Page 170 - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Around the World in 80 Days

Mr. Fogg turned to Aouda and asked her, ‘You would
not be afraid, would you, madam?’
‘Not with you, Mr. Fogg,’ was her answer.
The pilot now returned, shuffling his hat in his hands.

‘Well, pilot?’ said Mr. Fogg.
‘Well, your honour,’ replied he, ‘I could not risk
myself, my men, or my little boat of scarcely twenty tons
on so long a voyage at this time of year. Besides, we could
not reach Yokohama in time, for it is sixteen hundred and
sixty miles from Hong Kong.’
‘Only sixteen hundred,’ said Mr. Fogg.
‘It’s the same thing.’
Fix breathed more freely.
‘But,’ added the pilot, ‘it might be arranged another
way.’
Fix ceased to breathe at all.
‘How?’ asked Mr. Fogg.
‘By going to Nagasaki, at the extreme south of Japan,
or even to Shanghai, which is only eight hundred miles
from here. In going to Shanghai we should not be forced
to sail wide of the Chinese coast, which would be a great
advantage, as the currents run northward, and would aid
us.

169 of 339