Chapter 10 The Voyage from India to Hong Kong The three travelers boarded the Rangoon just in time.
The steamer was just about to set off for Hong Kong.
During the first few days of the trip, Aouda spent much of her time getting to know Phileas and Passapartout.
She told them her life story.
Her father had been a very wealthy merchant who dealt in cotton.
They had lived a wonderful life until he ran into trouble with bandits.
Then she told them about her cousin, Jijajijiboy, who lived in Hong Kong.
As on the Mongolia, Passapartout often spent his afternoons walking around on deck.
One day, as he strolled along, he was shocked to see Mr. Fix.
Why, sir, Passapartout said, what on earth are you doing here?
I left you in Bombay, saw you briefly in Calcutta, and now you are here on the way to Hong Kong.
Are you making a tour of the world, too?
No, no, I shall be stopping in Hong Kong, Fix said.
Indeed, Fix had sent another telegram to London asking for the arrest warrant to follow him there.
It was his last chance to catch Phileas Fogg, the bank robber.
Once he left Hong Kong and entered America, he would no longer be on British soil.
That meant Fix would no longer be able to arrest him.
Fix was frustrated with his progress so far.
He was tired of chasing Phileas around the world.
"'How is it that I haven't seen you since we left Calcutta?'
Passapartoo asked.
"'Oh, I've been seasick,' Fix said.
"'How was Mr.
Fogg?'
"'Quite well, and he's not a day behind time.
We now have a young woman traveling with us, too.'
Fix pretended to look surprised.
Passapartout told him the story of how they had rescued Aouda from the bandits in India.
"'Will Aouda be traveling back to Europe with you?'
Fix asked.
"'Oh, no.
She's going to stay with her cousin in Hong Kong.
She'll be safe there.'
As they had done just about every afternoon on board the Mongolia, the two shared a drink of lemonade and walked around the deck.
As the days passed, Passapartout began to think it was quite strange that he should keep running into Mr Fix.
At once, Passapartout had a chilling thought.
He must be following us.
That's it, Passapattu thought.
He must be a spy sent from the Reform Club.
And my monsieur is such an honest man.
That's just terrible.
He decided not to tell Phileas.
He didn't want him to think poorly of his friends from the club, so he kept it to himself.
He also didn't want Mr. Fix to realize that he knew.
That might cause problems between Phileas Fogg and the Reform Club, and the last thing Passapartout wanted to do was cause the Monsieur more trouble.
The Rangoon landed in Singapore a half day before schedule.
As usual, Phileas noted this in his journal.
He also sent Passapartout off on his usual errands.
Aouda wanted to see a bit of the island, so she and Phileas took a carriage ride.
They rode through the country smelling clove and nutmeg trees.
They saw full green ferns and row upon row of palm trees.
They toured the city as well, passing by interesting houses and charming gardens.
By late morning, they were back on board the Rangoon, ready to sail again.
Passepartout had finished his errands and bought some fresh fruit which he shared with Aouda once she was back on board.
All three bid goodbye to Singapore as the ship moved out of the harbor and set its course for Hong Kong.
The first few days of the journey were uneventful.
They had good weather and fair winds.
About halfway through the twelve-day trip, the weather turned.
The sea started to roll heavily as a storm brewed.
The ship fell behind schedule.
This upset Passapartout, but Phileas Fogg remained calm.
He spent his days with Aouda and his knights making notes.
One day, Fix found Passapartout pacing around the top deck of the ship.
You're in a great hurry today, he said.
A great hurry, Passapartout said.
The weather is slowing us down and the ship is not going fast enough.
So you now believe in this around-the-world tour?
Fix asked.
Absolutely, Mr. Fix.
Don't you believe in it?
Passerpartout winked at him and then walked away.
The wink confused Fix.
Did it mean that Passerpartout knew he was a detective?
Had he been found out?
The next day the two men met up once again.
Ah, Passerpartout said.
Shall we be seeing you on the way to America, too, Mr. Fix?
He winked again.
Um, oh, uh, Fix stuttered.
I don't know.
It's odd.
You were only going as far as Bombay, but then you were in Calcutta, and now you're going to Hong Kong.
Pasipatu slapped Fix on the back as he walked away.
Fix went back to his cabin, lost in thought.
The butler must have found out the truth.
There's only one thing I can do, he thought to himself.
I must tell Passapattu everything.
The wind blew harder each day.
The boat rolled on the giant waves.
The steamer was forced to sail very slowly.
Now they would be a full day late arriving in Hong Kong.
Phileas was still calm, even though this delay meant he would surely lose his bet.
He had used up all of his extra time in India when they had to travel by elephant and was hoping to have made up some time.
Auro was surprised that he was not at all worried about the fact that they would now miss the boat from Hong Kong to Japan.
Of course, Fix was happy about the delay.
It meant that his warrant had even more time to arrive.
And then there was Passepartout.
The poor man paced up and down and back and forth.
He was so worried.
When the ship finally docked in Hong Kong, the three travelers left the Rangoon and went to find out about the steamer to Yokohama.
Phileas asked at the passport office whether or not they had missed it.
Why, no, said the officer who stamped his passport.
They had a problem with one of the boilers.
It is delayed until high tide tomorrow morning.
Ah, said Phileas, without a hint of emotion.
What is the steamer called?
The Carnatic, the officer said.
The ticket office is just down the street.
Passapartu grabbed the man's hand.
He pumped it up and down and said energetically Thank you, thank you.
You are the best of all good fellows.
Luck was on their side.
If the boat had not had to stop for repairs, they would have had to wait a week before traveling on to Japan.
Phileas booked rooms for them at the club hotel.
They would stay there until they boarded the steamer tomorrow.
It was set to leave at five o'clock the next morning.
Without taking care of.
He left Aura with Pasapatu to keep her company and set off to find her cousin Jija Jijibor.
While in the market, Phileas came across a merchant who knew Jija Jijiboy.
The merchant told him that Mr. Jijiboy had left Hong Kong two years ago and moved to Holland.
When Phileas got back to the hotel, he sat down with Aouda and told her that her cousin had moved away.
At first, she said nothing.
She just sat there thinking.
Then in her sweet, soft voice, she said, What should I do, Phileas?
It's very simple.
He said you must go on to Europe.
But I cannot be in your way.
Nonsense, you're not in the way at all.
It is our pleasure to have you along on our trip, Phileas said.
Monsieur, monsieur, please book three cabins on the Carnatic.
We're all going to Japan.
From there we'll go on to America.
Passapartout was very happy that Aouda would still be traveling with him.
He skipped happily out of the room to run his errand.
