The detective passed down the quay¹, and rapidly made his way to the consul²'s office, where he was at once admitted to the presence of that official.

`Consul,' said he, without preamble<sup>3</sup>, `I have strong reasons for believing that my man is a passenger on the "Mongolia".' And he narrated⁴ what had just passed concerning the passport.

`Well, Mr Fix,' replied the consul; `I shall not be sorry to see the rascal's face; but perhaps he won't come here, - that is, if he is the person you suppose him to be. A robber doesn't quite like to leave traces of his flight behind him; and, besides, he is not obliged to have his passport countersigned⁵.'

`If he is as shrewd as I think he is, consul, he will come.'

`To have his passport visaed?'

`Yes. Passports are only good for annoying honest folks, and aiding in the flight of rogues⁶. I assure you it will be quite the thing for him to do; but I hope you will not visa the passport.'

`Why not? If the passport is genuine I have no right to refuse.'

`Still, I must keep this man here until I can get a warrant to arrest him from London.'

`Ah, that's your look-out. But I cannot--'

The consul did not finish his sentence, for as he spoke⁷ a knock was heard at the door, and two strangers entered, one of whom was the servant whom Fix had met on the quay. The other, who was his master, held out his passport with the request that the consul would do him the favour to visa it. The consul took the document and carefully read it, whilst Fix observed, or rather devoured⁸, the stranger with his eyes from a corner of the room.

`You are Mr Phileas Fogg?' said the consul, after reading the passport.

`I am.'

`And this man is your servant?'

`He is; a Frenchman, named Passepartout.'

`You are from London?'

`Yes.'

`And you are going--'

`To Bombay.'

`Very good, sir. You know that a visa is useless, and that no passport is required?'

`I know it, sir,' replied Phileas Fogg; `But I wish to prove, by your visa, that I came by Suez.'

`Very well, Sir.'

The consul proceeded to sign and date the passport, alter which he added his official seal. Mr Fogg paid the customary fee, coldly bowed, and went out, followed by his servant.

`Well?' queried⁹ the detective.

`Well, he looks and acts like a perfectly¹⁰ honest man,' replied the consul.

`Possibly; but that is not the question. Do you think, consul, that this phlegmatic¹¹ gentleman resembles, feature by feature, the robber whose description I have received?'

`I concede that; but then, you know, all descriptions--'

`I'll make certain of it,' interrupted Fix. `The servant seems to me less mysterious than the master; besides, he's a Frenchman, and can't help talking. Excuse me for a little while, consul.'

Fix started off in search of Passepartout.

Meanwhile Mr Fogg, after leaving the consulate¹², repaired to the quay, gave some orders to Passepartout, went off to the `Mongolia' in a boat, and descended¹³ to his cabin. He took up his note-book, which contained the following memoranda:--

`Left London, Wednesday, October 2nd, at 8.45 p.m.
`Reached Paris, Thursday, October 3rd, at 7.20 a.m.

`Left Paris, Thursday, at 8.40 a.m.

`Reached Turin by Mont Cenis, Friday, October 4th, at 6.35 a.m.

`Left Turin, Friday, at 7.20 a.m.

`Arrived at Brindisi, Saturday, October 5th, at 4 p.m.

`Sailed on the "Mongolia", Saturday, at 5 p.m.

`Reached Suez, Wednesday, October 9th, at 11 a.m.

`Total of hours spent, 1581/2; or, in days, six days and a half.

These dates were inscribed¹⁴ in an itinerary¹⁵ divided into columns, indicating the month, the day of the month, and the day for the stipulated¹⁶ and actual arrivals at each principal point, - Paris, Brindisi, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Yokohama, San Francisco, New York, and London, - from the 2nd of October to the 21st of December; and giving a space for setting down the gain made or the loss suffered on arrival at each locality. This methodical record thus contained an account of everything needed, and Mr Fogg always knew whether he was behindhand or in advance of his time. On this Friday, October 9th, he noted¹⁷ his arrival at Suez, and observed that he had as yet neither gained nor lost. He sat down quietly to breakfast in his cabin, never once thinking of inspecting the town, being one of those Englishmen who are wont¹⁸ to see foreign countries through the eyes of their domestics.

