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IN WHICH FIX, THE DETECTIVE, BETRAYS A VERY NATURAL IMPATIENCE
The circumstances under which this telegraphic dispatch about
Phileas Fogg was sent were as follows:
The steamer Mongolia, belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental
Company, built of iron, of two thousand eight hundred tons burden,
and five hundred horse-power, was due at eleven o'clock a.m. on
Wednesday, the 9th of October, at Suez. The Mongolia plied regularly
between Brindisi and Bombay via the Suez Canal, and was one of
the fastest steamers belonging to the company, always making more
than ten knots an hour between Brindisi and Suez, and nine and
a half between Suez and Bombay.
Two men were promenading up and down the wharves, among the
crowd of natives and strangers who were sojourning at this once
straggling village-- now, thanks to the enterprise of M. Lesseps,
a fast-growing town. One was the British consul at Suez, who,
despite the prophecies of the English Government, and the unfavourable
predictions of Stephenson, was in the habit of seeing, from his
office window, English ships daily passing to and fro on the great
canal, by which the old roundabout route from England to India
by the Cape of Good Hope was abridged by at least a half. The
other was a small, slight-built personage, with a nervous, intelligent
face, and bright eyes peering out from under eyebrows which he
was incessantly twitching. He was just now manifesting unmistakable
signs of impatience, nervously pacing up and down, and unable
to stand still for a moment. This was Fix, one of the detectives
who had been dispatched from England in search of the bank robber;
it was his task to narrowly watch every passenger who arrived
at Suez, and to follow up all who seemed to be suspicious characters,
or bore a resemblance to the description of the criminal, which
he had received two days before from the police headquarters at
London. The detective was evidently inspired by the hope of obtaining
the splendid reward which would be the prize of success, and awaited
with a feverish impatience, easy to understand, the arrival of
the steamer Mongolia.
"So you say, consul," asked he for the twentieth
time, "that this steamer is never behind time?"
"No, Mr. Fix," replied the consul. "She was
bespoken yesterday at Port Said, and the rest of the way is of
no account to such a craft. I repeat that the Mongolia has been
in advance of the time required by the company's regulations,
and gained the prize awarded for excess of speed."
"Does she come directly from Brindisi?"
"Directly from Brindisi; she takes on the Indian mails
there, and she left there Saturday at five p.m. Have patience,
Mr. Fix; she will not be late. But really, I don't see how, from
the description you have, you will be able to recognise your man,
even if he is on board the Mongolia."
"A man rather feels the presence of these fellows, consul,
than recognises them. You must have a scent for them, and a scent
is like a sixth sense which combines hearing, seeing, and smelling.
I've arrested more than one of these gentlemen in my time, and,
if my thief is on board, I'll answer for it; he'll not slip through
my fingers."
"I hope so, Mr. Fix, for it was a heavy robbery."
"A magnificent robbery, consul; fifty-five thousand pounds!
We don't often have such windfalls. Burglars are getting to be
so contemptible nowadays! A fellow gets hung for a handful of
shillings!"
"Mr. Fix," said the consul, "I like your way
of talking, and hope you'll succeed; but I fear you will find
it far from easy. Don't you see, the description which you have
there has a singular resemblance to an honest man?"
"Consul," remarked the detective, dogmatically, "great
robbers always resemble honest folks. Fellows who have rascally
faces have only one course to take, and that is to remain honest;
otherwise they would be arrested off-hand. The artistic thing
is, to unmask honest countenances; it's no light task, I admit,
but a real art."
Mr. Fix evidently was not wanting in a tinge of self-conceit.
Little by little the scene on the quay became more animated;
sailors of various nations, merchants, ship-brokers, porters,
fellahs, bustled to and fro as if the steamer were immediately
expected. The weather was clear, and slightly chilly. The minarets
of the town loomed above the houses in the pale rays of the sun.
A jetty pier, some two thousand yards along, extended into the
roadstead. A number of fishing-smacks and coasting boats, some
retaining the fantastic fashion of ancient galleys, were discernible
on the Red Sea.
As he passed among the busy crowd, Fix, according to habit,
scrutinised the passers-by with a keen, rapid glance.
It was now half-past ten.
"The steamer doesn't come!" he exclaimed, as the
port clock struck.
"She can't be far off now," returned his companion.
"How long will she stop at Suez?"
"Four hours; long enough to get in her coal. It is thirteen
hundred and ten miles from Suez to Aden, at the other end of the
Red Sea, and she has to take in a fresh coal supply."
"And does she go from Suez directly to Bombay?"
"Without putting in anywhere."
"Good!" said Fix. "If the robber is on board
he will no doubt get off at Suez, so as to reach the Dutch or
French colonies in Asia by some other route. He ought to know
that he would not be safe an hour in India, which is English soil."
"Unless," objected the consul, "he is exceptionally
shrewd. An English criminal, you know, is always better concealed
n London than anywhere else."
This observation furnished the detective food for thought,
and meanwhile the consul went away to his office. Fix, left alone,
was more impatient than ever, having a presentiment that the robber
was on board the Mongolia. If he had indeed left London intending
to reach the New World, he would naturally take the route via
India, which was less watched and more difficult to watch than
that of the Atlantic. But Fix's reflections were soon interrupted
by a succession of sharp whistles, which announced the arrival
of the Mongolia. The porters and fellahs rushed down the quay,
and a dozen boats pushed off from the shore to go and meet the
steamer. Soon her gigantic hull appeared passing along between
the banks, and eleven o'clock struck as she anchored in the road.
She brought an unusual number of passengers, some of whom remained
on deck to scan the picturesque panorama of the town, while the
greater part disembarked in the boats, and landed on the quay.
Fix took up a position, and carefully examined each face and
figure which made its appearance. Presently one of the passengers,
after vigorously pushing his way through the importunate crowd
of porters, came up to him and politely asked if he could point
out the English consulate, at the same time showing a passport
which he wished to have visaed. Fix instinctively took the passport,
and with a rapid glance read the description of its bearer. An
involuntary motion of surprise nearly escaped him, for the description
in the passport was identical with that of the bank robber which
he had received from Scotland Yard.
"Is this your passport?" asked he.
"No, it's my master's."
"And your master is--"
"He stayed on board."
"But he must go to the consul's in person, so as to establish
his identity."
"Oh, is that necessary?"
"Quite indispensable."
"And where is the consulate?"
"There, on the corner of the square," said Fix, pointing
to a house two hundred steps off.
"I'll go and fetch my master, who won't be much pleased,
however, to be disturbed."
The passenger bowed to Fix, and returned to the steamer.
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