CHAPTER ELEVEN

Phineas Fogg Pays a Lot of Money for a Strange Way of Traveling

The train had started on time. The passengers included officers, government officials, and merchants. Passepartout rode in the same carriage with his master, and a third passenger sat opposite them. This was Sir Francis Cromarty, one of Mr Fogg's whist partners on the Mongolia. Sir Francis was a tall, fifty-year-old man, who was a general in the army. India was his home now, and he knew the customs and history very well. But Phineas Fogg did not ask about these subjects. Sir Francis had studied his companion, and he wondered if Fogg had a human heart at all.

After leaving Bombay they soon reached the mountains. Sir Francis said, "Some years ago, Mr Fogg, you would have been delayed at this point. You probably would have lost your wager."

"How so, Sir Francis?"

"Because the railway stopped at the base of these mountains and the passengers had to cross on foot or horse."

"This delay would not have hurt my plans," said Mr Fogg. "I would have expected it."

"But, Mr Fogg," Sir Francis continued, "you might have some difficulty about Passepartout's adventure at the temple." Passepartout was asleep. "The government is very strict. If your servant were caught—"

"Very well, Sir Francis," replied Mr Fogg. "If he had been caught he would have been punished, and then he would have returned to Europe. I don't see how this could have delayed me."

During the night.the train left the mountains, and the next day it went into the flat country of the Khandeish. Passepartout woke, and he could not realize that he was crossing India in a train. The train passed farms and villages, and later jungles with tigers and snakes. Elephants watched the train as it passed.

At half past twelve the train stopped at Burhampoor. The travelers had a quick breakfast and started off again.

Passepartout was quietly thinking. Up to his arrival at Bombay, he hoped their journey would end there. Now, as they crossed India at full speed, his mind changed suddenly. His old traveler's nature returned to him; the fantastic ideas of his youth took hold of him. He believed his master now, and believed in the wager. He began to worry about possible delays, and he worried that he might have ruined everything the night before. He was not calm like Mr Fogg, so he was restless. He counted and recounted the days that passed over, and he became angry when the train stopped.

The train entered the Sutpour Mountains in the evening. The next day Sir Francis Cromarty asked Passepartout what time it was. Passepartout looked at his watch, and replied that it was three in the morning. This famous watch, always set to London time, was at least four hours slow. Sir Francis corrected Passepartout's time, and said that he must set the time since they were traveling eastward. As when Fix suggested it, Passepartout refused to reset his watch. It was foolish, but it could harm no one.

The train stopped at eight o'clock. The conductor shouted, "Passengers will get out here!"

Phineas Fogg looked at Sir Francis Cromarty for an explanation, but the general did not know why they stopped in the forest.

Passepartout rushed out, and returned quickly, crying, "Monsieur, no more railway!"

"What do you mean?" asked Sir Francis.

"I mean to say that the train isn't going on."

The general stepped out, and Phineas Fogg calmly followed him. They went to the conductor.

"Where are we?" asked Sir Francis.

"At the town of Kholby."

"Do we stop here?"

"Certainly. The railway isn't finished."

"What! Not finished?"

"No. There's still fifty miles to be laid from here to Allahabad, where the line begins again."

"But the papers announced the opening of the railway throughout."

"What can I say? The papers were mistaken."

Sir Francis was extremely angry.

"Sir Francis," said Mr Fogg quietly, "we will look for some way to travel to Allahabad."

"Mr Fogg, this delay is very bad for you."

"No, Sir Francis; it was foreseen."

"What! You knew that the way—"

"Not at all; but I knew that some trouble or other would sooner or later arise on my way. Nothing, therefore, is lost. Already I have gained two days. A steamer leaves Calcutta for Hong Kong at noon, on the 25th. This is the 22nd, and we shall reach Calcutta in time."

There was nothing to say to such a confident reply.

Most of the passengers knew about the stop, and they began to find carriages, horses, and carriages drawn by oxen. Mr Fogg and Sir Francis Cromarty searched the village from end to end, and came back without finding anything.

"I shall go afoot," said Phineas Fogg.

Passepartout said, "Monsieur, I think I have found a way."

"What?"

"An elephant! An elephant that belongs to an Indian who lives but a hundred steps from here."

"Let's go and see the elephant," replied Mr Fogg.

They soon reached a small house. An Indian came out, and brought them to the elephant's pen. The elephant had not been raised for work. Instead, the owner had raised it for war. The Indian had tried to give him unnatural violence, and had succeeded halfway. The beast, named Kiouni, could travel rapidly for a long time. They had no other choice, so Mr Fogg decided to hire him. But elephants are not cheap in India, and the males are more expensive. Mr Fogg offered ten pounds an hour, but the owner refused. Twenty pounds? Refused. Forty pounds? Still refused. The Indian was tempted; if it took fifteen hours to reach Allahabad, the owner would receive six hundred pounds.

Phineas Fogg then offered to buy the animal, and offered a thousand pounds. The Indian saw he was going to make a great bargain, and still refused.

Sir Francis Cromarty took Mr Fogg aside, and begged him to think before he went further. The gentleman replied that he had a bet of twenty thousand pounds, and the elephant was necessary. He would pay twenty times his value if he needed. Returning to the Indian, Mr Fogg offered first twelve hundred, then fifteen hundred, eighteen hundred, two thousand pounds. Passepartout turned white.

At two thousand pounds the Indian agreed.

"What a price for an elephant!" cried Passepartout.

They found a driver, which was easy.

The driver put two seats on the side of the beast, and Phineas Fogg paid the Indian. He offered to carry Sir Francis to Allahabad, which the general gratefully accepted. Food was purchased at Kholby. Sir Francis and Mr Fogg took the seats on either side, Passepartout sat on the cloth between them, and the driver sat on the elephant's neck. At nine o'clock they set out, the animal marching off through the thick forest.

(end of section)