Chapter 20 Chapter 20. Fix and Phileas Fogg in direct dealings.

While Fix was in the hotel negotiating with Passepartout to ruin Fogg's future, Phileas Fogg was walking with Lady Aouda through the streets of the British Colony.Since Mrs. Aouda had accepted Mr. Fogg's proposal to take her to Europe, he had been obliged to consider all the preparations necessary for such a long journey.It was all right for an Englishman like him to take a duffel bag and travel the world, but for a woman it just wouldn't work.Therefore, it is necessary to buy some clothes needed for the trip. Despite Mrs. Aouda's earnest objections and refusals, Mr. Fogg still went his own way and quietly completed his task.He always answered Mrs. Aouda with these old sayings:

"This is what I use on the road, and this is what I plan to buy." Everything is bought.Mr. Fogg and Mrs. Aouda returned to the Club Hotel to enjoy the very sumptuous dinner they had ordered. After the meal, Mrs. Aouda was a little tired. He took the hand of a quiet savior and went back to his room. The distinguished gentleman had been absorbed in reading The Times and the Illustrated London News all evening. If Mr. Fogg had been a suspicious and eccentric man, he would have been surprised not to see his servant at bedtime.But Mr. Fogg, knowing that the Yokohama-bound ship would not leave Hong Kong before tomorrow morning, paid little attention to the matter.The next morning Mr. Fogg rang for someone, but Passepartout was still absent.

What the noble gentleman thought when he learned that his servant had never returned to the hotel, no one knew.Mr. Fogg had no choice but to carry the travel bag himself, and at the same time, he asked someone to inform Mrs. Aouda, and at the same time, he asked someone to hire a sedan chair. It was already eight o'clock at this time, and the high tide was expected to be at half past nine, and the Carnatic was going to take advantage of the high tide to go to sea. The sedan chair arrived at the entrance of the Club Hotel. Mr. Fogg and Mrs. Aouda boarded this comfortable vehicle together, followed by a small car pulling their luggage.

Half an hour later, when they reached the pier and dismounted from their sedan chairs, Mr. Fogg learned that the Carnatic had left the previous night. Mr. Fogg intended to kill two birds with one stone, and found both the ship and Passepartout.But I didn't expect that both ends fell through.However, there was no disappointment on his face, and Mrs. Aouda had been watching him anxiously, so he had no choice but to say to her: "It was an accident, ma'am, nothing." At this moment, a person nearby, who had been watching Mr. Fogg carefully, came up to him.This man was Fix, the police agent.He greeted Mr. Fogg and said:

"Isn't your husband a passenger who came to Hong Kong yesterday on the Yangon ship like me?" "Yes, sir," said Fogg drily, "but I haven't asked you whether..." "I beg your pardon, but I was only hoping to meet your servant here." "Sir, do you know where he is now?" asked Mrs. Aouda anxiously. "What?" said Fix, with feigned surprise, "is he not with you?" "No," said Lady Aouda, "he hasn't been seen since yesterday. Will he go on board without waiting for us?" "Will he not wait for you, ma'am?" said the detective, "but allow me to ask, are you going to go in this boat?"

"Yes, sir." "So did I, ma'am, and you see I'm in such a mess. The Carnatic left Hong Kong twelve hours early after having her boiler repaired and no one's notice. Now I'll have to go back again." Wait for eight days, and take the next boat!" When Fix said the word "eight days", he felt very happy in his heart.eight days!Falk has to stay in Hong Kong for eight days!There is more than enough time to wait for the arrest ticket.He, the representative of the country's laws, had finally had good luck today. But when he heard Phileas Fogg calmly utter the following sentence, we can guess what a blow to Fix it was!

"But I think there are other ships in Hong Kong's harbour, besides the Carnatic." After saying this, Mr. Fogg asked Mrs. Aouda to take his arm, and they went to the dock together to find other ships that were about to leave. Fix, at a loss as to what to do, followed closely, as if Fogg was being held by a string. Mr. Fogg's good luck, which had been going on since his departure from London, seemed to be really running out.He searched all over the port, and after running for three hours, he decided that if he had to, he would charter a boat and go to Yokohama; but some of the boats he saw were either loading or unloading, and of course they couldn't leave immediately.Then Fix felt hopeful again.

But Mr. Fogg was not flustered, he continued to look for a ship, and he even planned to go to Macau to look for it.At this moment, he saw a sailor coming towards him on the port. "Sir, are you looking for a ship?" said the seaman, taking off his hat, to Mr. Fogg. "Is there a boat about to sail?" asked Mr. Fogg. "Yes, sir, there is a No. 43 pilot boat, and she is the best boat in our fleet." "Does it go fast?" "It can run at least eight or nine nautical miles per hour. Would you like to see it?" "it is good." "You will be satisfied. Are you going to go out to sea in a boat?"

"No, I'm going to travel by boat." "travel?" "Can you send me to Yokohama?" Hearing this sentence, the sailor shook his drooping arms unconsciously, and opened his eyes wide. "Are you joking, sir?" asked the seaman. "No kidding! The Carnatic sailed and I missed it. I must be in Yokohama by the fourteenth because I have to catch the San Francisco ship." "I'm sorry," said the seaman, "but it can't be helped." "I'll give you one hundred pounds (two thousand five hundred gold francs) a day for the boat, and if you arrive on time, I'll give you another two hundred pounds."

