📝 您未登录，登录后完成练习可保存成绩、查看最佳记录。
总字符
0
正确字符
0
错误字符
0
错误率
0.00%
耗时(秒)
0
速度 WPM
0
0 / 65
1IN WHICH FIX, THE DETECTIVE, BETRAYS A VERY NATURAL IMPATIENCE The circumstances under which this telegraphic dispatch
2about Phileas Fogg was sent were as follows: The steamer "Mongolia," belonging to the Peninsular and Oriental Company,
3built of iron, of two thousand eight hundred tons burden, and five hundred horse-power, was due at eleven o'clock a.m.
4on Wednesday, the 9th of October, at Suez. The "Mongolia" plied regularly between Brindisi and Bombay viâ the Suez
5Canal, and was one of the fastest steamers belonging to the company, always making more than ten knots an hour between
6Brindisi and Suez, and nine and a half between Suez and Bombay. Two men were promenading up and down the wharves, among
7the crowd of natives and strangers who were sojourning at this once straggling village--now, thanks to the enterprise of
8M. Lesseps, a fast-growing town. One was the British consul at Suez, who, despite the prophecies of the English
9Government, and the unfavourable predictions of Stephenson, was in the habit of seeing, from his office window, English
10ships daily passing to and fro on the great canal, by which the old roundabout route from England to India by the Cape
11of Good Hope was abridged by at least a half. The other was a small, slight-built personage, with a nervous, intelligent
12face, and bright eyes peering out from under eyebrows which he was incessantly twitching. He was just now manifesting
13unmistakable signs of impatience, nervously pacing up and down, and unable to stand still for a moment. This was Fix,
14one of the detectives who had been dispatched from England in search of the bank robber; it was his task to narrowly
15watch every passenger who arrived at Suez, and to follow up all who seemed to be suspicious characters, or bore a
16resemblance to the description of the criminal, which he had received two days before from the police headquarters at
17London. The detective was evidently inspired by the hope of obtaining the splendid reward which would be the prize of
18success, and awaited with a feverish impatience, easy to understand, the arrival of the steamer "Mongolia." "So you say,
19consul," asked he for the twentieth time, "that this steamer is never behind time?" "No, Mr. Fix," replied the consul.
20"She was bespoken yesterday at Port Said, and the rest of the way is of no account to such a craft. I repeat that the
21'Mongolia' has been in advance of the time required by the company's regulations, and gained the prize awarded for
22excess of speed." "Does she come directly from Brindisi?" "Directly from Brindisi; she takes on the Indian mails there,
23and she left there Saturday at five p.m. Have patience, Mr. Fix; she will not be late. But really, I don't see how, from
24the description you have, you will be able to recognise your man, even if he is on board the 'Mongolia.'" "A man rather
25feels the presence of these fellows, consul, than recognises them. You must have a scent for them, and a scent is like a
26sixth sense which combines hearing, seeing, and smelling. I've arrested more than one of these gentlemen in my time,
27and, if my thief is on board, I'll answer for it; he'll not slip through my fingers." "I hope so, Mr. Fix, for it was a
28heavy robbery." "A magnificent robbery, consul; fifty-five thousand pounds! We don't often have such windfalls. Burglars
29are getting to be so contemptible nowadays! A fellow gets hung for a handful of shillings!" "Mr. Fix," said the consul,
30"I like your way of talking, and hope you'll succeed; but I fear you will find it far from easy. Don't you see, the
31description which you have there has a singular resemblance to an honest man?" "Consul," remarked the detective,
32dogmatically, "great robbers always resemble honest folks. Fellows who have rascally faces have only one course to take,
33and that is to remain honest; otherwise they would be arrested off-hand. The artistic thing is, to unmask honest
34countenances; it's no light task, I admit, but a real art." Mr. Fix evidently was not wanting in a tinge of
35self-conceit. Little by little the scene on the quay became more animated; sailors of various nations, merchants,
36ship-brokers, porters, fellahs, bustled to and fro as if the steamer were immediately expected. The weather was clear,
37and slightly chilly. The minarets of the town loomed above the houses in the pale rays of the sun. A jetty pier, some
38two thousand yards along, extended into the roadstead. A number of fishing-smacks and coasting boats, some retaining the
39fantastic fashion of ancient galleys, were discernible on the Red Sea. As he passed among the busy crowd, Fix, according
40to habit, scrutinised the passers-by with a keen, rapid glance. It was now half-past ten. "The steamer doesn't come!" he
41exclaimed, as the port clock struck. "She can't be far off now," returned his companion. "How long will she stop at
42Suez?" "Four hours; long enough to get in her coal. It is thirteen hundred and ten miles from Suez to Aden, at the other
43end of the Red Sea, and she has to take in a fresh coal supply." "And does she go from Suez directly to Bombay?"
44"Without putting in anywhere." "Good!" said Fix. "If the robber is on board he will no doubt get off at Suez, so as to
45reach the Dutch or French colonies in Asia by some other route. He ought to know that he would not be safe an hour in
46India, which is English soil." "Unless," objected the consul, "he is exceptionally shrewd. An English criminal, you
47know, is always better concealed in London than anywhere else." This observation furnished the detective food for
48thought, and meanwhile the consul went away to his office. Fix, left alone, was more impatient than ever, having a
49presentiment that the robber was on board the "Mongolia." If he had indeed left London intending to reach the New World,
50he would naturally take the route viâ India, which was less watched and more difficult to watch than that of the
51Atlantic. But Fix's reflections were soon interrupted by a succession of sharp whistles, which announced the arrival of
52the "Mongolia." The porters and fellahs rushed down the quay, and a dozen boats pushed off from the shore to go and meet
53the steamer. Soon her gigantic hull appeared passing along between the banks, and eleven o'clock struck as she anchored
54in the road. She brought an unusual number of passengers, some of whom remained on deck to scan the picturesque panorama
55of the town, while the greater part disembarked in the boats, and landed on the quay. Fix took up a position, and
56carefully examined each face and figure which made its appearance. Presently one of the passengers, after vigorously
57pushing his way through the importunate crowd of porters, came up to him and politely asked if he could point out the
58English consulate, at the same time showing a passport which he wished to have visaed. Fix instinctively took the
59passport, and with a rapid glance read the description of its bearer. An involuntary motion of surprise nearly escaped
60him, for the description in the passport was identical with that of the bank robber which he had received from Scotland
61Yard. "Is this your passport?" asked he. "No, it's my master's." "And your master is--" "He stayed on board." "But he
62must go to the consul's in person, so as to establish his identity." "Oh, is that necessary?" "Quite indispensable."
63"And where is the consulate?" "There, on the corner of the square," said Fix, pointing to a house two hundred steps off.
64"I'll go and fetch my master, who won't be much pleased, however, to be disturbed." The passenger bowed to Fix, and
65returned to the steamer.
🎉 全部完成！共 65 行