3 Phileas Fogg Shocks His New Butler

CHAPTER 3 Phileas Fogg Shocks His New Butler Phileas Fogg left the Reform Club at exactly seven twenty-five. When he opened the door, he shouted for his new butler. "Passepartout!" he called out. "Passepartout!"

he called again when he didn't get an answer. "Passepartout!" Phileas shouted out again. Passepartout appeared at the bedroom door. "I've called you three times," Phileas said. "But it's not yet midnight, sir," the butler replied. "I know," Phileas said, "but we're leaving for Dover in ten minutes." A puzzled grin spread over Passepartout's face. "Monsieur is leaving on a trip?" "Yes," Phileas replied. "We are going on a trip around the world." He paused. "We must be back in eighty days." Passepartout opened his eyes wide. Then he raised his eyebrows and held up his hands in disbelief. "A tour of the world?" he asked in shock. "In eighty days," Phileas repeated. "We haven't a moment to spare." "But that's not enough time to pack your trunk, sir," Passepartout said. "We're not taking trunks. Just carpetbags

with two shirts and three pairs of socks each. We'll have to buy anything else we need along the way." Passepartout left the room feeling stunned. Carpetbags were so small—they barely had enough room for what one needed for an overnight trip. Around the world, he thought. And in eighty days! Is the monsieur crazy? Passepartout had everything packed by eight o'clock. He carefully shut the door to his room and went downstairs to where Phileas was waiting. Phileas carried two travel guides under his arm—one for the railways and one for the boats. He put both books and his wallet into the carpet-bag Passepartout held out for him. "You haven't forgotten anything?" Phileas asked. "Not a thing, sir," Passepartout said. "My hat and cloak?" Phileas asked.

"Right here, sir." Passepartout handed them to him. Phileas took his hat and coat and handed his bag to his butler. "Now be careful with my bag," he said. "There's twenty thousand pounds in it!" Passepartout was so shocked that he nearly dropped the bag. The two went outside and stepped into a waiting cab. It took them directly to the railroad station. Once inside, Phileas bought the tickets. At twenty minutes before nine, Phileas and Passepartout found their seats in the first- class cabin. They had made it to the train with five minutes to spare. Passepartout held on tightly to the carpetbag with monsieur's money. He still couldn't quite believe what was happening. The train's whistle blew, and they were off!

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