"Is that true?" asked the seaman. "Quite true," said Mr. Fogg. The seaman stepped aside and looked out to sea, evidently engaged in an intellectual struggle between earning such a large sum of money and being afraid to risk such a long journey. At this moment, Fix stood aside, his heart fluttering as if he had fifteen buckets to draw water. Mr. Fogg then turned to Mrs. Aouda: "Aren't you afraid to take this boat, madam?" "With you I shall not be afraid, Mr Fogg," said Lady Aouda. Turning his hat with his hands, the seaman approached Mr. Fogg again.

"How is it, Mr. Sailor?" asked Mr. Fogg. "Well, sir," said the sailor, "I can't risk my crew and I, and you. I'm a ship of only twenty tons at this distance, and it's the season. Besides, Your time can't keep up, it's a full 1,650 nautical miles from Hong Kong to Yokohama." "Only sixteen hundred miles," said Mr. Fogg. "It's the same anyway." Fix was now greatly relieved. "However," went on the seaman, "perhaps some other method can be contrived." Fix was tense again. "What way?" said Fogg. "It is only 1,100 nautical miles from here to Nagasaki, the port at the southern tip of Japan, or only to Shanghai. Shanghai is only 800 nautical miles away from Hong Kong. If we go to Shanghai, we can sail along the coast of China, which is a very favorable condition , and further north along the coast it is well with the current." "Mr. Sailor," said Mr. Fogg, "I am going to Yokohama to take the American ship. I am not going to Shanghai, nor to Nagasaki." "Why not go to Shanghai or Nagasaki?" said the sailor. "The passenger ship to San Francisco doesn't leave from Yokohama. It leaves from Shanghai, and Yokohama and Nagasaki are just two ports of call." "Are you sure about these situations?" "confident." "When does the ship for San Francisco leave Shanghai?" "Seven o'clock in the afternoon on the 11th. We still have four days. Four days is ninety-six hours. We calculate by an average of eight nautical miles per hour. As long as we hurry up, as long as the southeast wind does not change direction, as long as the sea does not If there is a storm, we can finish the 800 nautical miles from here to Shanghai on time." "When will your ship be ready to sail?" "It will be ready to sail in an hour. Now I have to buy some food and make preparations before sailing." "Okay, we've made a deal... Are you the owner of the ship?" "Yes, my name is John Bansby, master of the Don Caddell." "Do you want me to pay a down payment?" "If you wish..." "Here, two hundred pounds in advance," said Phileas Fogg, turning again to Fix. "Sir, if you would take this boat..." "Sir," replied Fix promptly, "I was just about to ask you to do me this favor." "All right, then. In half an hour we'll be aboard." "But Passepartout..." said Lady Aouda, who was very troubled by the disappearance of the young man. "I will do everything in my power to fix him," replied Mr. Fogg. Mr. Fogg and Mrs. Aouda were walking towards the Hong Kong police station when Fix, full of trouble, anxiety and anger, stepped onto the pilot boat.Mr. Fogg informed the police of Passepartout's appearance, and left a sum sufficient for his return home, and then went to the French consulate to complete the same procedure.Then I went to the Club Hotel to take out the luggage I had just sent back, and finally returned to the port in a sedan chair. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the crew of the No. 43 pilot boat had arrived, the food had been bought, and the preparations for sailing were done. The Don Cadel was a handsome motor-sailer, weighing twenty tons overall.The bow of the boat is very sharp, the appearance is very neat, and the draft is very deep. It looks like a yacht for racing. The copper fittings on the boat are all shiny, and even the iron fittings are also electroplated.The deck was as clean as ivory.It all goes to show that owner John Banceby takes good care of his boat.There are two large sails leaning slightly backwards, as well as a mast trapezoid, fore center sail, fore mast jib, outer foresail and topsail.The Don Cadel could make use of this all-encompassing equipment when the wind was down.It looked like the boat was going to do well, in fact she did win several prizes in pilot boat races. In addition to the owner John Banceby, there were four crew members on the Don Caddell.These brave sailors often go out to sea in all weathers to find ships and bring them into port, and they are familiar with all places on the sea. John Banceby was a middle-aged man of about forty-five.The body is strong, the skin color is brownish red due to the sun, and the eyes are bright and energetic.It can be seen from his face that he is a man of great courage.He is very stable, very experienced in handling things, and even the most distrustful people will completely trust him. Mr Phileas Fogg and Lady Aouda embarked.Fix was already on board.Through the rear hatch they entered a square cabin, with beds recessed in the walls all around, and semicircular benches under the beds.In the middle of the room was a table, brightly lit by a rickety hanging lamp.The cabin is small but very clean. "I am very sorry that I cannot prepare you for a more comfortable place," said Mr. Fogg to Fix.Fix merely nodded respectfully, without answering a word. The police detective accepted Mr. Fogg's hospitality, as if he had been greatly wronged. "No doubt," he said to himself, "this is a very polite rascal, but he is a rascal anyway." At ten past three, the Don Caddell hoisted her sails, and with the sound of the horn, the British flag was hoisted.The passengers were all seated on deck.Mr. Fogg and Mrs. Aouda cast a last look at the quay, hoping to see whether Passepartout had really disappeared. At this time, Fix was really a little scared, because he was afraid that the unlucky young man who had been crushed by his tricks might really appear on this pier just at this time, and then his diorama would be completely destroyed. If not, then he will be in a very disadvantageous position.But, fortunately, the Frenchman did not appear.There can be no doubt that he was not yet free from the narcotic effects of opium. Captain John Bansby was at last at sea.The trapeze sail, fore midsail and outer foraail on the Don Cadel are galloping forward in the boundless sea with the full sea breeze.