He took Passepartout’s watch from his coat pocket and snapped the lid on its back open.
“We’ll retreat, but only after Fogg and company have been eliminated,” he said. “Then we use the distorter to get to Nesse II. Vandeleur, you’re carrying the tape for...”
He stopped, his mouth hanging open. First, he paled. Then he became red.
“This isn’t the Frenchman’s watch!” he cried. “This doesn’t have any controls! It’s just a watch, that’s all, just a watch!”
Fix became numb.
Vandeleur said, “What do you mean?”
“I mean those swine have tricked us!” Nemo said. “That Fogg! He must have taken the distorter and given the Frenchman a watch to carry so we’d think... he... he... Fogg... has the watch with the distorter!”
Fix said, “Then we’re trapped! We can’t get out!”
“No, by all the furies!” Nemo said. “We’ll get it from Fogg!”
“Sir,” Fix said, “why don’t we just accept their terms and leave quietly?”
Fix, half-stunned, lay on the floor. He tried to rise, but, seeing that Nemo was about to hit him again, decided to stay where he was.
“Do you think for a moment they’d keep their word any more than we would ours?”
He turned away, and Fix thought it safe to get up. He was scared to speak up, but he felt that he must. Their salvation depended upon it.
“Sir,” he said, “if Fogg gave his word, we’d be safe. He wouldn’t go back on his word.”
Nemo swung back to face him. “What, an Eridanean’s word is good?”
“Eridanean or not, Fogg would not betray us because then he’d be betraying himself,” Fix said. “I know the man well.”
“Perhaps you know him too well!” Nemo said. “Perhaps he has seduced you into turning traitor?”
“Exactly my thinking,” Vandeleur said.
Fix trembled, but he said, “Not at all. But I do know that Fogg, whatever else he may be, is a true man. He would not break his oath, not even to us.”
“Not even to us!” Nemo said. “Just what do you mean by that?”
He threw the watch against the fireplace so hard that the works burst out.
“Fix, I’ve had my doubts about you for a long time. There is only one way you can convince me you’re not a traitor; only one way you can keep from dying as a traitor.”
“Yes, sir,” Fix said. He tried to keep his face from twitching.
“We must have that distorter and have it quickly. There is no time for subtlety now; we must storm Fogg’s room. You will lead us into it.”
And so he would die, Fix thought. Fogg wouldn’t miss the first man who entered. Fix would be the sacrifice, and Nemo would, in effect, have executed him. And why? Because Nemo thought Fix to be a traitor.
“Well, Fix?” Nemo said.
“If that’s the way it has to be,” Fix said.
“That is the way it has to be.”
“Will you see that my family is taken care of?” Fix said.
“Take care of a traitor’s...?” Vandeleur said, but Nemo interrupted him with a, “Quiet!”
Fix said, “I am no traitor.”
Nemo’s voice became softer. “Vandeleur is too hotheaded. We’re all disturbed by this, but now is no time to get panicky. Yes, Fix, I promise you that if something should happen to you, your family will not have to suffer.”
And what did that mean? Fix thought. That they would be killed quickly?
“We’ll get the Frenchie first,” Nemo said. “Sir Hector, you’ll resume your post at Fogg’s door. It’s not likely that he’ll hear us attacking the Frenchie, but if he did he might deduce that there couldn’t be many of us at his door, and he might try to break out. Station yourself to one side, along the wall, so that if he does run out, you’ll get the first shot.”
Osbaldistone left. Nemo said, “Vandeleur, you’ll have a chance to avenge the wound the Frenchie gave you. You will lead the attack.”
“Excellent!” Vandeleur said. “But I’d like to carve his face before he dies.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Nemo said. “He must be killed immediately and as silently as possible.
“Now, whatever our losses, we must get into Fogg’s room and get it over with at once. That trail of blood indicates that the woman was badly wounded. She is either dead or too hurt to help Fogg, and a good thing, too, since she is an excellent shot. Fogg must be killed at once, otherwise he may open the distorter and so blow himself, and possibly all of us, to kingdom come. I don’t think he will do that except as a last resort, so it is up to us to see that he has no time for a last resort.
