a quarter before nine p.m.
`` This very evening ? '' asked Stuart . `` This very evening , '' returned Phileas Fogg . He took out and consulted a pocket almanac , and added , `` As today is Wednesday , the 2nd of October , I shall be due in London in this very room of the Reform Club , on Saturday , the 21st of December , at a quarter before nine p.m. ; or else the twenty thousand pounds , now deposited in my name at Baring 's , will belong to you , in fact and in right , gentlemen . Here is a cheque for the amount . '' A memorandum of the wager was at once drawn up and signed by the six parties , during which Phileas Fogg preserved a stoical composure . He certainly did not bet to win , and had only staked the twenty thousand pounds , half of his fortune , because he foresaw that he might have to expend the other half to carry out this difficult , not to say unattainable , project .