Jules Verne · a new plain-English translation from the original language
The inspector went back down onto the quay and made his way quickly to the consul's offices. At once, and at his urgent request, he was shown in to this official.
"Consul," he said without further preamble, "I have strong grounds to believe that our man has taken passage aboard the Mongolia."
And Fix related what had passed between that servant and himself concerning the passport.
"Good, Mr. Fix," replied the consul, "I wouldn't be sorry to see the face of this rascal. But perhaps he won't present himself at my office, if he's what you suppose. A thief doesn't like to leave traces of his passage behind him, and besides, the passport formality is no longer compulsory.
"Consul," replied the agent, "if he's a shrewd man, as one must suppose, he'll come!
"To have his passport visaed?"
"Yes. Passports never serve any purpose but to inconvenience honest folk and to help rascals escape. I assure you this one's will be in order, but I do hope you won't visa it...
"And why not? If this passport is in order," replied the consul, "I have no right to refuse my visa.
"Still, Consul, I must keep this man here until I've received a warrant of arrest from London.
"Ah, that, Mr. Fix, is your affair," replied the consul, "but I cannot..."
The consul did not finish his sentence. At that moment there came a knock at the door of his office, and the office boy showed in two strangers, one of whom was precisely that servant who had talked with the detective.
They were, in fact, master and servant. The master presented his passport, laconically asking the consul to be so good as to stamp his visa on it.
The consul took the passport and read it attentively, while Fix, in a corner of the office, watched, or rather devoured, the stranger with his gaze.
When the consul had finished his reading:
"You are Phileas Fogg, Esquire?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," replied the gentleman.
"And this man is your servant?"
"Yes. A Frenchman named Passepartout."
"You come from London?"
"Yes."
"And you are bound for?"
"Bombay."
"Good, sir. You know that this visa formality is pointless, and that we no longer require the presentation of the passport?"
"That I know, sir," replied Phileas Fogg, "but it is my wish to establish, by your visa, my passage through Suez."
"So be it, sir."
And the consul, having signed and dated the passport, stamped his seal on it. Mr. Fogg paid the visa fees, and, after coolly bowing, went out, followed by his servant.
"Well?" asked the inspector.
"Well," replied the consul, "he has the air of a perfectly honest man!"
"Possibly," replied Fix, "but that's not what's at issue. Do you find, Consul, that this phlegmatic gentleman resembles feature for feature the thief whose description I've received?"
"I grant it, but as you know, all descriptions..."
"I'll get to the bottom of it," replied Fix. "The servant strikes me as less inscrutable than the master. Besides, he's a Frenchman, who won't be able to keep himself from talking. Until soon, Consul."
That said, the agent went out and set about looking for Passepartout.
Meanwhile Mr. Fogg, on leaving the consular house, had headed for the quay. There he gave a few orders to his servant; then he got into a boat, returned aboard the Mongolia, and went back into his cabin. He then took out his notebook, which carried the following entries:
"Left London, Wednesday 2 October, 8:45 p.m.
"Arrived Paris, Thursday 3 October, 7:20 a.m.
"Left Paris, Thursday, 8:40 a.m.
"Arrived by the Mont Cenis at Turin, Friday 4 October, 6:35 a.m.
"Left Turin, Friday, 7:20 a.m.
"Arrived Brindisi, Saturday 5 October, 4:00 p.m.
"Embarked on the Mongolia, Saturday, 5:00 p.m.
"Arrived Suez, Wednesday 9 October, 11:00 a.m.
"Total hours spent: 158½, that is, in days: 6½ days."
Mr. Fogg entered these dates in an itinerary arranged in columns, which indicated—running from October the 2nd through to December the 21st—the month, the date, the day, the regulation arrivals and the actual arrivals at each main point: Paris, Brindisi, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, then Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, Liverpool, London, and which made it possible to reckon the gain obtained or the loss suffered at each place along the route.
This methodical itinerary thus accounted for everything, and Mr. Fogg knew at every moment whether he was ahead or behind.
So he entered, that day, Wednesday the 9th of October, his arrival at Suez, which, tallying with the regulation arrival, put him neither in gain nor in loss.
Then he had lunch served in his cabin. As for seeing the town, he did not even think of it, being of that breed of Englishmen who have the countries they pass through visited by their servant.