“I imagine that he has placed some furniture before the door as a barricade. We will remove the hinges of the door. At my signal, Vandeleur will shoot the door lock off. The door will be pulled away by Osbaldistone and myself. You, Fix, will take a running jump across the hall and dive over the barricade. Fogg will have his room dark, but we’ll turn off the lights in the hall beforehand so our eyes can be adjusted to a lack of light. This will also make it difficult for Fogg to see clearly. As you go over the barricade, Fix, fire once to draw his fire. Then worry about how you are going to land. We’ll see the flame from his revolver and know where to shoot then.”
Fix knew he couldn’t clear that furniture in one dive. And if Fogg had the furniture piled all the way up to the ceiling, he’d be hanging there a helpless target. No doubt, Nemo and Vandeleur would be able to shoot Fogg once they had seen his fire. But Fix wouldn’t be able to see that. He’d be dead. And for what? For a man who had used him, not to advance the interests of all Capelleans but only to advance his own.
Nevertheless, he said nothing. Words would be useless. He took his Webley from his pocket and followed Nemo to the door behind which Passepartout waited. Nemo used his air pistol to shoot out the lock mechanism. Fix opened the door, and Vandeleur rushed in with an air pistol in one hand and a knife in the other. The room was dark, but Fix carried an oil lamp which lit up enough for them to see that the Frenchman was not in the room. Nor was he hiding in the bathroom or the wardrobe or beneath the bed or behind the curtains. The windows were still locked.
“You said he wouldn’t dare open his door and look out!” Vandeleur said.
“He’s even more foolish than I thought,” Nemo said. “I gave him too much credit for intelligence. Fix, run down and see if he’s outside! He may have used the servants’ staircase while we were coming up the main one!”
“Yes, sir,” Fix said, “but I don’t think so.”
He started to run off, but Nemo called him back.
“What did you mean by that?”
“He wouldn’t desert Fogg and the woman,” Fix said.
“You do know these Eridaneans well, don’t you?” Nemo said slowly. “Well, run on down and make sure. Then report to me on the third floor.”
Fix was back a few minutes later. He found the others trying to revive a stunned Osbaldistone. The door to Fogg’s room was open.
“You were right, Fix,” Nemo said. “He came up here, hit Osbaldistone on the back of the head, and the three went... someplace. They could not have come downstairs, however. I went up the main staircase and Vandeleur went up the other. Osbaldistone just went up, so they have not had time to get far. I doubt they’d stay on this floor; they probably went on up. However, Fogg is so tricky, he may be in a room on this floor.”
What a mess! Fix thought. Nemo might be a great brain, a genius at mathematics and engineering, but when it came to affairs in which lightning thought was needed, not a gigantic ratiocination, he did not do so well. He was also too arrogant, too egotistical. He underestimated everybody else. Perhaps he would learn a lesson from this and use his genius in a more appropriate manner. But what did Fix care about him? Nemo thought Fix was a traitor, and he’d see Fix die.
Well, he was a traitor, if thoughts made a man a traitor.
Nemo lifted Osbaldistone with one arm and carried the dang
ling body to the landing off the main staircase. He dropped the baronet, who groaned once but did not recover consciousness.
Nemo said, “Fix, you will pile furniture, curtains, anything flammable, on the landing and the steps of the servants’ staircase. Vandeleur, you’ll do the same for the main staircase. After the piles are completed, soak them with paraffin oil. We’re going to burn down the house and with it Fogg, the Frenchman, the woman, and the distorter. The fire will bring a large crowd, into which we’ll disappear. We’ll meet at Nesse III.”
He looked at his watch. “A quarter after eight. Fogg has thirty minutes to get to the Reform Club. He is going to lose that bet, since he will be in Hell before then.”
Fix shuddered at the image of Fogg and Passepartout and the beautiful and gentle Aouda screaming in the flames.
It took about ten minutes for the two to carry out wooden tables and chairs, curtains, bedsheets, and feather pillows and stack them on the stairs and the landings. Vandeleur and Nemo then began bringing out lamps, but not enough of these were filled with oil to satisfy Nemo.
