That night, five members of Mr. Fogg gathered in the lobby of the Reform Club from nine o'clock in the morning. Two bankers, john sullivan, Samuel Flanagan, Andrew Stuart, the engineer, Alex Gao Widow, the governor of the Bank of England, and Thomas Flanagan, the brewer, all sat there waiting anxiously.
When the clock in the hall pointed to eight twenty-five, Andrew Stuart stood up and said:
Gentlemen, in 20 minutes, the time limit agreed by Mr. Fogg with us will come.
"When does the last bus from Liverpool arrive?" Thomas Flanner just asked.
"At seven twenty-three," Alex Gao replied, "the next bus won't arrive until midnight."
"Well, gentlemen," said Andrew Stuart, "if Fogg came by the 7: 23 train, he should have arrived at the club. We can now say that he is a loser. "
"Slow down, slow down, and don't jump to conclusions so early," Samuel Frandan said. "You know, our friend here is an extremely eccentric person. As we all know, he does everything slowly and surely. Wherever he goes, he is never too early or too late. I wouldn't be surprised if he walked into this hall at the last minute today. "
"But I," said Andrew Stuart, who was always nervous, "don't believe it, but I want to see the truth."
"To tell you the truth," Thomas Flanagan just said, "Phileas Fogg's plan seems too careless. No matter how clever he is, he can't stop those inevitable delays. As long as he misses two or three days, his trip will be ruined. "
"In addition, I also remind you of a problem," john sullivan continued. "Although there are telegraph offices everywhere on our friend's trip, we haven't heard from him."
"He lost, gentlemen," said Andrew Stuart. "He is a one hundred percent loser! Besides, as we all know, if Filias Fogg wants to arrive at Liverpool from new york on time, he must take the steamer China. But the ship arrived yesterday. This is the passenger list published in the shipping news, but there is no Phileas Fogg's name on it. Even if our friend is lucky, at best, he has just arrived in America! According to my estimation, he will be at least twenty days later than the scheduled time, and that old Sir Al Bermar is bound to lose his five thousand pounds! "
"Of course," Alex Gao replied, "we are waiting to take Mr. Fog's check to Bahrain Brothers Bank to withdraw money tomorrow!"
At this time, the clock in the hall has pointed to eight forty.
"There are still five minutes." Andrew Stuart said.
These five gentlemen, if you look at me and I look at you, you can imagine that the number of their heartbeats will definitely increase; In any case, even established casinos will do the same, because winning or losing this game is serious after all! But these gentlemen did not show up. At Samuel Flandan's suggestion, everyone sat down at the card table.
Andrew Stuart sat down and said:
"Even if I pay 3999, I won't give up my bet of 4000 pounds!" Then the clock pointed to eight forty-two. Gentlemen all picked up the cards together, but their eyes were always fixed on the clock. Although they think they have won in all likelihood, they feel that a few minutes has never seemed so long!
"It's eight forty-three," Thomas Flanagan had just finished, and he poured the cards washed by Alex Gao to the weak man.
Then there is silence. The lobby of the club is quiet and there is no sound at all. However, there are many people outside, sometimes mixed with harsh shouts. The clock ticks as usual. Each of them can count every second that vibrates the eardrum.