by Verne, Jules, 1828-1905
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days in a state of feverish suspense. Would Phileas Fogg, whom they had forgotten, reappear before their eyes! Where was heat this moment ^ The 17th of December, the day of James Strand's arrest, was the seventy-sixth since Phileas Fogg's departure, and no news of him had been received. Was he dead ? Had he abandoned the effort, or was he continuing his journey along the route agreed upon ? And would he appear on Saturday, the 21st of December, at a quarter before nine in the evening, on the threshold of the Reform Club saloon ?
The anxiety in which, for three days, London society existed, cannot be described. Telegrams were sent to America and Asia for news of Phileas Fogg. Messengers were despatched to the house in Saville Row morning and evening. No news. The police were ignorant what had become of the detective. Fix, who had so unfortunately followed up a false scent. Bets increased, nevertheless, in number and value. Phileas Fogg, like a racehorse, was drawing near his last turning-point. The bonds were quoted, no longer at a hundred below par, but at twenty, at ten, and at five; and paralytic old Lord Albemarle bet even in his favour.
A great crowd was collected in Pall iVIall and the neighbouring streets on Saturday evening; it seemed like a multitude of brokers permanently established around the Reform Club. Circulation was impeded, and everywhere
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disputes, discussions, and financial transactions were going-on. The police had great difficulty in keeping back the crowd, and as the hour when Phileas Fogg was due approached, the excitement rose to its highest pitch.
The five antagonists of Phileas Fogg had met in the great saloon of the club. John Sullivan and Samuel Fallentin, the bankers, Andrew Stuart, the engineer, Gauthier Ralph, the director of the Bank of England, and Thomas Flanagan, the brewer, one and all waited anxiously.
When the clock indicated twenty minutes past eight, Andrew Stuart got up, saying, "Gentlemen, in twenty minutes the time agreed upon between Mr. Fogg and ourselves will have expired."
*'What time did the last train arrive from Liverpool.^" asked Thomas Flanagan.
" At twenty-three minutes past seven," replied Gauthier Ralph ; " and the next does not arrive till ten minutes after twelve."
"Well, gentlemen," resumed Andrew Stuart, "if Phileas Fogg had come in the 7.23 train, he would have got here by this time. We can therefore regard the bet as won."
" Wait; don't let us be too hasty," replied Samuel Fallentin. "You know that Mr. Fogg is very eccentric. His punctuality is well known ; he never arrives too soon.
or too late ; and I should not be surprised if he appeared before us at the last minute."
"Why," said Andrew Stuart nervously, " if I should see him, I should not believe it was he."
" The fact is," resumed Thomas Flanagan, " Mr. Fogg's project was absurdly foolish. Whatever his punctuality, he could not prevent the delays which were certain to occur; and a delay of only two or three days would be fatal to his tour."
" Observe, too," added John Sullivan, " that we have received no intelligence from him, though there are telegraphic lines all along his route."
"He has lost^ gentlemen," said Andrew Stuart,?"he has a hundred times lost! You know, besides, that the * China'?the only steamer he could have taken from New York to get here in time?arrived yesterday. I have seen a list of the passengers, and the name of Phileas Fogg is not among them. Even if we admit that fortune has favoured him, he can scarcely have reached America. I think he will be at least twenty days behindhand, and that Lord Albemarle will lose a cool five thousand."
" It is clear," replied Gauthier Ralph ; " and we have nothing to do but to present Mr. Fogg's check at Barings to-morrow,"
At this moment, the hands of the club clock pointed to twenty minutes to nine.
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** Five minutes more," said Andrew Stuart.
The five gentlemen looked at each other. Their anxiety was becoming- intense; but, not wishing to betray it, they readily assented to Mr. Fallentin's proposal of a rubber.
" I wouldn't give up my four thousand of the bet," said Andrew Stuart, as he took his seat, '* for three thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine."
The clock indicated eighteen minutes to nine.
The players took up their cards, but could not keep their eyes off the clock. Certainly, however secure they felt, minutes had never seemed so long to them!