“We’ll turn on the gas jets, too,” he said, “but I want to get a fire going that will absolutely prevent those three from getting over the piles. Fix, you go into the cellar and see if there are extra cans of oil. On the way back, notify the captain of what we are doing. Tell him to return to his post then and to wait until we leave before he goes over the wall. Determine that he has ladders or some means of getting over the back wall, since it will be dangerous to go through the house once the fires have thoroughly started. The jets won’t be turned on until just as we leave, but the chances of an explosion will be high. Have you got that straight?”
Fix said, “Yes, sir,” and he hurried off. He went into the deep and gloomy cellar, which was not as deep or as gloomy as his thoughts. A few minutes later, he emerged with two large cans of oil. There were several step ladders against the cellar wall which Moran could use. In the front room, he put the cans down and went to a sideboard from which he decanted a half-tumbler of brandy. He poured this down, stopping only when he coughed. Tears running down his cheeks, he put the tumbler down. Then, not so pale and shaky, he walked toward the rear of the house. On reaching the main rear door, he looked out into the darkness. Moran was a darker shape among the shadows, crouched by the side of a huge stone urn. Fix opened the door and said, “Captain, come here quickly! I have a message for you.”
Nemo looked at his watch again. Soon, the gentlemen in the Reform Club and the great crowd outside would see the flames rising and would wonder whose house was burning.
Hearing footsteps coming up the staircase, he turned. Fix, a few seconds later, climbed up over the pile with a big can in each hand.
“Put one down there and take the other to Vandeleur’s pile,” Nemo said. “We’ll set his afire first.”
Fix set one of the containers on the floor and walked toward Nemo. Nemo turned away to watch Vandeleur, who was bringing a bundle of curtains to add to the large pile. Fix reached into his coat and brought out his revolver. He held it by the barrel.
Fogg, Aouda, and Passepartout were at a window in a front room on the fourth story. The gaslights below showed an almost deserted street. Four gentlemen were standing talking across the street near the corner light.
“They must be the men Nemo’s stationed to intercept us if we should escape,” Fogg said. “There’s no way of getting away from them. As soon as they see us coming down on this bedsheet rope, they’ll come running. We must drop fast and start shooting as soon as we reach the ground.”
Aouda, sitting in a chair, said, “I still think I should stay here. I can use only one hand, and I’m not strong enough to hang on with it.”
“Nonsense, my dear,” Fogg said. “I told you that we will go down together and that I will have one arm around you. Our gloves will keep us from burning our hands.”
“But...”
Aouda stopped. Fix’s voice was coming from the end of the hall.
“Mr. Fogg! Believe me, this is no trap! I have knocked out Nemo and the others! I could not let them burn you alive. Please believe me, Mr. Fogg, and come quickly!”
“It might well be a trick to locate us,” Fogg said.
“Mr. Fogg! Nemo said I might be a traitor, and I’m sure he was going to see that I was killed. And God knows what he meant to do to my family. Please believe me. I have a pistol, but it is in my coat, and my hands are in the air. See for yourself. But quickly!”
“It could be true. It’s not entirely unforeseen,” Fogg said. He walked to the door, unlocked it, and opened it a crack. There was Fix, slowly walking down the hall, his hands held high.
Fogg opened the door a little more, stuck the end of his revolver out, and said, “Come on in, Mr. Fix.”
Fix entered. Fogg shut the door and said, “Where are your colleagues?”
“All unconscious, perhaps dead,” Fix said. “I called Moran in and hit him over the head with the butt of my gun. Then I went upstairs and hit Nemo when his back was turned. Osbaldistone was still senseless, so I only had to make Vandeleur stand with his face to the wall and then hit him, too.”
“And you did this for the reasons you stated?”
“Yes, but you’ll have to protect me and my family from now on. You will, won’t you?”
“Consider it done,” Mr. Fogg said.
With Fix ahead of them, for Fogg was not sure that it was not a trap, they went down to the landing. All three of the Capelleans were still unconscious.
“Are you going to kill them?” Fix said.
