13 Mr. Fogg and Party Cross the Pacific Ocean

CHAPTER 13 Mr. Fogg and Party Cross the Pacific Ocean The trip from Japan to America was supposed to take twenty-one days, with the ship arriving in San Francisco on the second of December. The trip from San Francisco to

New York should take nine days. This left ten full days to get back to London by the deadline. If Phileas was at all worried, he certainly didn't show it. By the ninth day on board the ship, Phileas Fogg had traveled exactly one half of the globe. Now, with only twenty-eight days left, he needed to cross the other half! Meanwhile, Detective Fix had finally gotten his arrest warrant. It had been waiting for him when he arrived in Japan. In fact, it had been on board the Carnatic, the steamer he was supposed to be on. Of course, the arrest warrant was useless now that Phileas was on his way to America. If he was no longer on British soil, Fix had no authority to arrest him. "Well," Fix steamed, "it will still be good in London. I know for a fact that Phileas Fogg will have to return to his own country at some point."

Fix decided to follow Phileas until the bitter end. He holed himself up in his cabin on the General Grant so they wouldn't know he was on board. He didn't want to see Passepartout and have to explain what he was doing there. But he couldn't stay inside all the time. One day he simply needed some fresh air. What a mistake that was! The moment he stepped out on deck, there was Passepartout. The butler walked right up to Fix and punched him on the nose. Fix fell down. "Are you quite finished?" he asked, holding his nose. "For the time being—yes," Passepartout answered. "Then let me have a word with you," Fix said. "It's about your boss, please." Passepartout agreed, although he still didn't trust the detective. Fix stood up and the two men went and sat on the deck chairs.

"So now you know my monsieur is an honest man," Passepartout said. "And you've given up this crazy idea that he is the bank robber?" "Of course not," Fix said. Passepartout raised his fist again. "Wait! Let me finish." The butler lowered his hand. "I am now in the game. You see, the only way I can arrest him is if he's in England. The only way to get him to England is for you to finish this crazy race around the world. I know I can't stop him, so I'll do what I can to help." Passepartout said nothing, so Fix continued. "Are we friends?" "No, we are not friends. But we can be allies. I should warn you, though. I will wring your neck at the first sign of you acting up like you did in Hong Kong!" "Agreed," Fix said. He knew when he was beat. Eleven days later, the General Grant

docked in San Francisco. Phileas Fogg had not gained or lost a day—and he noted so in his journal. Phileas went directly to the train station to find out when the next train left for New York City. It was at six o'clock, which meant that he and Aouda could rest at the International Hotel for the rest of the day. While Passepartout ran some errands, Phileas and Aouda ate a lovely breakfast. Then, as he had done in every other port, Phileas went to the office to have his passport stamped. This time there were no mishaps and everyone, including Fix, boarded the train for NewYork City at exactly six o'clock that night. Inside the train the weary passengers fell asleep. It had been dark by the time the

travelers boarded the train, so there wasn't much to see out the window anyway. The train sped through California. It passed by Sacramento and started through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The tracks wound in and out of the passes and the smoke from the train drifted through the giant trees. After breakfast the next morning, the four passengers stared out the window at the great landscape before them. Mountains lined the horizon just beyond the prairies. Before long, Phileas began once again to write in his journal, as calm as he had ever been on this trip. Just before lunch, a herd of buffalo found its way onto the tracks. The train stopped as the engineer waited patiently for them to pass. Passepartout couldn't sit still. He paced up and down the cars, wondering why someone didn't get out and make them move!