"No!"
"No?"
"No. I am setting out for Bordeaux, and I shall go to Bordeaux."
"It don't matter what price?"
"It don't matter what price!"
The captain spoke in a tone which did not admit of a reply.
"But the owners of the Henrietta———" replied Phileas Fogg.
"The owners of the Henrietta are myself," replied the captain. "The vessel belongs to me."
"I will freight it for you."
"No."
"No?"
"I will buy it from you."
Phileas Fogg did not change countenance. But the situation was serious. It was not at New York as at Hong Kong, nor with the captain of the Henrietta as with the captain of the Tankadere. Until the present the gentleman's money had always overcome obstacles. This time the money failed.
But the means of crossing the Atlantic in a vessel must be found, unless they went across in a balloon, which would have been very venturesome, and which, besides, was not practicable.
Phileas Fogg, however, appeared to have an idea, for he said to the captain: "Well, will you take me to Bordeaux?"
"No, even if you would pay me two hundred dollars."
"I offer you two thousand."
"For each person?"
"For each person."
"And there are four of you?"
"Four."
Captain Speedy commenced to scratch his forehead as if he would tear the skin off. Eight thousand dollars to be made, without changing his course; it was well worth the trouble of putting aside his decided antipathy for every kind of passenger. Passengers at two thousand dollars apiece, besides, are no longer passengers, but valuable merchandise.
