Mr. Fogg usually confinedhimself to the cabin, where he kept Aouda company, or, according to hisinveterate habit, took a hand at whist.
Passepartout began very seriously to conjecture what strange chancekept Fix still on the route that his master was pursuing. It wasreally worth considering why this certainly very amiable and complacentperson, whom he had first met at Suez, had then encountered on boardthe Mongolia, who disembarked at Bombay, which he announced as hisdestination, and now turned up so unexpectedly on the Rangoon, wasfollowing Mr. Fogg's tracks step by step. What was Fix's object?Passepartout was ready to wager his Indian shoes--which he religiouslypreserved--that Fix would also leave Hong Kong at the same time withthem, and probably on the same steamer.
Passepartout might have cudgelled his brain for a century withouthitting upon the real object which the detective had in view. He nevercould have imagined that Phileas Fogg was being tracked as a robberaround the globe. But, as it is in human nature to attempt thesolution of every mystery, Passepartout suddenly discovered anexplanation of Fix's movements, which was in truth far fromunreasonable. Fix, he thought, could only be an agent of Mr. Fogg'sfriends at the Reform Club, sent to follow him up, and to ascertainthat he really went round the world as had been agreed upon.
"It's clear!" repeated the worthy servant to himself, proud of hisshrewdness. "He's a spy sent to keep us in view! That isn't quite thething, 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 tohis master, lest he should be justly offended at this mistrust on thepart of his adversaries. But he determined to chaff Fix, when he hadthe chance, with mysterious allusions, which, however, need not betrayhis real suspicions.
During the afternoon of Wednesday, 30th October, the Rangoon enteredthe Strait of Malacca, which separates the peninsula of that name fromSumatra. The mountainous and craggy islets intercepted the beauties ofthis noble island from the view of the travellers. The Rangoon weighedanchor at Singapore the next day at four a.m., to receive coal, havinggained half a day on the prescribed time of her arrival. Phileas Foggnoted this gain in his journal, and then, accompanied by Aouda, whobetrayed 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 hissleeve at Fix's manoeuvres, went about his usual errands.
The island of Singapore is not imposing in aspect, for there are nomountains; yet its appearance is not without attractions. It is a parkcheckered by pleasant highways and avenues. A handsome carriage, drawnby a sleek pair of New Holland horses, carried Phileas Fogg and Aoudainto the midst of rows of palms with brilliant foliage, and ofclove-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 ofthis tropical clime; while nutmeg-trees in full foliage filled the airwith a penetrating perfume. Agile and grinning bands of monkeysskipped about in the trees, nor were tigers wanting in the jungles.
After a drive of two hours through the country, Aouda and Mr. Foggreturned to the town, which is a vast collection of heavy-looking,irregular houses, surrounded by charming gardens rich in tropicalfruits and plants; and at ten o'clock they re-embarked, closelyfollowed by the detective, who had kept them constantly in sight.
Passepartout, who had been purchasing several dozen mangoes--a fruitas large as good-sized apples, of a dark-brown colour outside and abright red within, and whose white pulp, melting in the mouth, affordsgourmands a delicious sensation--was waiting for them on deck. He wasonly too glad to offer some mangoes to Aouda, who thanked him verygracefully for them.
At eleven o'clock the Rangoon rode out of Singapore harbour, and in afew hours the high mountains of Malacca, with their forests, inhabitedby the most beautifully-furred tigers in the world, were lost to view.Singapore is distant some thirteen hundred miles from the island ofHong Kong, which is a little English colony near the Chinese coast.Phileas Fogg hoped to accomplish the journey in six days, so as to bein time for the steamer which would leave on the 6th of November forYokohama, the principal Japanese port.
The Rangoon had a large quota of passengers, many of whom disembarkedat 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 lastquarter of the moon. The sea rolled heavily, and the wind at intervalsrose almost to a storm, but happily blew from the south-west, and thusaided the steamer's progress. The captain as often as possible put uphis sails, and under the double action of steam and sail the vesselmade rapid progress along the coasts of Anam and Cochin China. Owingto the defective construction of the Rangoon, however, unusualprecautions became necessary in unfavourable weather; but the loss oftime which resulted from this cause, while it nearly drove Passepartoutout of his senses, did not seem to affect his master in the least.Passepartout blamed the captain, the engineer, and the crew, andconsigned all who were connected with the ship to the land where thepepper grows. Perhaps the thought of the gas, which was remorselesslyburning at his expense in Saville Row, had something to do with his hotimpatience.
"You are in a great hurry, then," said Fix to him one day, "to reachHong 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 theFrenchman guessed his real purpose? He knew not what to think. Buthow 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 histongue.
"Mr. Fix," said he, in a bantering tone, "shall we be so unfortunate asto 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 PeninsularCompany, you know, can't stop on the way! You were only going toBombay, and here you are in China. America is not far off, and fromAmerica to Europe is only a step."
Fix looked intently at his companion, whose countenance was as sereneas possible, and laughed with him. But Passepartout persisted inchaffing him by asking him if he made much by his present occupation.
"Yes, and no," returned Fix; "there is good and bad luck in suchthings. 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 hisreflections. He was evidently suspected; somehow or other theFrenchman had found out that he was a detective. But had he told hismaster? What part was he playing in all this: was he an accomplice ornot? Was the game, then, up? Fix spent several hours turning thesethings over in his mind, sometimes thinking that all was lost, thenpersuading himself that Fogg was ignorant of his presence, and thenundecided what course it was best to take.
Nevertheless, he preserved his coolness of mind, and at last resolvedto deal plainly with Passepartout. If he did not find it practicableto arrest Fogg at Hong Kong, and if Fogg made preparations to leavethat last
foothold of English territory, he, Fix, would tellPassepartout 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 hisinterest would be to abandon the robber.
Such was the situation between Fix and Passepartout. Meanwhile PhileasFogg moved about above them in the most majestic and unconsciousindifference. He was passing methodically in his orbit around theworld, regardless of the lesser stars which gravitated around him. Yetthere was near by what the astronomers would call a disturbing star,which might have produced an agitation in this gentleman's heart. Butno! the charms of Aouda failed to act, to Passepartout's greatsurprise; and the disturbances, if they existed, would have been moredifficult to calculate than those of Uranus which led to the discoveryof Neptune.
It was every day an increasing wonder to Passepartout, who read inAouda's eyes the depths of her gratitude to his master. Phileas Fogg,though brave and gallant, must be, he thought, quite heartless. As tothe sentiment which this journey might have awakened in him, there wasclearly no trace of such a thing; while poor Passepartout existed inperpetual reveries.
One day he was leaning on the railing of the engine-room, and wasobserving the engine, when a sudden pitch of the steamer threw thescrew out of the water. The steam came hissing out of the valves; andthis made Passepartout indignant.
"The valves are not sufficiently charged!" he exclaimed. "We are notgoing. Oh, these English! If this was an American craft, we shouldblow up, perhaps, but we should at all events go faster!"