FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90  
91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   >>   >|  
part of his programme, and Mrs. Aouda, who sympathised with him, was surprised to find him quite unmoved. But Fix did not look upon these things with unconcern; he was very glad that the storm had happened, and would have been delighted if the _Rangoon_ had been obliged to scud before the tempest. All these delays were in his favour, because they tended towards detaining Mr. Fogg at Hong Kong; he did not mind the sea-sickness he suffered, and while his body was tortured, his spirit was exultant. But Passe-partout was very much annoyed by this bad weather. All had gone well till now. Everything had appeared to favour his master, hitherto. Steamers and railways obeyed him; wind and steam had united to assist him. Was it possible that the hour of misfortune had struck? Passe-partout felt as if the wager of twenty thousand pounds was to come out of his own purse. The storm exasperated him, the wind made him furious, and he would liked to have whipped this disobedient sea. Poor fellow! Fix all the time carefully concealed his personal satisfaction, for had Passe-partout perceived it, Fix would have had a bad time. Passe-partout remained on deck as long as the storm lasted, for it was quite impossible for him to go down below. He assisted the crew in every way in his power, and astonished the sailors by his activity. He questioned the captain, the officers, and the men hundreds of times as to their progress, and got laughed at for his pains. He wanted to know how long the tempest would last, and was referred to the barometer, which had evidently not made up its mind to rise; even when Passe-partout shook it, it would not change its mind. At last the storm subsided, and the wind veered round to the south, which was in their favour. Passe-partout regained his serenity as the weather improved. Sails were once more set on the _Rangoon_ and she resumed her route at great speed, but she could not make up for lost time. It could not be helped, however, and land was not signalled till five o'clock on the morning of the 6th of November. The itinerary of Phileas Fogg showed that they ought to have arrived the day before, so they were twenty-four hours behindhand, and the Yokohama steamer would be missed. At six o'clock the pilot came on board. Passe-partout longed to ask the man if the Yokohama steamer had sailed, but he preferred to nurse his hopes till the last moment. He had confided his troubles to Fix, who, sly fellow
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90  
91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
partout
 

favour

 

fellow

 
twenty
 

weather

 
steamer
 

tempest

 

Yokohama

 

Rangoon

 

moment


veered

 
subsided
 

longed

 

change

 

evidently

 

referred

 

progress

 

hundreds

 

captain

 
officers

laughed

 

preferred

 
regained
 

barometer

 

wanted

 

sailed

 

behindhand

 
morning
 

questioned

 
missed

signalled

 

November

 

arrived

 

itinerary

 
Phileas
 

showed

 

helped

 
confided
 

resumed

 

improved


troubles

 
serenity
 

tortured

 

spirit

 

exultant

 

suffered

 

sickness

 

annoyed

 

master

 

hitherto