ersey like lightning,
through towns with antique names containing streets and tramways, but
as yet no houses. At length the Hudson Plain appeared, and at a
quarter-past eleven p.m., on the 11th, the train stopped in the
station on the right bank of the river, before the very pier from
which the Cunard, otherwise known as the British and North American,
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's steamers start.

The _China_ had left for Liverpool three-quarters of an hour
previously.

CHAPTER XXXII.

In which Phileas Fogg struggles against Ill-luck.

The _China_ seemed to have carried off Mr. Fogg's last hope, for no
other steamers of any other line would be of use. The _Pereire_, of
the French Transatlantic Company, did not leave till the 14th, while
the boats of the Hamburg American Company also went to Havre, and not
direct to Liverpool or London; and this extra passage from Havre to
Southampton would upset his calculations.

The Inman steamer _City of Paris_ would not start till next day--that
would be too late. Nor would the White Star Line serve his purpose;
all of which Mr. Fogg learnt from "Bradshaw." Passe-partout was
completely upset; it was maddening to lose the steamer by
three-quarters of an hour, and it was his fault, too, for putting
obstacles in his master's way; and when he looked back at the
incidents of the journey, the sums expended on his account, the
enormous wager, and tremendous charges of the now useless trip, he was
overwhelmed. Mr. Fogg, however, did not reproach him, but as he
quitted the pier, said: "We will see to-morrow what is best to be
done. Come along."

The party crossed the river, and drove to the St. Nicholas Hotel, in
Broadway, where they engaged rooms; but Fogg was the only one who
slept. Next day was the 12th of December. From that day, at seven in
the morning, to the 21st, at a quarter to nine in the evening, was a
period of nine days, thirteen hours, and forty-five minutes; so if
Phileas Fogg had sailed in the _China_, he would have reached London
in time to win his wager.

Mr. Fogg left the hotel by himself, telling the others to wait his
return, but to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. He went down to
the Hudson River, to see if there were any vessels about to start.
Several were getting ready to go to sea, but the majority of them were
sailing ships, which of course did not suit Mr. Fogg. He appeared to
have lost his last hope, when he perceived a small scr