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Verne's tale is serialised all this week

Around the World in 80 Days - Part III

This is episode three of our serialisation of the abridged version of Around the World in Eighty Days for the 2006 Great Reading Adventure.

It has been specially adapted for children.

The adventure is part of the Brunel 200 programme which is funded by the National Lottery through Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and the Millennium Commission.

If you missed the earlier chapters,

before reading on.

Chapter 3: Trouble in Hong Kong

Phileas and Passepartout waited in a cell at the courthouse. Aouda waited with them. She thought they had been arrested for rescuing her and was very afraid. At 8.30 they were all taken into the courtroom. They sat on a bench opposite the judge.
The judge asked the clerk to bring in the people who had made the complaint. They were the three priests from the temple in Bombay.

The judge said to the priests: 'Can you see in this room the man who wore shoes in the temple?'

The priests all pointed at Passepartout.

'And as further proof of this man's guilt,' said the clerk, 'here are his shoes.' And he held up the shoes the priests had taken off Passepartout.

'My shoes!' exclaimed Passepartout. He was too surprised to keep quiet.

At the back of the courtroom, out of sight, was Fix. He was very pleased with himself. He had arranged for the priests to come to Calcutta to accuse Passepartout. Fix was still waiting for the warrant for Phileas. He had asked the police in Bombay to send it to him in Calcutta as soon as it arrived from Britain. This other crime would keep Phileas in India until then.

The judge glared at Passepartout.

'By wearing shoes in the temple you insulted these priests. You have been found guilty of a serious crime and will go to prison for two weeks,' he said.

'And as for you,' he said, turning to Phileas, 'you are this man's master and are partly to blame for the way he behaved. You will therefore go to prison for seven days.'

Fix tried not to laugh out loud. This was even better than he had hoped. Passepartout nearly cried with frustration. His master would lose the bet and it was all his fault.

But Phileas, as calm as ever, said: 'Instead of going to a prison, may we pay a fine?'

The judge said the fine would be 拢2,000. This was a lot of money but Phileas did not hesitate. He took a handful of banknotes out of his bag and gave them to the judge. Then he, Passepartout and Aouda went to the docks to catch the ship to Hong Kong.

Fix's plan had not worked. He would now have to go to Hong Kong too. Before he left he told the Calcutta police where to send the warrant.

Passepartout was amazed to see Fix on board the ship. When they had spoken before, Fix had not mentioned he was going to Hong Kong. Passepartout decided Fix must be a spy from the Reform Club sent to check that Phileas did not cheat.

On the way to Hong Kong, the ship stopped for a few hours in Singapore to take on more coal. Phileas was not usually very interested in sightseeing but he hired a carriage with two smart horses and took Aouda for a pleasant ride in the country. They were followed by Fix who was worried that Phileas might escape.

They returned to the ship and continued the journey to Hong Kong. Aouda was going to look for one of her uncles who lived there. Phileas and Passepartout had to catch a ship called the Carnatic that left on 6 November for Yokohama in Japan.

The weather became stormy with strong winds and rough seas. It slowed the ship down and they arrived in Hong Kong 24 hours late. They must have missed the ship to Japan and would have to wait days for the next one. Fix was delighted, Passepartout was angry, Aouda was concerned and Phileas showed no emotion at all.

At the information desk, Phileas asked a man when there would be ship going to Yokohama.

'The Carnatic leaves tomorrow morning at five o'clock. She should have left yesterday but one of her boilers needed mending,' the man said.

Phileas, Passepartout and Aouda took a carriage to a hotel. Phileas asked Passepartout to wait there with Aouda while he looked for her uncle. He returned with the sad news that Aouda's uncle had left Hong Kong two years before. Aouda did not know what to do. She could not return to India because it was too dangerous for her.

'It's simple. You must come back to England with us,' said Phileas.

Aouda was happy to come along as she enjoyed seeing the world and liked her two new friends.

Phileas told Passepartout to go and book three cabins on the Carnatic. When Passepartout arrived at the ticket office, Fix was already there. His warrant still had not arrived and he would have to follow Phileas all the way back to Britain before he could make his arrest. When they went to buy their tickets, the man at the desk told them that the repairs to the boiler had been finished earlier than expected. The Carnatic was now going to leave at eight o'clock that evening.

'Excellent,' said Passepartout. 'I will go and tell my master.'

Fix suddenly had an idea.

'There's plenty of time,' he said. 'Why don't you and I go for a drink at the bar across the street first?'

Passepartout was always ready for a drink. As he was pouring out the brandy, Fix decided to tell Passepartout why he was really following him. Passepartout thought the idea that Phileas was a bank robber was nonsense and he got very angry. All the time they talked Fix kept pouring more and more brandy and Passepartout got more and more drunk.

At the back of the bar was a room where customers could smoke opium. Fix steered the befuddled Passepartout towards the back room and slipped an opium pipe into the Frenchman's mouth. Within a few minutes Passepartout was fast asleep.

'At last!' said Fix. 'By the time that stupid oaf wakes up, it'll be too late. The Carnatic will have left for Japan and that villain Phileas Fogg will be stuck here in Hong Kong until the warrant arrives.'

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