费克斯离开了码头，急忙跑向领事馆。因为他说有急事，所以领事就马上接见了他。

“领事先生，”费克斯第一句话就谈上本题，“我早就料到这个贼会在蒙古号上。”

接着，费克斯就把他刚才怎么看见一个仆人，以及关于那张护照的事说了一遍。

“好吧！费克斯先生，我倒是很愿意见见这个家伙。不过，他要真是您所料想的那个贼，我怕他就不会上我这儿来了。小偷走道儿是不爱在路上留下脚印的。再说，旅客在护照上签证，现在已经不是必要的手续了。”

“领事先生，”费克斯回答说，“我们应该考虑到，如果他真是个厉害的家伙，他一定会来！”

“上我这儿来办理签证手续吗？”

“是的，护照这玩意儿一向是这样一种东西！正人君子带着它就嫌麻烦，而强盗带着它

就便于逃跑。我敢断定他的护照不会有问题，但我很希望您别给他签证……”

“为什么？”领事回答说，“如果护照没问题，我是无权拒绝签证的。”

“可是，领事先生，我需要把这个人留在这儿，等我接到伦敦的拘票，好逮捕他。”

“哦，费克斯先生，这是您自己的事，”领事回答说，“至于我，我可不能……”

领事的话还没说完，就听见有人在敲办公室的门，听差的带进来两位客人，其中一位正是刚才跟费克斯谈话的那个仆人。真的是他们主仆二人一齐来了。主人拿出护照，很简单地说请领事签证。

领事接过护照，仔仔细细地看了上面的记载，这时，坐在角落里的费克斯一直在打量着，甚至可以说是死盯着这位客人。

“您是斐利亚·福克先生吗？”领事看完护照问道。

“是的，先生。”绅士回答说。

“这位是您的仆人？”

“是的，他是法国人，叫路路通。”

“您是从伦敦来的？”

“是的。”

“您是去……？”

“去孟买。”

“好吧，先生。可是，这种签证的手续现在一点用处也没有了，我们也并不要求您呈验护照，这个您明白吗？”

“我知道，领事先生，”斐利亚·福克回答说，“但是，我是要用您的签证证明我曾经路过苏伊士。”

“好吧，?c@代了几件应办的事，然后就觅了一条小艇回蒙古号。他走进房舱，拿出了记事本，记了下面几行：

10月2日，星期三，下午八点四十五分，离开伦敦。

10月3日，星期四，上午七点二十分，到达巴黎。

10月4日，星期五，上午六点三十五分，经过悉尼山到达都灵。

星期五，上午七点二十分，离开都灵。

10月5日，星期六，下午四点，到达布林迪西。

星期六，下午五点，上蒙古号。

10月9日，星期三，上午十一时，到达苏伊士。

共费时间一百五十八小时三十分，合六天半。

福克先生把这些日期记在一本分栏的旅行日记上。旅行日记上注明从10月2日起到12月21日止的月份、日期、星期几、预计到达每一重要地点的时期，以及实际到达的时间。重要的地点有巴黎、布林迪西、苏伊士、孟买、加尔各答、新加坡、香港、横滨、旧金山、纽约、利物浦、伦敦。每到一处，查对一下这本旅行日记，就能算出早到或迟到多少时间。这种分栏的旅行日记能使人一目了然，福克先生随时随地都知道是早到了还是迟到了。他现在把到达苏伊士的时间记在本子上，今天是10月9日，星期三，如期到达了苏伊士，在时间上既没提前，也没落后。

写完之后，他就在房舱里吃了午饭。至于说去游览城市，他连想都没想。有些英国人，他们到各地旅行时只是叫佣人代替他们去游览，福克就是这种人。

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