a
quarter before nine in the evening
The 17th of December , the day of James Strand 's arrest , was the seventy-sixth since Phileas Fogg 's departure , and no news of him had been received . Was he dead ? Had he abandoned the effort , or was he continuing his journey along the route agreed upon ? And would he appear on Saturday , the 21st of December , at a quarter before nine in the evening , on the threshold of the Reform Club saloon ? The anxiety in which , for three days , London society existed , can not be described . Telegrams were sent to America and Asia for news of Phileas Fogg . Messengers were despatched to the house in Saville Row morning and evening .