h against him,"
replied the Consul. "Now what are you going to do?"

"I shall telegraph to London, with a pressing request that a warrant
of arrest may be immediately transmitted to Bombay. I shall then
embark in the _Mongolia_, and so keep my eye on my man till we reach
Bombay, and then, on English ground, quietly arrest him."

As he coolly finished this explanation, the detective bowed to the
Consul, walked to the telegraph-office, and there despatched the
message we have already seen.

A quarter of an hour later, Mr. Fix, carrying his light baggage and
well furnished with money, embarked on board the _Mongolia_. In a
short time afterwards the vessel was ploughing her way at full speed
down the Red Sea.

CHAPTER IX.

In which the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean favour the Projects of
Phileas Fogg.

The distance between Suez and Aden is exactly three hundred and ten
miles, and the steamers are allowed one hundred and thirty-eight hours
to do it in. The _Mongolia_, however, was going at a speed which
seemed likely to bring her to her destination considerably before
time.

The majority of the passengers from Brindisi were bound for India,
some for Calcutta, some for Bombay; and since the railway crosses the
peninsula it is not necessary to go round by Ceylon.

Amongst the passengers were many military officers and civil servants
of every degree. The former included officers of the regular as well
as the Indian army, holding lucrative appointments, for the
sub-lieutenants get two hundred and eighty; brigadiers, two thousand
four hundred; and generals, four thousand pounds a year.

Society, therefore, on board the _Mongolia_ was very pleasant. The
purser feasted them sumptuously every day. They had early breakfast,
then tiffin at two o'clock, dinner at half-past five, and supper at
eight; and the tables groaned beneath the variety of dishes. The
ladies on board changed their toilettes twice a day, and there was
music and dancing when the weather was sufficiently favourable to
admit of those amusements.

But the Red Sea is very capricious; it is frequently very rough, like
all long and narrow gulfs. When the wind blew broadside on, the
_Mongolia_ rolled fearfully. At these times the ladies went below, the
pianos were silent, singing and dancing ceased. But notwithstanding
the wind and the sea, the vessel, urged by her powerful screw, dashed
onward to the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.

And what was Phile