Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 7.djvu/274

 "But, if I insist"

"No, sir," repeated Fogg, in a tone which did not admit of reply. "That will enter into the general expenses."

Fix bowed; he had a stifling feeling, and going forward, he lay down, and did not say a word more during the day.

In the meantime they were moving on rapidly. John Bunsby had high hopes. He said to Mr. Fogg several times that they would arrive at Shanghai at the desired time. Mr. Fogg simply replied that he counted on it. The whole crew went to work in earnest. The reward enticed these good people. So there was not a sheet which was not conscientiously tightened! Not a sail which was not vigorously hoisted! Not a lurch for which the man at the helm could be blamed. They would not have maneuvered more rigorously in a regatta of the Royal Yacht Club.

In the evening, the pilot marked on the log a distance of two hundred and twenty miles from Hong Kong, and Phileas Fogg might hope that on arriving at Yokohama he would not have to note any delay in his journal. Thus, the first serious mischance that he had suffered since his departure from London would probably not affect his journey worth mentioning.

During the night, towards the early morning hours, the Tankadere entered, without difficulty, the Straits of Fo Kien, which separate the large Island of Formosa from the Chinese coast, and she crossed the Tropic of Cancer. The sea was very rough in these straits, full of eddies formed by counter-currents. The schooner labored heavily. The short waves broke her course. It became very difficult to stand upon the deck.

With daybreak, the wind became fresher. There was the appearance of a squall in the heavens. Besides, the barometer announced a speedy change of the atmosphere; its daily movement was irregular, and the mercury oscillated capriciously. The sea was seen rising towards the southeast in long swells, betokening a tempest. The evening before the sun had set in a red haze, amid the phosphorescent scintillations of the ocean.

The pilot examined the threatening aspect of the sky for a long time, and muttered between his teeth indistinctly. At a certain moment, finding himself near his passenger, he said in a low voice: "Can I speak freely to your honor?"