Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 7.djvu/282

258 ated at a distance of twelve miles at least above the mouth. At seven o'clock they were still three miles from Shanghai. A formidable oath escaped from the pilot's lips. It was evident that the reward of two hundred pounds was going to slip from him. He looked at Mr. Fogg. Mr. Fogg was impassible, and yet his whole fortune was at stake at this moment.

At this moment, too, a long, black funnel, crowned with a wreath of smoke, appeared on the edge of the water. It was the American steamer going at the regular hour. “Maledictions on her!” cried John Bunsby, who pushed back the rudder desperately.

"Signal her!" said Phileas Fogg, simply.

A small brass cannon stood on the forward deck of the Tankadere. It served to make signals in hazy weather.

The cannon was loaded to the muzzle, but at the moment that the pilot was going to apply a red-hot coal to the touchhole, Mr. Fogg said: “Hoist your flag.”

The flag was hoisted half-mast. It was a signal of distress, and it was to be hoped that the American steamer, perceiving it, would change her course for a moment to assist the little craft.

“Fire!” said Mr. Fogg. And the booming of the little cannon sounded through the air.

Carnatic, having left Hong Kong on the 6th of November, at half past six Pp. M., turned under full head of steam towards the Japanese shores. She carried a full load of freight and passengers. Two cabins aft were unoccupied. They were the ones retained for Mr. Phileas Fogg.

The next morning the men in the forward part of the vessel saw, not without some surprise, a passenger, with half-stupefied eyes and disordered head, coming out of the second cabin, and with tottering steps taking a seat on deck.

This passenger was Passepartout himself. This is what