Bones was incoherent, but again Ali came to the rescue.
"Sir," he said, "for intimating SOS-ness there is upon steamer or launch certain scientific apparatus, unadjusted, but susceptible to treatment."
"The wireless!" spluttered Bones. "Good lor', the wireless!"
Twenty minutes later the Wiggle ran alongside the gangway of the s.s. Paretta, anticipating the arrival of the Zaire by half an hour.
The s.s. Paretta was at anchor when Sanders brought the Zaire to the scene.
He saw the Wiggle riding serenely by the side of the great ship, looking for all the world like a humming bird under the wings of an ostrich, and uttered a little prayer of thankfulness.
"They're safe," he said to Hamilton. "O Yoka, take the Zaire to the other side of the big boat."
"Master, do we go back to-night to seek Ko-boru?" asked Yoka, who was bearing marks which indicated his strenuous experience, for he had fought his way clear of his captors, and had swum with the stream to headquarters.
"To-morrow is also a day," quoth Sanders.
Hamilton was first on the deck of the s.s. Paretta, and found his sister and a debonair and complacent Bones waiting for him. With them was an officer whom Hamilton recognized.