leas Fogg
dear.

Phileas Fogg left home at half-past eleven, and having placed his
right foot before his left exactly five hundred and seventy-five
times, and his left foot before his right five hundred and seventy-six
times, he arrived at the Reform Club in Pall Mall, and immediately
went up to the dining-room and took his place at his usual table,
where his breakfast awaited him. The meal was composed of one
"side-dish," a delicious little bit of boiled fish, a slice of
underdone roast beef with mushrooms, a rhubarb and gooseberry tart,
and some Cheshire cheese; the whole washed down with several cups of
excellent tea, for which the Reform Club is celebrated.

At forty-seven minutes after twelve he rose from table and went into
the drawing-room; there the servant handed him an uncut copy of _The
Times_, which Phileas Fogg folded and cut with a dexterity which
denoted a practised hand. The perusal of this journal occupied him
till a quarter to four, and then _The Standard_ sufficed till
dinner-time. This repast was eaten under the same conditions as his
breakfast, and at twenty minutes to six he returned to the saloon and
read _The Morning Chronicle_.

About half an hour later, several of Mr. Fogg's friends entered the
room and collected round the fireplace. These gentlemen were his usual
partners at whist, and, like him, were all inveterate players.

They comprised Andrew Stuart, an engineer; the bankers, John Sullivan
and Samuel Fallentin; Thomas Flanagan, the brewer; and Gauthier Ralph,
one of the directors of the Bank of England;--all rich, and men of
consequence, even in that club which comprised so many men of mark.

"Well, Ralph," asked Thomas Flanagan, "what about this robbery?"

"The bank must lose the money," replied Stuart.

"On the contrary," replied Ralph, "I am in hopes that we shall be able
to put our hand upon the thief. We have detectives in America and
Europe, at all the principal ports, and it will be no easy matter for
him to escape the clutches of the law."

"Then you have the robber's description, of course," said Andrew
Stuart.

"In the first place he is not a thief at all," replied Ralph
seriously.

"What do you mean? Is not a man a thief who takes away fifty-five
thousand pounds in bank-notes?"

"No," replied Ralph.

"He is then a man of business, I suppose?" said Sullivan.

"_The Morning Chronicle_ assures me he is a gentleman."

This last observation was uttered by Phil