Page 143 - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
P. 143
Around the World in 80 Days
thought of the gas, which was remorselessly burning at his
expense in Saville Row, had something to do with his hot
impatience.
‘You are in a great hurry, then,’ said Fix to him one
day, ‘to reach Hong Kong?’
‘A very great hurry!’
‘Mr. Fogg, I suppose, is anxious to catch the steamer
for Yokohama?’
‘Terribly anxious.’
‘You believe in this journey around the world, then?’
‘Absolutely. Don’t you, Mr. Fix?’
‘I? I don’t believe a word of it.’
‘You’re a sly dog!’ said Passepartout, winking at him.
This expression rather disturbed Fix, without his
knowing why. Had the Frenchman guessed his real
purpose? He knew not what to think. But how could
Passepartout have discovered that he was a detective? Yet,
in speaking as he did, the man evidently meant more than
he expressed.
Passepartout went still further the next day; he could
not hold his tongue.
‘Mr. Fix,’ said he, in a bantering tone, ‘shall we be so
unfortunate as to lose you when we get to Hong Kong?’
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