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IN WHICH PASSEPARTOUT DOES NOT SUCCEED IN MAKING ANYBODY
LISTEN TO REASON
The train, on leaving Great Salt Lake at Ogden, passed northward
for an hour as far as Weber River, having completed nearly nine
hundred miles from San Francisco. From this point it took an easterly
direction towards the jagged Wahsatch Mountains. It was in the
section included between this range and the Rocky Mountains that
the American engineers found the most formidable difficulties
in laying the road, and that the government granted a subsidy
of forty-eight thousand dollars per mile, instead of sixteen thousand
allowed for the work done on the plains. But the engineers, instead
of violating nature, avoided its difficulties by winding around,
instead of penetrating the rocks. One tunnel only, fourteen thousand
feet in length, was pierced in order to arrive at the great basin.
The track up to this time had reached its highest elevation
at the Great Salt Lake. From this point it described a long curve,
descending towards Bitter Creek Valley, to rise again to the dividing
ridge of the waters between the Atlantic and the Pacific. There
were many creeks in this mountainous region, and it was necessary
to cross Muddy Creek, Green Creek, and others, upon culverts.
Passepartout grew more and more impatient as they went on,
while Fix longed to get out of this difficult region, and was
more anxious than Phileas Fogg himself to be beyond the danger
of delays and accidents, and set foot on English soil.
At ten o'clock at night the train stopped at Fort Bridger station,
and twenty minutes later entered Wyoming Territory, following
the valley of Bitter Creek throughout. The next day, 7th December,
they stopped for a quarter of an hour at Green River station.
Snow had fallen abundantly during the night, but, being mixed
with rain, it had half melted, and did not interrupt their progress.
The bad weather, however, annoyed Passepartout; for the accumulation
of snow, by blocking the wheels of the cars, would certainly have
been fatal to Mr. Fogg's tour.
"What an idea!" he said to himself. "Why did
my master make this journey in winter? Couldn't he have waited
for the good season to increase his chances?"
While the worthy Frenchman was absorbed in the state of the
sky and the depression of the temperature, Aouda was experiencing
fears from a totally different cause.
Several passengers had got off at Green River, and were walking
up and down the platforms; and among these Aouda recognised Colonel
Stamp Proctor, the same who had so grossly insulted Phileas Fogg
at the San Francisco meeting. Not wishing to be recognised, the
young woman drew back from the window, feeling much alarm at her
discovery. She was attached to the man who, however coldly, gave
her daily evidences of the most absolute devotion. She did not
comprehend, perhaps, the depth of the sentiment with which her
protector inspired her, which she called gratitude, but which,
though she was unconscious of it, was really more than that. Her
heart sank within her when she recognised the man whom Mr. Fogg
desired, sooner or later, to call to account for his conduct.
Chance alone, it was clear, had brought Colonel Proctor on this
train; but there he was, and it was necessary, at all hazards,
that Phileas Fogg should not perceive his adversary.
Aouda seized a moment when Mr. Fogg was asleep to tell Fix
and Passepartout whom she had seen.
"That Proctor on this train!" cried Fix. "Well,
reassure yourself, madam; before he settles with Mr. Fogg; he
has got to deal with me! It seems to me that I was the more insulted
of the two."
"And, besides," added Passepartout, "I'll take
charge of him, colonel as he is."
"Mr. Fix," resumed Aouda, "Mr. Fogg will allow
no one to avenge him. He said that he would come back to America
to find this man. Should he perceive Colonel Proctor, we could
not prevent a collision which might have terrible results. He
must not see him."
"You are right, madam," replied Fix; "a meeting
between them might ruin all. Whether he were victorious or beaten,
Mr. Fogg would be delayed, and--"
"And," added Passepartout, "that would play
the game of the gentlemen of the Reform Club. In four days we
shall be in New York. Well, if my master does not leave this car
during those four days, we may hope that chance will not bring
him face to face with this confounded American. We must, if possible,
prevent his stirring out of it."
The conversation dropped. Mr. Fogg had just woke up, and was
looking out of the window. Soon after Passepartout, without being
heard by his master or Aouda, whispered to the detective, "Would
you really fight for him?"
"I would do anything," replied Fix, in a tone which
betrayed determined will, "to get him back living to Europe!"
