6 Phileas Fogg Rides an Elephant!

CHAPTER 6 Phileas Fogg Rides an Elephant! The whistle blew and the train set off right on time. Only one other person was sitting in the cabin with Passepartout and Phileas. His name was Sir Francis Cromarty. A tall, fair man of fifty, Sir Francis was on his way to join his British troops stationed at Benares,

another major city in India. Phileas and Sir Francis had met on board the Mongolia, where they had played cards together. Sir Francis, a general in the British army, thought Phileas was quite mad to attempt to travel the world in such a short time. In fact, he thought Phileas was a strange fellow indeed. They had been traveling for many hours when Sir Francis said, "Some years ago, Phileas, you would have gotten stuck here. It would have lost you your bet." "How so?" Phileas asked. "The railway used to stop at the base of these mountains. The passengers had to ride through on ponies to get to the other side." "Ah," Phileas said, "well, I would have planned for that. It would have been fine." While the two men spoke, Passepartout slept quietly wrapped up in a blanket. Finally the men stopped talking and rode in silence.

The train drove on through the night. By morning, it had left the mountains behind. The first stop they made after leaving Bombay was Burhampoor. While the train stopped for supplies and coal, Passepartout bought himself some new shoes. After all, he had left his behind in the scuffle at the temple. The new shoes were Indian slippers decorated with false pearls. Passepartout had never owned anything so lovely. Once they were back on their way, Passepartout sat back down and looked out the window. He was amazed to be in India of all places. In fact, he was coming around to the idea of the whirlwind trip. He was even starting to enjoy himself. Then the train stopped. "All passengers will get out here!" the conductor shouted. Phileas looked over to Sir Francis, but he didn't know why they were stopping either. Outside was a small village surrounded by a

forest of palm trees. Passepartout rushed off the train to see what was going on. "Monsieur!" he said when he got back, "there's no more railroad!" "What do you mean?" Sir Francis asked. "I mean to say the train can go no farther," Passepartout answered. The general stepped out, followed by Phileas Fogg. They both went to talk to the conductor. "What's going on?" Sir Francis asked. "The railroad's not finished. There are still fifty miles to build. You'll need to find your own way from here." With that, the conductor left the three men. None of them knew quite what to do next. The London papers had all been wrong— the great railway across India was almost finished. "Surely this will be a problem. You'll never

make your connection in Calcutta now," Sir Francis said. "On the contrary," Phileas said, "I have a few days to spare. Today is only October twenty-second. The steamer doesn't leave for Hong Kong until the twenty-fifth. We'll make it to Calcutta yet. "We'll have to go by foot," Phileas decided. Passepartout looked down at his new shoes. They would not make a fifty-mile walk. He looked around him for a minute and then said, "Monsieur, I think I might have found another way!" "What's that, Passepartout?" Phileas said. "An elephant!" He pointed to a small hut a few yards from the station. Indeed, there was an elephant standing there. The three men walked over to the hut and knocked on the door. An Indian man came outside and showed them Kiouni, for that was the elephant's name.

Phileas tried to hire the elephant to take them to Allahabad, where the train tracks started again, but her owner said no. He offered more money, but the answer was still no. After many minutes of this back-andforth, Phileas offered a price of six hundred pounds. Still no! Then he tried to buy Kiouni for one thousand pounds. Still no! It took an offer of two thousand pounds for the man to agree. "Two thousand pounds!" Passepartout said, "for an elephant!" He was amazed that his boss was willing to spend so much money! But now the men had to find a guide. In town they found a nice young man named Ali. They hired him right away. They bought supplies and were soon ready to go. Phileas and Sir Francis sat in seats on either side of the elephant. These were called howdahs. Passepartout sat in between the two men. He was right on Kiouni's back. The guide sat on