"Seen anything of her?" asked Hythe. "We are exploring this river in the hope of finding her brought up." "May as well give it a miss," replied Captain Jones of the "Pride of Rhodesia." "We’ve followed the whole of the navigable part of this ditch. We’ve also reconnoitred the Mali, the Tutti, and the Baraloo; the Zampa we didn’t trouble about; it’s too narrow to take a craft the size of the ’Vorwartz.’" The sub felt like shaking hands with himself. The airship had purposely overlooked the river in which the "Vorwartz" had been reported. Captain Restronguet had made a mistake in thinking that this river was the Zampa. "Well, I wish you luck," he said truthfully, for there can be various qualifying conditions to the subject of luck. "By the by, what’s the name of this river?" "The Pongo," replied Captain Jones. "It rises in Rhodesia not so very far from the frontier of the Portuguese territory. I reckon we’ve saved you a bit. We’ll save you more yet if you wish. We’ll tow you down stream. I’m curious to see the renowned ’Aphrodite.’ Captain Restronguet won’t object, I suppose. Will you come aboard--we’ll drop a rope-ladder." "No, thanks," replied Hythe. "We won’t come on board. We cannot get much wetter if we stay here. All the same, we shall be glad of a tow." The sub was cautious. He did not wish to be kidnapped a second time, and not knowing who Captain Jones was or whether the "Pride of Rhodesia" was a _bona fide_ craft belonging to the British Empire Aero-League, he thought it advisable to decline the invitation to board the airship. A coil of rope whizzed from the after platform of the overhead vessel. It was caught and made fast by the bowman, the "Pride of Rhodesia’s" huge propellers began to revolve and soon the "Aphrodite’s" whaler was being towed down the stream at a good ten knots. "Pass that rope aboard the ’Aphrodite,’ please," shouted Captain Jones as he brought the boat alongside the submarine. Captain Restronguet waved his hand in token of assent and soon the airship was riding head to wind with her nacelles just resting on the water. Hythe hurriedly explained the circumstances under which he had fallen in with the airship, mentioning that he had found out by accident that it was not the Zampa River that he had explored after all. "That’s good," commented Captain Restronguet enthusiastically. "We can well afford to be disappointed. This Captain Jones told you he didn’t mean to explore the Zampa, eh? Well, we’ll have him on board, since he evidently desires it, but we must be careful not to drop the faintest hint concerning our information that the ’Vorwartz’ was known to have entered that river." The boat was dispatched to bring Captain Jones on board the "Aphrodite," and soon the owner and commander of the "Pride of Rhodesia" stood upon the deck of the submarine. He was a fairly young man, still under thirty, and full of almost boyish enthusiasm.