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"Yes, sir," replied Mr. Fogg, consulting his watch, "and I admit it." "You admit it?" "I admit it, and I wish to hear these priests admit, in their turn, what they were going to do at the pagoda of Pillaji." The priests looked at each other; they did not seem to understand what was said.
"Yes," cried Passepartout, warmly; "at the pagoda of Pillaji, where they were on the point of burning their victim." The judge stared with astonishment, and the priests were stupefied. "What victim?" said Judge Obadiah. "Burn whom? In Bombay itself?" "Bombay?" cried Passepartout. "Certainly. We are not talking of the pagoda of Pillaji, but of the pagoda of Malabar Hill, at Bombay."
Fogg, consulting his watch, "and I admit it." "You admit it?" "I admit it, and I wish to hear these priests admit, in their turn, what they were going to do at the pagoda of Pillaji." The priests looked at each other. They did not seem to understand what was said. "Yes," cried Passepartout, warmly; "at the pagoda of Pillaji, where they were on the point of burning their victim."
The ground was covered by groups of the Indians, motionless in their drunken sleep; it seemed a battlefield strewn with the dead. Men, women, and children lay together. In the background, among the trees, the pagoda of Pillaji loomed distinctly.
"But the wretched creature did not seem to be making any resistance," observed Sir Francis. "That was because they had intoxicated her with fumes of hemp and opium." "But where are they taking her?" "To the pagoda of Pillaji, two miles from here; she will pass the night there." "And the sacrifice will take place " "To-morrow, at the first light of dawn."
The judge stared with astonishment, and the priests were stupefied. "What victim?" said Judge Obadiah. "Burn whom? In Bombay itself?" "Bombay?" cried Passepartout. "Certainly. we are not talking of the pagoda of Pillaji, but of the pagoda of Malabar Hill, at Bombay." "And as a proof," added the clerk, "here are the desecrator's very shoes, which he left behind him."
Fogg proceeded to pay the guide the price agreed upon for his service, and not a farthing more. This astonished Passepartout, who remembered all that his master owed to the guide's devotion. He had, indeed, risked his life in the adventure at Pillaji, and, if he should be caught afterwards by the Indians, he would with difficulty escape their vengeance. Kiouni, also, must be disposed of.
It was decided that the guide should direct the elephant towards the pagoda of Pillaji, which he accordingly approached as quickly as possible. They halted, half an hour afterwards, in a copse, some five hundred feet from the pagoda, where they were well concealed; but they could hear the groans and cries of the fakirs distinctly. They then discussed the means of getting at the victim.
The guide was familiar with the pagoda of Pillaji, in which, as he declared, the young woman was imprisoned. Could they enter any of its doors while the whole party of Indians was plunged in a drunken sleep, or was it safer to attempt to make a hole in the walls? This could only be determined at the moment and the place.
"But the wretched creature did not seem to be making any resistance," observed Sir Francis. "That was because they had intoxicated her with fumes of hemp and opium." "But where are they taking her?" "To the pagoda of Pillaji, two miles from here. She will pass the night there." "And the sacrifice will take place " "Tomorrow, at the first light of dawn."
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