CHAPTER 12 THE END OF THE JOURNEY

Phileas Fogg was in a police station in Liverpool. He looked at his watch. Two o'clock. He had to be at the Reform Club before 8.45.

At 2.33, there was a lot of noise in the police station. The door opened, and Fix ran in. He was red in the face.

'Mr. Fogg!' he cried. ‘I’m sorry. I'm very sorry. A mistake... My mistake. We have the Bank of England thief in prison. I was on the ship, so I didn't know.'

Then Phileas Fogg moved quickly for the first and last time in his life. He hit Fix very hard. Fix fell on the floor and stayed there.

Passepartout and Aouda came in and they all went quickly to Liverpool railway station. The London train wasn't there. They were too late.

Phileas Fogg paid for a train. They were the only people on it. But when the train arrived in London, the clock showed 8.50. Phileas Fogg was five minutes late.

Aouda and Passepartout were unhappier about the bet than Phileas Fogg. This fine man had twenty thousand pounds with him at the start of the journey. And now he had one thousand pounds. He also had twenty thousand pounds in Baring's Bank, but he had to pay it to his five friends in the Reform Club.

At home in Savile Row, Phileas Fogg stayed in his room all day. He thought about money and made plans.

At half past seven in the evening, he came down and spoke to Aouda. He was not sad and he was not excited. He looked at Aouda and smiled.

'Aouda,' he said,' I'm sorry. I brought you to England and now I have these money problems. Are you unhappy now?'

'Unhappy!' said Aouda. She couldn't tell him.

'I was rich before the bet,' said Phileas Fogg.' I brought you here to a good life, away from your dangerous life in India. But now I don't have much money. But, Aouda, can I give this money to you? Please.'

Aouda stood up. 'I don't want any money, but I want to be with you. I want to be your wife. Please ask me.' She gave him her hand.

Phileas Fogg looked into her beautiful eyes. There was love in them.

'You know?' he asked.' Do you know that I love you?'

'Yes,' she said.

Phileas Fogg called Passepartout, and he came quickly. Mr. Fogg had Aoudas hand in his hand. Passepartout saw that and he was very, very happy.

'Do you think, Passepartout,' Phileas Fogg said,' that you can speak to Mr Wilson, at my church? Is it too late in the day?'

Passepartout smiled. 'It is never too late,' he said. It was 8.05. ' For tomorrow, Monday?' he asked.

'For tomorrow, Monday,' said Phileas Fogg and Aouda.

Passepartout ran out. At 8.35 he was back. He was red in the face. and he couldn't speak.

'What is it?' asked Phileas Fogg.

'Mr. Fogg... Please... Mr. Fogg, tomorrow... You and Aouda. Not possible...'

'Not possible? Why?' asked Phileas Fogg.

'Because tomorrow is Sunday...'

'Monday,' said Fogg.

'No... today is Saturday...'

'No, it isn't.'

'Yes, it is!' cried Passepartout. 'We made a mistake. We arrived in England a day early. But you only have ten minutes. Lets go, Mr. Fogg! You will have to run to the Reform Club. You do it in twenty-five minutes every day, but today you have only ten minutes. Run, Mr. Fogg, run!'

He pulled Phileas Fogg to the door. Phileas Fogg ran, and he thought about his mistake. Of course! The time changes in every country. When you go round the world to the west, you lose one day. But when you go round the world to the east, you have one more day. But now, was he too late? Phileas Fogg ran through London.

Phileas Fogg's friends were at the card table in the Reform Club that evening. When the clock said 8.25, Stuart said, 'In twenty minutes he'll be too late. The last train from Liverpool arrived at 7.23, and the next one arrives at 12.10.We're going to win our bet!'

Nobody said anything. They weren't really happy. They didn't really want to win the bet. They liked Phileas Fogg. So they played cards and said nothing.

'Eight forty-three,' said Stuart.

Two more minutes. The five men looked sadder and sadder. They watched the door and waited.

A moment - a very short moment - before 8.45, Phileas Fogg opened the door and said quietly, 'Here I am, my friends.'

'Now I am a rich man again,' said Phileas Fogg,' so I'll ask you again. Do you want to be my wife?'

'Yes,' said Aouda. 'But you were a poor man when you asked me. And now you're a rich man again, so do you want to be my husband?'

Passepartout did not wait for the answer. He ran to the church and told Mr. Wilson.