Summary of chapter 3

On Passepartout's very first day on the job, Mr. Fogg goes to the Reform Club at half past eleven in the morning, as he always does. He eats breakfast there, and begins to talk to the other club members, notably a man named Ralph. They discuss a robbery that has occurred at the Bank of England, who stole fifty-five thousand pounds. The Daily Telegraph newspaper says that the thief was a gentleman, and likely did not belong to a professional band of robbers.

They wonder how far the thief could have gotten, and someone remarks that the world is such a big place that he could have gone anywhere. Mr. Fogg says that the world has become smaller, and Ralph agrees, saying you can get around the entire world much more quickly than you ever could before. Mr. Fogg says you can get around it in eighty days now, and one of the other club members confirms, referring to an estimate made by the Daily Telegraph now that the final section of railway across the Indian continent has been finished.

The men remark that the eighty days estimate does not account for weather, shipwrecks, railway accidents, or any other incidents that could delay a person. Mr. Fogg disagrees, and says that these are all included. Stuart, one of the club members, says he would like to see Mr. Fogg do it in eighty days. It becomes a wager; Mr. Fogg bets twenty thousand pounds that he can make it around the world in eighty days or less. The club members cannot believe that he would make such a serious bet, but, sure he will fail and they will win twenty thousand pounds, they agree to it. Mr. Fogg plans to leave that night.