Page 79 - AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Around the World in 80 Days

Assurghur, after skirting for a little the banks of the small
river Tapty, which empties into the Gulf of Cambray,
near Surat.
Passepartout was now plunged into absorbing reverie.

Up to his arrival at Bombay, he had entertained hopes that
their journey would end there; but, now that they were
plainly whirling across India at full speed, a sudden change
had come over the spirit of his dreams. His old vagabond
nature returned to him; the fantastic ideas of his youth
once more took possession of him. He came to regard his
master’s project as intended in good earnest, believed in
the reality of the bet, and therefore in the tour of the
world and the necessity of making it without fail within
the designated period. Already he began to worry about
possible delays, and accidents which might happen on the
way. He recognised himself as being personally interested
in the wager, and trembled at the thought that he might
have been the means of losing it by his unpardonable folly
of the night before. Being much less cool-headed than Mr.
Fogg, he was much more restless, counting and recounting
the days passed over, uttering maledictions when the train
stopped, and accusing it of sluggishness, and mentally
blaming Mr. Fogg for not having bribed the engineer. The
worthy fellow was ignorant that, while it was possible by

78 of 339