وقتی فیلیاس فاگ کاپیتان کشتی میشه

CHAPTER EIGHT

When Phileas Fogg becomes the captain of a ship

11 December

None of the boats in the port of New York were leaving before 14 December: too late to arrive at the Reform Club before eight forty-five on 21 December.

Passepartout was very upset. They were only forty-five minutes late and he was certain it was his fault. Phileas Fogg did not want Passepartout to feel responsible and he simply said, ‘We’ll see what happens tomorrow.’

The next day at midday on 12 December, with just nine days, thirteen hours and forty-five minutes to return to London, Phileas Fogg went to look for a ship - large or small - to take them across the Atlantic.

After trying several ships with no success, he spoke to the captain of a cargo ship, the Henrietta.

‘When is the ship leaving?’ he asked the captain.

‘In an hour,’ he replied.

‘Where is the ship going to?’ Phileas Fogg asked.

‘To France. Bordeaux.’

‘Will you take myself and three other passengers to Liverpool?’

‘To Liverpool? Certainly not,’ said the captain, looking at him like he was mad. ‘This ship must arrive in Bordeaux by 20 December.’

Phileas Fogg thought for a moment. ‘I’ll give you two thousand dollars for each passenger if you take us to Bordeaux then,’ he said.

‘Two thousand dollars each?’ he repeated, amazed at such a generous offer. He scratched his head. Why was this man offering him so much money? Did he have something to hide? It was a lot of money.

He agreed. ‘The ship leaves at nine,’ he said.

Two hours later our four travellers were on the Henrietta and they were leaving the port of New York on their way to Bordeaux.

The next day, on 13 December, Phileas Fogg was the new captain of the ship, and the Henrietta was going to Bordeaux.

However, Phileas Fogg gave the sailors some money and they agreed to go to Liverpool instead. The crew locked the captain in his cabin, and he was now in there shouting and trying to free himself unsuccessfully. His companions were surprised to find that Phileas Fogg was a good sailor. Passepartout tried to ask him about this, but Phileas Fogg did not want to talk. He had to try and cross the Atlantic in stormy weather and his mind was concentrating on arriving in England on time. He also did not want to lose the ship and all its crew!

Fix decided that Phileas Fogg was not just a thief, he was a pirate. ‘He’s not taking the ship to Liverpool,’ he thought, ‘but to some unknown place where it’s safe for him to escape. If I don’t get help from the police there, all is lost!’

They were half-way across the Atlantic with only five days to go. They were going at top speed and everything was going well, until one of the men came to speak to Phileas Fogg.

‘If we continue at this speed, we won’t have enough coal to get the ship to Liverpool,’ he said. ‘We must slow down!’

‘We can’t,’ replied Phileas Fogg. ‘We’ll burn all the wood on the ship, if we have to,’ he told the worried crew member.

When they came close to Ireland, only the outside metal of the body of the ship remained. The ship could not get to Liverpool, so they stopped in Ireland.

Phileas Fogg took the ship to a port called Queenstown. From there they took a train to Dublin and then a ship to Liverpool.

Inspector Fix did not understand the man. What was in Liverpool? What was in London that he wanted to return for? This voyage seemed endless.

At twenty to midnight on 20 December, they finally arrived in Liverpool. They were exactly six hours away from London. Enough time to get to the Reform Club to win the bet. Inspector Fix put his hand on Phileas Fogg’s shoulder.

‘You are Mr Phileas Fogg. Is that correct?’ he said.

‘Yes,’ said Phileas Fogg slowly. He was a little confused by the question.

‘Phileas Fogg, I am arresting you in the name of the law,’ he said. In a moment two policemen stood next to Phileas Fogg.

Phileas Fogg was very angry. ‘You…!’ he began. ‘I don’t like men who have no loyalty to people who help them like his own friends. How could you do this, when I thought you were an honest person? You are worse than a criminal!’

For the first time Inspector Fix felt bad. He did not know what to do now that he did not have to follow Phileas Fogg around the world. He could see that he was not really a bad man. But… he was a thief, and he wanted the reward for his efforts. He went out of the room. A policeman took Phileas Fogg away and Mrs Aouda started crying loudly. She put her head on Passepartout’s shoulder and they left.

Phileas Fogg looked at the walls. He had no money. All his hopes were gone! He was in a police station because they thought he was a thief. He was losing a lot of money. He could only hope for one more amazing event to rescue him. It came sooner than he thought.

Passepartout ran back to the police station with Mrs Aouda. Then Inspector Fix arrived too. His hair was untidy and he could not breathe.

‘Mr Fogg,’ he cried when he could finally speak. ‘Mr Fogg! You are free to go! They caught the thief three days ago!’