“Would you want me to do so, Mr. Fix?” Fogg said.
“No. I do not like them, and Nemo would have killed me without mercy,” Fix said. “But to slay them in cold blood...”
Fogg did not reply. He was searching Nemo’s clothing. Within a few seconds, he pulled a small flat leather case from a pocket and took out of it small oblong papers covered with writing and diagrams that could only be seen plainly under a magnifying glass. He said, “I was hoping he’d still be carrying these.”
“What are they?” Aouda said.
“The schematics for the distorter. But how did Nemo get them from Head’s body?”
“Head had them stored inside his glass eye,” Fix said. “Nemo removed it when he helped you throw Head’s body overboard.”
“I should have raised Head’s eyelids and looked at his eyes,” Fogg said. “But where did Head get the schematics?”
“It was an American Eridanean who found out how to manufacture distorters,” Fix said. “Head discovered that he had done so—how, I don’t know—and killed him, burned down his laboratory, and fled with the schematics and the distorter which the American had made. Your chief must have found out about this at once, which is why Head took passage on the Mary Celeste to avoid the Eridaneans looking for him on the liners.”
Fogg put the schematics in his pocket, looked at Passepartout’s watch, and said, “And those men outside?”
“They are either loungers or Eridaneans waiting to see if Nemo will surrender you to them.” He told Fogg about the telegram from the Eridanean chief.
Fogg looked at his watch again. “Let’s go,” he said.
“Where?” Aouda said.
“To the Reform Club. We have exactly ten minutes to get there if I am to win the bet.”
Verne says that Passepartout dragged Fogg outside by the collar, hailed a cab, and the two drove off at a reckless speed, running over two dogs and overturning five carriages. This is true, except for the dragging by the collar. But Aouda and Fix followed in another carriage at a somewhat slower pace. Aouda’s wound did not permit her to be jostled much, and, moreover, she stopped long enough to inform the gentlemen on the corner, who were indeed Eridaneans, that they were safe and that Fix was now one of them. She also told the gentlemen to pick up the Capelleans in Fogg’s house.
These hastened to do so, but, alas, they were too late to catch Vandeleur, Moran, and Nemo. These had recovered
and fled, leaving Sir Hector behind. As the Eridaneans entered the front door, the trio went over the back wall of the garden.
Osbaldistone was carried out as if he were drunk and driven off in a cab. What happened to him thereafter, no one knows.
As everybody does know, Phileas appeared three seconds before his time was up. He collected twenty thousand pounds, though he had spent nineteen thousand during the journey, his last expenditure being a hundred pounds to the cabman who drove to the Reform. The remaining thousand pounds, he split between Fix and Passepartout. Within two days, Fogg and Aouda were married, and Verne ends his narrative on a happy note.
But what of the story behind Verne’s? The other log of Fogg ends on the day he took Aouda as his bride. No other literature on this subject has ever been turned up, so we must reconstruct the postlude. Fortunately, we have common sense and some narratives of a few other authors about some of the people Fogg met to help us build a reasonable sequel.
The Eridaneans and Capelleans, with Nemo out of the way, and through Fix’s offices, must have made a truce or perhaps even an alliance. Many on both sides felt, as Fix did, that there was no sense in continuing this secret and gory war which could end only in extermination for one side and near-extermination for the other. Besides, life as a mere Earthling was hard enough without adding to it the perils of Capelleanism and Eridaneanism.
Moran, we know from the writings of a certain Dr. John Watson, went back to India and stayed there for years. After retiring as a colonel, he rejoined his chief in London.
The chief, whom Watson called Professor James Moriarty, seems to have abstained from a criminal career for some years. Probably, the shock of being outwitted by Fogg and of losing the chieftainship of the Capelleans accelerated his illness. Nemo became a teacher for a while, but, after recovering much of his health, went back into business. He formed a vast criminal ring, though he succeeded in keeping his part in it unknown for a long time. Eventually, he experienced a bad fall—and falls—near the little Swiss village of Meiringen. It was symbolically and esthetically appropriate that a man who started his career in the water should end there.
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