"By no means. I think he is a thief. Be quiet, hear me out. So long as Mr. Fogg was on British territory, I did all I could to detain him till the warrant for his arrest arrived. It was I who put the Bombay priests on your track. I hocussed you at Hong Kong. I separated you from your master, and caused him to lose the Yokohama steamer." Passe-partout clenched his fists as he listened. "But now," continued Fix, "Mr. Fogg appears likely to return to England. All right, I will follow him. But in future I will do as much to keep his way clear, as I have done to prevent his progress. I have changed my game, and have done so for my own interest; your interest is the same as mine, for it will be only in England that you will ever find out whether your master is honest or not." Passe-partout listened attentively, and felt that Fix meant what he said. "Are we friends?" asked Fix. "Friends, no; allies, yes; but only to a certain point, for at the least sign of treason, I will twist your neck." "That's a bargain," said the detective calmly. Eleven days afterwards, viz. on the 3rd of December, the _General Grant_ entered the Golden Gate of San Francisco. Mr. Fogg had neither gained nor lost a day. CHAPTER XXV. A Glimpse of San Francisco. A Political Meeting. At seven o'clock in the morning, Mr. Fogg and his companions landed in America, or rather upon the floating pier at which the steamers load and unload. There they mingled with ships and steamers of all nationalities, and steam ferry-boats with two or three decks which performed the service on the Sacramento and its affluents. Passe-partout was so delighted to reach America, that he thought it necessary to execute one of his most active leaps. But when he landed upon the quay, he found the planks worm-eaten, and he went through them. His cry of alarm frightened all the birds which perched upon these floating quays.