Page 321 - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
P. 321
Around the World in 80 Days
There only remained of his fortune the twenty thousand
pounds deposited at Barings, and this amount he owed to
his friends of the Reform Club. So great had been the
expense of his tour that, even had he won, it would not
have enriched him; and it is probable that he had not
sought to enrich himself, being a man who rather laid
wagers for honour’s sake than for the stake proposed. But
this wager totally ruined him.
Mr. Fogg’s course, however, was fully decided upon;
he knew what remained for him to do.
A room in the house in Saville Row was set apart for
Aouda, who was overwhelmed with grief at her
protector’s misfortune. From the words which Mr. Fogg
dropped, she saw that he was meditating some serious
project.
Knowing that Englishmen governed by a fixed idea
sometimes resort to the desperate expedient of suicide,
Passepartout kept a narrow watch upon his master, though
he carefully concealed the appearance of so doing.
First of all, the worthy fellow had gone up to his room,
and had extinguished the gas burner, which had been
burning for eighty days. He had found in the letter-box a
bill from the gas company, and he thought it more than
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