Passepartout felt something like a shudder shoot through his
frame, but his confidence in his master remained unbroken.
Was there any means of detaining Mr. Fogg in the car, to avoid
a meeting between him and the colonel? It ought not to be a difficult
task, since that gentleman was naturally sedentary and little
curious. The detective, at least, seemed to have found a way;
for, after a few moments, he said to Mr. Fogg, "These are
long and slow hours, sir, that we are passing on the railway."
"Yes," replied Mr. Fogg; "but they pass."
"You were in the habit of playing whist," resumed
Fix, "on the steamers."
"Yes; but it would be difficult to do so here. I have
neither cards nor partners."
"Oh, but we can easily buy some cards, for they are sold
on all the American trains. And as for partners, if madam plays--"
"Certainly, sir," Aouda quickly replied; "I
understand whist. It is part of an English education."
"I myself have some pretensions to playing a good game.
Well, here are three of us, and a dummy--"
"As you please, sir," replied Phileas Fogg, heartily
glad to resume his favourite pastime even on the railway.
Passepartout was dispatched in search of the steward, and soon
returned with two packs of cards, some pins, counters, and a shelf
covered with cloth.
The game commenced. Aouda understood whist sufficiently well,
and even received some compliments on her playing from Mr. Fogg.
As for the detective, he was simply an adept, and worthy of being
matched against his present opponent.
"Now," thought Passepartout, "we've got him.
He won't budge."
At eleven in the morning the train had reached the dividing
ridge of the waters at Bridger Pass, seven thousand five hundred
and twenty-four feet above the level of the sea, one of the highest
points attained by the track in crossing the Rocky Mountains.
After going about two hundred miles, the travellers at last found
themselves on one of those vast plains which extend to the Atlantic,
and which nature has made so propitious for laying the iron road.
On the declivity of the Atlantic basin the first streams, branches
of the North Platte River, already appeared. The whole northern
and eastern horizon was bounded by the immense semi-circular curtain
which is formed by the southern portion of the Rocky Mountains,
the highest being Laramie Peak. Between this and the railway extended
vast plains, plentifully irrigated. On the right rose the lower
spurs of the mountainous mass which extends southward to the sources
of the Arkansas River, one of the great tributaries of the Missouri.
At half-past twelve the travellers caught sight for an instant
of Fort Halleck, which commands that section; and in a few more
hours the Rocky Mountains were crossed. There was reason to hope,
then, that no accident would mark the journey through this difficult
country. The snow had ceased falling, and the air became crisp
and cold. Large birds, frightened by the locomotive, rose and
flew off in the distance. No wild beast appeared on the plain.
It was a desert in its vast nakedness.
After a comfortable breakfast, served in the car, Mr. Fogg
and his partners had just resumed whist, when a violent whistling
was heard, and the train stopped. Passepartout put his head out
of the door, but saw nothing to cause the delay; no station was
in view.
Aouda and Fix feared that Mr. Fogg might take it into his head
to get out; but that gentleman contented himself with saying to
his servant, "See what is the matter."
Passepartout rushed out of the car. Thirty or forty passengers
had already descended, amongst them Colonel Stamp Proctor.
The train had stopped before a red signal which blocked the
way. The engineer and conductor were talking excitedly with a
signal-man, whom the station-master at Medicine Bow, the next
stopping place, had sent on before. The passengers drew around
and took part in the discussion, in which Colonel Proctor, with
his insolent manner, was conspicuous.
Passepartout, joining the group, heard the signal-man say,
"No! you can't pass. The bridge at Medicine Bow is shaky,
and would not bear the weight of the train."
This was a suspension-bridge thrown over some rapids, about
a mile from the place where they now were. According to the signal-man,
it was in a ruinous condition, several of the iron wires being
broken; and it was impossible to risk the passage. He did not
in any way exaggerate the condition of the bridge. It may be taken
for granted that, rash as the Americans usually are, when they
are prudent there is good reason for it.
Passepartout, not daring to apprise his master of what he heard,
listened with set teeth, immovable as a statue.
"Hum!" cried Colonel Proctor; "but we are not
going to stay here, I imagine, and take root in the snow?"
