Around the World in Eighty Days Page #2

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When l say breakfast at 8:24...

-l do not mean at 8:23 or at 8:25.

-Yes, sir.

-Do you have a watch?

-Yes, sir.

lt's probably wrong.

Very well. See that you behave yourself.

Any tomfoolery and out you go.

Come on, Ralph, don't be so secretive.

You're one of the governors of the bank.

Yes. Let's have some lurid details.

Nothing to tell.

You've read the newspapers.

They always exaggerate.

You mean to say the thief

actually got away with 55,000?

He did, in brand new bank notes.

Large denominations, 500 or 1,000 each.

How did you know?

We didn't disclose that to the press.

l assumed it.

55,000 of small currency would have

needed a handcart to transport it.

lt must have been compact enough

to stuff into one's pockets.

You're right. The man's audacity

staggers the imagination.

lmagine sauntering up

to the head cashier's table...

and pilfering a sum like that

from under his nose.

Serves you right, in a way.

Surely you have a better hiding place

for your funds than the cashier's nose.

Your persiflage does not amuse.

This has been an unexpected blow to us.

Unexpected, Mr. Ralph?

Bankers must expect robbery

the same way chickens expect hawks.

lt's an occupational hazard.

My lead, l believe.

By the way, what was the head cashier

doing at the time?

He was writing a receipt

for the three-shilling deposit.

Go ahead and jeer. We'll lay the culprit

by the heels soon enough.

We've notified detectives

all over the world...

from Liverpool to Cairo.

We've issued descriptions throughout

Europe and America. He won't get far.

l wouldn't underestimate him

if l were you.

You're dealing

with a rather exceptional person.

Really? ln what way?

Only a cool and logical man

could have engineered such an exploit.

Obviously a gentleman

with a considerable presence of mind.

You seem to know rather more

about this affair than the police.

Merely what one might deduce

from the facts.

Our trick.

lf you ask me,

l'd say the odds were in favor of the thief.

lf he's a resourceful chap, as Fogg says,

he'll find plenty of places to hide.

Yes. The world's

a pretty large affair, after all.

lt was 100 years ago, not any longer.

A man can girdle the globe now

in three months.

Less than that, to be precise. ln 80 days.

You mean a complete tour

all around the world in 80 days?

l mean just that.

-He's talking nonsense.

-No, Fogg may have a point there.

The Great lndian Peninsula Railway

was opened a fortnight ago.

That shortens the trip.

l read it in The DaiIy TeIegraph.

Hang The DaiIy TeIegraph.

l say it's impossible.

Nothing is impossible.

When science conquers the air it may

be feasible to circle the globe in 80 hours.

lt's a beautiful dream,

but l'm talking about this moment...

and l say nobody

can go around the world in 80 days.

l agree.

Even if one made ideal connections

at every point...

there'd still be typhoons, shipwrecks,

unforeseen delays.

l include the unforeseen.

All very glib, Fogg,

but l'd like to see you do it in 80 days.

You're convinced that l could not?

So much so

that l'll wager 5,000 that you can't.

Let me understand you clearly.

Are you formally challenging me...

to undertake a journey

around the world in 80 days?

l am, and l'm prepared to back

my conviction by posting my check now.

Very well, l accept.

This is absurd. The joke's gone far enough.

An Englishman never jokes about a wager.

l have on deposit at Barings Bank

the sum of 20,000.

l'm willing to wager any or all of it

upon the same contention.

Namely, that l can complete

a tour of the world in 80 days.

That is to say,

in 1,920 hours or 1 15,200 minutes.

Would anyone besides Stuart

care to participate?

l'm no gambler,

but if you want to make foolhardy bets...

that you can't possibly win,

l'm afraid l'll be forced to take you on.

l'm with you.

So am l. What about you, Ralph?

My affiliation with the Bank of England

naturally precludes my betting...

but as a member of this club l might,

under very special circumstances.

Then it's agreed?

-We all accept?

-Yes.

Good. lf l remember correctly,

the boat train for Dover...

leaves London Bridge station

at 8:
45 tonight.

-l will be on it.

-Tonight?

Don't you need some days

to settle your affairs...

-to make preparations?

-No. l'm quite ready now.

You engage to be back here in London,

in the Reform Club...

on Saturday, September 21 at 8:45 p.m.

Right, gentlemen.

Clubs, l believe, are still trumps?

Shall we finish the game?

-Yes, please?

-Come to my bedroom at once,

Yes, sir.

-l called you twice.

-l came as fast as possible, sir.

You are not supposed to be home yet, sir.

My usual routine is beside the point.

We leave for the Continent in 10 minutes.

-Monsieur is going traveling?

-Yes. Around the world.

Then you will not be here for breakfast.

Around the world?

Exactly. Now reassemble your faculties

and start packing.

Which clothes does monsieur....

l mean, which trunks?

None whatever. Just take two shirts

and three pairs of hose for each of us.

-But l have only one shirt, sir.

-Then take that.

We'll buy whatever else we need en route.

Give me that red bag.

Open it up.

We're going to need plenty of money.

Whatever you do,

never let this out of your sight.

Monsieur can trust me.

l will cherish it like a woman.

Don't make love to it. Just watch it.

Excuse me, sir. My cousin.

MademoiseIIe,

Excuse me, sir. lt's not my cousin.

Thomas Cook and Son.

You purchase the tickets.

l'll be back in a moment.

All right, sir.

Now, monsieur, train to Marseilles...

steamer to Bombay via Suez,

across lndia by train...

and steamer again to Hong Kong.

Only one drawback.

With this route,

you miss Bali and the women.

But no, women of Bali

cannot be described.

-Please try.

-No, monsieur. Words would fail me.

ln any case, in Yokohama,

you will encounter the geisha girls...

and those, monsieur,

are not to be sneezed at.

l shall remember.

ln Yokohama,

l must not sneeze at geisha girls.

Then, between San Francisco

and New York...

you will discover lndian maidens galore...

statuesque, barbaric creatures.

What a crime you have only 80 days.

However, first things first.

Here are your tickets to Marseilles.

Cancel those tickets.

They are of no further use to us.

We cannot go by train.

Has something happened? A wreck?

An avalanche has sealed

the Montfort tunnel...

and nothing can get through for a week.

Then the roads are blocked, too.

How can we go on?

l don't know. But l refuse to be daunted

at this stage of the game.

There must be another way.

There has to be.

But after all, we are not birds.

We cannot fly across the mountains.

That, monsieur, is not unfeasible,

fantastic as it seems.

lsn't she lovely?

l have made 63 ascents, gentlemen...

to an elevation over 1,000 meters.

l've flown through the skies

at a speed surpassing that of an eagle.

Are you quite sure

this is not just Gallic braggadocio?

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