Page 297 - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Around the World in 80 Days

would have reached Liverpool, and then London, within
the period agreed upon.
Mr. Fogg left the hotel alone, after giving Passepartout
instructions to await his return, and inform Aouda to be

ready at an instant’s notice. He proceeded to the banks of
the Hudson, and looked about among the vessels moored
or anchored in the river, for any that were about to
depart. Several had departure signals, and were preparing
to put to sea at morning tide; for in this immense and
admirable port there is not one day in a hundred that
vessels do not set out for every quarter of the globe. But
they were mostly sailing vessels, of which, of course,
Phileas Fogg could make no use.
He seemed about to give up all hope, when he espied,
anchored at the Battery, a cable’s length off at most, a
trading vessel, with a screw, well-shaped, whose funnel,
puffing a cloud of smoke, indicated that she was getting
ready for departure.
Phileas Fogg hailed a boat, got into it, and soon found
himself on board the Henrietta, iron-hulled, wood-built
above. He ascended to the deck, and asked for the captain,
who forthwith presented himself. He was a man of fifty, a
sort of sea-wolf, with big eyes, a complexion of oxidised
copper, red hair and thick neck, and a growling voice.

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