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Chapter VI 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 in 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.