Chapter 5 Chapter 5 A New Stock Appears in the London Market

When Mr. Fogg left London he also guessed that his journey would be a national sensation.As soon as the news of their bet spread in the club, it caused a great stir among the distinguished members.The news was later transferred from the club to the newspapers through journalists.As soon as it was published in the papers, all the citizens of London and the whole of the United Kingdom knew about it.People are commenting, arguing, and speculating on this "round the world problem."People were so heatedly arguing that it was almost like a second Alabama incident.Some supported Fokker, some opposed Fokker, and the opposition quickly gained the upper hand in numbers.They think that if it is not just talking about it on paper, but actually using the current means of transportation to circle the earth in such a short period of 80 days, it is not only impossible, it can be said to be crazy.

The Times, the Standard, the Evening Star, the Daily Morning, and twenty other respectable papers were all against Phileas Fogg.Only the "Daily Telegraph" gave Fokker a certain degree of support.Everyone thinks that Fogg is a weirdo, a madman.The members who bet with him were also blamed, and it was thought that the man who had thought up the bet was not in the right mind. Many articles published in the newspapers on this issue are written vividly and clearly.Everyone knows that in England everything that touches on geography is of interest to everyone.Therefore, no matter what class of readers they are, they love to read newspaper articles related to Phileas Fogg's travels.

In the first few days, and especially after the Illustrated London News published Mr. Fogg's photograph (reproduced from the photograph on the Registration Form of the Reform Club), some daring souls sided with Fogg, most of them It's women.Some gentlemen, especially those who read the Daily Telegraph, even said, "Hey! Why can't you go around the world in eighty days? We've seen stranger things than that!" But it wasn't long. , the tone of this newspaper also seems to be depressed. The facts are as follows: On October 7, the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain published a very long paper, which demonstrated the problem of 80 days around the earth from various aspects.It puts it bluntly: people who do this kind of thing are crazy!According to the argument of this article, travelers encounter many obstacles, both man-made and natural.Planning a trip like this requires uncanny accuracy.When starting from where; when arriving at where, there can be no mistakes.And such an exact coincidence is not available, and it is impossible to have.If it is on a not too long traffic line like Europe, people can barely calculate the time when the train arrives regularly, then how can people calculate the time when the train takes three days to pass through India and seven days to cross the continental United States? How accurate is the time of each departure and arrival?Besides, machine failures, trains derailed, trains crashing into each other, bad weather, snow blocking the road, were all these not all against Phileas Fogg?Would he not be at the mercy of the wind and the fog on a ship in winter?On a transoceanic voyage it is not uncommon for the best passenger ships to be two or three days late!But the slightest delay would have thrown the whole chain of his travel plans out of whack, and there was not even a remedy for it.If Mr. Fogg missed the boat once, even if it was only a few hours away, he would have to wait for the next boat.A few hours of error could derail his travel plans and completely ruin them.

This paper has aroused great repercussions.Almost all newspapers have reprinted it. The price of "Fokker stock" plummeted as a result. It turned out that in the days after Fokker's departure people speculated on the success or failure of his trip.Everyone knows what kind of people those bettors in England are.They have more brains and style than the cash-gamblers.Gambling is a natural hobby of the British. Not only are many members of the Reform Club betting on Fokker's success or failure with great fanfare, but even the general public in the UK is also engaged in this kind of activity. The name "Philiah Fogg" was stamped on a kind of gambling booklet like the name of a racehorse.Phileas Fogg also appeared on the Exchange, and it was listed on the London Market.People were buying and selling Phileas Fogg at the quoted price or over the quoted price, which was a very popular stock at that time.However, after the article on Fogg's travels was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society on the fifth day after Mr. Securities fell in value.People are throwing in large quantities.At first it was sold at a discount of one-fifth of the face value, then it was reduced to one-tenth, even to one-twentieth, one-fiftieth, and finally to one-hundredth.

There was only one person left to support Falk.It was the hemiplegic old Sir Albaymar.He was a noble gentleman who spent many years slumped in an easy chair.If anyone has a way to make him travel around the world for a week, even if it takes ten years of work, even if he has to spend all his property, he is willing to do so.He was sure that Fogg would win, and he placed a bet of 4,000 pounds to buy the "Philiad Fogg" stock.He was told that Fogg's plan was very foolish.In vain, he simply replied: "If it can be done, wouldn't it be nice if it were done by an Englishman first?"

However, now the situation is very bad.There are fewer and fewer people supporting Falk.Everyone was against him, and not without reason.The day after Fogg's departure, the exchange rate of "Philiad Fogg" stock was not one hundred and fifty or two hundred to one, but worth nothing.It turned out that something completely unexpected happened. Here is a telegram from Suez to London: Scotland Square, Mr Rowan, Police Chief. I set my sights on the bank thief Phileas Fogg.Express arrest warrant to Bombay (British India). detective fix As soon as the telegram was published, it had an immediate effect, and a noble gentleman became a money thief in people's minds.People looked at the photographs of Fokker alongside those of the club members, and found that his features were exactly the same as those of the burglars investigated by the police department.So people think of Fogg's secretive life, his withdrawn personality and his sudden departure this time. It is obvious that he is using traveling around the world as a cover and using absurd bets as a cover. His purpose is just to escape the British police detectives. eyes and ears.