Part 30 (2/2)

There Mr Fogg exa beae, and upon which there was rooh mast was fixed on the fras, to which was attached a large brigantine sail This mast held an iron stay upon which to hoist a jib-sail Behind, a sort of rudder served to guide the vehicle It was, in short, a sledge rigged like a sloop During the winter, when the trains are blocked up by the snow, these sledges make extremely rapid journeys across the frozen plains from one station to another

Provided with more sails than a cutter, and with the wind behind them, they slip over the surface of the prairies with a speed equal if not superior to that of the express trains

Mr Fogg readily ain with the owner of this land-craft The as favorable, being fresh, and blowing froe was very confident of being able to transport Mr Fogg in a few hours to Oo and New York It was not iht yet be recovered, and such an opportunity was not to be rejected

Not wishi+ng to expose Aouda to the disco proposed to leave her with Passepartout at Fort Kearney, the servant taking upon himself to escort her to Europe by a better route and under more favorable conditions But Aouda refused to separate frohted with her decision, for nothing could induce him to leave his master while Fix ith hihts Was this conviction shaken by Phileas Fogg's return, or did he still regard hily shrewd rascal, who, his journey round the world coland? Perhaps Fix's opinion of Phileas Fogg was somewhat modified, but he was nevertheless resolved to do his duty, and to hasten the return of the whole party to England as e was ready to start The passengers took their places on it, and wrapped thereat sails were hoisted, and under the pressure of the wind the sledge slid over the hardened snoith a velocity of forty miles an hour

The distance between Fort Kearney and Omaha, as the birds fly, is at ood, the distance ht be covered in five hours If no accident happened the sledge ht reach Omaha by one o'clock

What a journey! The travelers, huddled close together, could not speak for the cold, intensified by the rapidity at which they were going The sledge sped on as lightly as a boat over the waves When the breeze caround by its sails Mudge, as at the rudder, kept in a straight line, and by a turn of his hand checked the lurches which the vehicle had a tendency to ed as not to screen the brigantine A top-mast was hoisted, and another jib, held out to the wind, added its force to the other sails Although the speed could not be exactly esti at less than forty e, ”we shall get there!”

Mr Fogg had reed on by the offer of a handsoe was ht line, was as flat as a sea It seemed like a vast frozen lake

The railroad which ran through this section ascended from the southwest to the northwest by Great Island, Columbus, an important Nebraska town, Schuyler and Freht bank of the Platte River The sledge, shortening this route, took a chord of the arc described by the railway Mudge was not afraid of being stopped by the Platte River, because it was frozen The road, then, was quite clear of obstacles, and Phileas Fogg had but two things to fear--an accident to the sledge, and a change or cal its force, blew as if to bend the s held fired instrue slid along in the ive the fifth and the octave,” said Mr Fog

These were the only words he uttered during the journey Aouda, cosily packed in furs and cloaks, was sheltered aswind As for Passepartout, his face was as red as the sun's disc when it sets in theair With his natural buoyancy of spirits, he began to hope again They would reach New York on the evening, if not on the , of the 11th, and there was still some chance that it would be before the steamer sailed for Liverpool

Passepartout even felt a strong desire to grasp his ally, Fix, by the hand He ree, the onlyOmaha in time; but, checked by so, however, Passepartout would never forget, and that was the sacrifice which Mr Fogg had made, without hesitation, to rescue hi had risked his fortune and his life

No! His servant would never forget that!

While each of the party was absorbed in reflections so different, the sledge flew past over the vast carpet of snow The creeks it passed over were not perceived Fields and steams disappeared under the uniform whiteness The plain was absolutely deserted Between the Union Pacific road and the branch, which unites Kearney with Saint Joseph it fore, station, nor fort appeared From time to time they sped by some phantom-like tree, whose white skeleton twisted and rattled in the wind Soaunt, fae Passepartout, revolver in hand, held himself ready to fire on those which cae, the travelers, attacked by these beasts, would have been in the e held on its even course, soon gained on the wolves, and before long left the howling band at a safe distance behind

About noon Mudge perceived by certain land, but he felt certain that he was noithin twenty miles of Omaha In less than an hour he left the rudder and furled his sails, while the sledge, carried forward by the great iiven it, went on half a mile further with its sails unspread

It stopped at last, and Mudge, pointing to a mass of roofs white with snow, said: ”We are there!”

Arrived! Arrived at the station which is in daily communication, by numerous trains, with the Atlantic seaboard!

Passepartout and Fix ju and the young woenerously rewarded Mudge, whose hand Passepartout warrasped and the party directed their steps to the Omaha railway station

The Pacific Railroad proper finds its terminus at this io by the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, which runs directly east, and passes fifty stations

A train was ready to start when Mr Fogg and his party reached the station, and they only had ti of Omaha, but Passepartout confessed to hiretted, as they were not traveling to see the sights

The train passed rapidly across the State of Iowa by Council Bluffs, Des Moines and Iowa City During the night it crossed the Mississippi at Davenport, and by Rock Island entered Illinois

The next day, which was the 10th, at four o'clock in the evening, it reached Chicago, already risen from its ruins, and more proudly seated than ever on the borders of its beautiful Lake Michigan