ploit, the consequences of which he ignored, enchanted
him. Never had the crew seen so jolly and dexterous
a fellow. He formed warm friendships with the sail-
ors, and amazed them with his acrobatic feats. He
thought they managed the vessel like gentlemen, and
that the stokers fired up like heroes. His loquacious
good-humour infected every one. He had forgotten
the past, its vexations and delays. He only thought of
the end, so nearly accomplished; and sometimes he
boiled over with impatience, as if heated by the fur-
naces of the "Henrietta." Often, also, the worthy
fellow revolved around Fix, looking at him with a
keen, distrustful eye; but he did not speak to him, for
their old intimacy no longer existed.

Fix, it must be confessed, understood nothing of
what was going on. The conquest of the "Henri-
etta," the bribery of the crew, Fogg managing the boat
like a skilled seaman, amazed and confused him. He
did not know what to think. For, after all, a man who
began by stealing fifty-five thousand pounds might end
by stealing a vessel; and Fix was not unnaturally
inclined to conclude that the "Henrietta," under
Fogg's command, was not going to Liverpool at all,
but to some part of the world where the robber, turned
into a pirate, would quietly put himself in safety.
The conjecture was at least a plausible one, and the
detective began to seriously regret that he had em-
barked in the affair.

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