Mr. Fogg, with folded arms, remained motionless.
He had a serious decision to make. Aouda, standing
near him, looked at him without speaking, and he
understood her look. If his servant was a prisoner,
ought he not to risk everything to rescue him from the
Indians?

"I will find him, living or dead," said he quietly
to Aouda.

"Ah, Mr.--Mr. Fogg!" cried she, clasping his
hands and covering them with tears.

"Living," added Mr. Fogg, "if we do not lose a
moment."

Phileas Fogg, by this resolution, inevitably sacrificed
himself; he pronounced his own doom. The delay of
a single day would make him lose the steamer at New
York, and his bet would be entirely lost. But as
he thought, "It is my duty," he did not hesitate.

The commanding officer of Fort Kearney was there.
A hundred of his soldiers had placed themselves in a
position to defend the station should the Sioux at-
tack it.

"Sir," said Mr. Fogg to the captain, "three pas-
sengers have disappeared."

"Dead?" asked the captain.

"Dead or prisoners; that is the uncertainty which
must be solved. Do you propose to pursue the
Sioux?"

"That's a serious thing to do, sir," returned the

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