CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Passepartout Finds out That It's Good to Have Money in One's Pocket

The Carnatic left Hong Kong at half past six on the 7th of November. She carried many passengers. Two rooms were empty, though—Phineas Fogg's rooms.

The next day a passenger with a strange walk and messy hair came out of the second room. It was Passepartout. Shortly after Fix left the opium bar, two waiters took Passepartout to the bed. Three hours later he awoke, and fought against the drug. He could barely walk and often fell, and he kept crying out, "The Carnatic! The Carnatic!"

He made it to the Carnatic, and fell asleep on the deck. Several sailors, who had seen this before, carried the poor Frenchman down into the second room. Passepartout did not wake until they were one hundred and fifty miles away from China. The next morning he found himself on deck of the Carnatic, and the pure air helped him. At last he remembered the events of the night before. He remembered Fix's conversation, and the opium house.

"I have been drunk! What will Mr Fogg say?" he said to himself. "At least I have not missed the steamer."

Then he thought about Fix. "As for him, I hope we are rid of him. A detective following Mr Fogg! Mr Fogg is no more a robber than I am a murderer."

Should he tell his master Fix's real work? Maybe it would be better to wait until Mr Fogg reached London again. Then they could have a good laugh over it. It was something to think about. The first thing to do was to find Mr Fogg and apologize.

Passepartout got up and walked around the deck. He did not see either Aouda or Mr Fogg. He walked down to the bar. Mr Fogg was not there, either. He asked a crew member, but the sailor had never heard of Fogg.

"He is a tall gentleman, quiet, and does not talk very much," Passepartout said. "He has with him a young lady—"

"There is no young lady on board," the sailor said.

"Am I on the Carnatic?"

"Yes."

"On the way to Yokohama?"

"Certainly."

Passepartout understood now. He was supposed to have told Mr Fogg that the time of sailing had been changed, but he had not done it. It was his fault that Mr Fogg and Aouda had missed the steamer. Yes, but it was more the fault of the betrayer. If he saw Fix again, what trouble there would be!

Passepartout became calmer, and he studied his situation. He was on the way to Japan, and he had no money. What would he do when he got there?

At dawn on the 13th the Carnatic entered the port of the Yokohama. He nervously went on shore. He had nothing better to do, so he wandered the streets of Yokohama. He first found himself in a European quarter. Here, as in Hong Kong and Calcutta, were groups of all people. Americans, English, Chinese, and Dutch.

He went on to the Japanese quarter, which is called Benten. He saw beautiful trees and old temples. The streets were crowded with people. Priests passed by beating drums, and police, soldiers, and guards walked around with swords and guns.

The good man had taken care to eat as large a breakfast as possible, but he had been walking all day, and he was very hungry. He saw that the butchers did not have mutton, goat, nor pork. He saw that there was not very much meat in Yokohama. Night came, and Passepartout walked back to the docks. The harbor was lit by the lights of the fishermen.

(end of section)