"Colonel," replied the conductor, "we have telegraphed
to Omaha for a train, but it is not likely that it will reach
Medicine Bow is less than six hours."
"Six hours!" cried Passepartout.
"Certainly," returned the conductor, "besides,
it will take us as long as that to reach Medicine Bow on foot."
"But it is only a mile from here," said one of the
passengers.
"Yes, but it's on the other side of the river."
"And can't we cross that in a boat?" asked the colonel.
"That's impossible. The creek is swelled by the rains.
It is a rapid, and we shall have to make a circuit of ten miles
to the north to find a ford."
The colonel launched a volley of oaths, denouncing the railway
company and the conductor; and Passepartout, who was furious,
was not disinclined to make common cause with him. Here was an
obstacle, indeed, which all his master's banknotes could not remove.
There was a general disappointment among the passengers, who,
without reckoning the delay, saw themselves compelled to trudge
fifteen miles over a plain covered with snow. They grumbled and
protested, and would certainly have thus attracted Phileas Fogg's
attention if he had not been completely absorbed in his game.
Passepartout found that he could not avoid telling his master
what had occurred, and, with hanging head, he was turning towards
the car, when the engineer a true Yankee, named Forster called
out, "Gentlemen, perhaps there is a way, after all, to get
over."
"On the bridge?" asked a passenger.
"On the bridge."
"With our train?"
"With our train."
Passepartout stopped short, and eagerly listened to the engineer.
"But the bridge is unsafe," urged the conductor.
"No matter," replied Forster; "I think that
by putting on the very highest speed we might have a chance of
getting over."
"The devil!" muttered Passepartout.
But a number of the passengers were at once attracted by the
engineer's proposal, and Colonel Proctor was especially delighted,
and found the plan a very feasible one. He told stories about
engineers leaping their trains over rivers without bridges, by
putting on full steam; and many of those present avowed themselves
of the engineer's mind.
"We have fifty chances out of a hundred of getting over,"
said one.
"Eighty! ninety!"
Passepartout was astounded, and, though ready to attempt anything
to get over Medicine Creek, thought the experiment proposed a
little too American. "Besides," thought he, "there's
a still more simple way, and it does not even occur to any of
these people! Sir," said he aloud to one of the passengers,
"the engineer's plan seems to me a little dangerous, but--"
"Eighty chances!" replied the passenger, turning
his back on him.
"I know it," said Passepartout, turning to another
passenger, "but a simple idea--"
"Ideas are no use," returned the American, shrugging
his shoulders, "as the engineer assures us that we can pass."
"Doubtless," urged Passepartout, "we can pass,
but perhaps it would be more prudent--"
"What! Prudent!" cried Colonel Proctor, whom this
word seemed to excite prodigiously. "At full speed, don't
you see, at full speed!"
"I know--I see," repeated Passepartout; "but
it would be, if not more prudent, since that word displeases you,
at least more natural--"
"Who! What! What's the matter with this fellow?"
cried several.
The poor fellow did not know to whom to address himself.
"Are you afraid?" asked Colonel Proctor.
"I afraid? Very well; I will show these people that a
Frenchman can be as American as they!"
"All aboard!" cried the conductor. "Yes, all
aboard!" repeated Passepartout, and immediately. "But
they can't prevent me from thinking that it would be more natural
for us to cross the bridge on foot, and let the train come after!"
But no one heard this sage reflection, nor would anyone have
acknowledged its justice. The passengers resumed their places
in the cars. Passepartout took his seat without telling what had
passed. The whist-players were quite absorbed in their game.
The locomotive whistled vigorously; the engineer, reversing
the steam, backed the train for nearly a mile--retiring, like
a jumper, in order to take a longer leap. Then, with another whistle,
he began to move forward; the train increased its speed, and soon
its rapidity became frightful; a prolonged screech issued from
the locomotive; the piston worked up and down twenty strokes to
the second. They perceived that the whole train, rushing on at
the rate of a hundred miles an hour, hardly bore upon the rails
at all.
And they passed over! It was like a flash. No one saw the bridge.
The train leaped, so to speak, from one bank to the other, and
the engineer could not stop it until it had gone five miles beyond
the station. But scarcely had the train passed the river, when
the bridge, completely ruined, fell with a crash into the rapids
of Medicine Bow.
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