Thompson Agency & Co.

There is still debate about the ownership of the novel by Jules Verne: some consider it to be the work of Michel , the son of a writer, ^{[1] [2]} others claim that the author himself is Jules Verne. Jean-Jules Verne, the grandson and, at the same time, biographer Verne-father, has no indications of Michel’s authorship, and he writes that the Thompson and Co. Agency is a kind of “respite” from the writer in a stream of works that touch upon serious social topics ^[3] .

Young Frenchman Robert Morgan, left without work, is looking for a new place. Having accidentally stumbled upon the announcement of the Baker & Co. Agency that they were looking for a guide-translator for swimming, Robert decided to go there. The next day, a battle between two companies is being fought: it turned out that the Thompson and Co. Agency made the exact same trip and now, in turn with the Baker, reduces the price of the ticket in order to collect more passengers. In the end, Thompson wins by lowering the price to 40 pounds. Morgan engages in Thompson.

The route of the ship is as follows: London - Azores - Madeira Islands - Canary Islands - London .

During the trip, Robert met with some passengers: a young merry Frenchman Roger de Sorgue; American widow Alice Lindsay (with whom she falls in love), her sister Dolly Clark (with whom de Sorg falls in love) and her brother-in-law Jack Lindsay; the venerable grocer Absyrfus Blockhead and his family; arrogant baron George Hamilton and his family, etc.

Jack Lindsay, after the death of his brother, is eager to get his fortune, inherited by Alice. He wants to marry her, but he will not stop before more dishonest methods.

On the island of San Miguel, during the Trinity Day, a mass brawl occurred during which all the jewels were stolen from a huge cross encrusted with precious stones. The day before, new passengers came to Simu,, the ship of Thompson, don Iguín de Vega with his brothers, don Cristofu and don Jacopou. At the same time, Jack pushed Alice into a maelstrom in Curral dash Fraias, from which Morgan saved her.

The government of the Azores imposes an embargo on all ports (a ban on entry and exit from ports of foreign ships). By order of Thompson, Pip, the captain of Simuy, takes the steamer out of port under cover of night along with the inspector who checked the ship. Soon the jewels are found: they were in the stomachs of the de Vega brothers, who were planning to escape with Simyu.

On the island of Tenerife , at the very top of Teide , Robert and Alice, left alone, confessed to each other their feelings.

After the adventures in the Canary Islands, an accident occurred: there was an explosion of a steam oven, which almost cost the mechanic, Mr. Bishop. Having barely reached the Cape Verde Islands , Simyu slowly drowned, but passengers and personnel managed to go down to the ground.

On one of the islands, Santiago, where travelers arrived, was quarantined. However, he did not stop Baker (he, having lost to Thompson, under the assumed name Saunders turned out to be a Simyu passenger and began to find fault with any deviation from the plan), took control of the tourists into his own hands, hired a schooner and sailed from the islands, ripping off forty pounds from Thompson for travel .

Soon, as a result of the storm, the schooner crashes off the African coast (again, not a single passenger died). Robert Morgan goes to help the French colony of Senegal for help, but Jack Lindsay overtook him and shot at Morgan. Like a knocker, Robert fell down on the sand.

Captain Pip's little dog, little Artimon, ran to help Morgan and brought him to his senses.

At this time, the camp of tourists was captured by the Arabs. Lindsay was already beginning to carry out his intrigues, when suddenly the French soldiers attacked.

It turned out that the real name of Robert Morgan is the Marquis Robert de Gramont ...

The story ended happily. Alice Lindsay became the Marquise de Gramont, and Dolly Clark became the Countess de Sorg.