Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 7.djvu/196

 The name of this man was Fix, and he was one of the detectives, or agents of the English police, who had been sent to the various seaports after the robbery committed upon the Bank of England. This Fix was to watch, with the greatest care, all travelers taking the Suez route, and if one of them seemed suspicious to him, to follow him up whilst waiting for a warrant of arrest. Just two days before Fix had received from the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police the description of the supposed robber. The detective, evidently much excited by the large reward promised in case of success, was waiting then with an impatience easy to understand, the arrival of the Mongolia. "And you say, Consul," he asked, for the tenth time, "that this vessel cannot be behind time?"

"No, Mr. Fix," replied the Consul. "She was signaled yesterday off Port Said, and the one hundred and sixty kilometers of the canal are of no moment for such a sailer. I repeat to you that the Mongolia has always obtained the reward of twenty-five pounds given by the Government for every gain of twenty-four hours over the regulation time."

"This steamer comes directly from Brindisi?" asked Mr. Fix.

"Directly from Brindisi, where it took on the India mail; from Brindisi, which it left on Saturday, at five o'clock So have patience; it cannot be behindhand in arriving. But really I do not see how, with the description you have received, you could recognize your man, if he is on board the Mongolia."

"Consul," replied Fix, "we feel these people rather than know them. You must have a scent for them, and the scent is like a special sense in which are united hearing, sight and smell. I have in my life arrested more than one of these gentlemen, and, provided that my robber is on board, I will venture that he will not slip from my hands."

"I hope so, Mr. Fix, for it is a very heavy robbery."

"A magnificent robbery," replied the enthusiastic detective. "Fifty-five thousand pounds! We don't often have such windfalls! The robbers are becoming mean fellows. The race of Jack Sheppard is dying out! They are hung now for a few shillings."

"Mr. Fix," replied the Consul, "you speak in such a way