`Apiece.'

`And there are four of you?'

`Four.'

Captain Speedy began to scratch his head. There were eight thousand dollars to gain, without changing his route; for which it was well worth conquering the repugnance he had for all kinds of passengers. Besides, passengers at two thousand dollars are no longer passengers, but valuable merchandise. `I start at nine o'clock,' said Captain Speedy, simply. `Are you and your party ready?'

`We will be on board at nine o'clock,' replied, no less simply, Mr Fogg.

It was half-past eight. To disembark from the `Henrietta', jump into a hack, hurry to the St Nicholas, and return with Aouda, Passepartout, and even the inseparable Fix, was the work of a brief time, and was performed by Mr Fogg with the coolness which never abandoned him. They were on board when the `Henrietta' made ready to weigh anchor.

When Passepartout heard what his last voyage was going to cost, he uttered a prolonged `Oh!' which extended throughout his vocal gamut.

As for Fix, he said to himself that the Bank of England would certainly not come out of this affair well indemnified. When they reached England, even if Mr Fogg did not throw some handfuls of bank-bills into the sea, more than seven thousand pounds would have been spent!