"It is," assented the Captain coolly.
"Not that rascally 'Vorwartz' by any chance?"
"No."
"Well, then, what's her name? I haven't heard of any other submarine in these waters."
"Not the 'Aphrodite'?"
"Don't try to be funny, Tretheway. You know as well as I do that that submarine was blown to atoms."
"I am afraid, my dear Jenkins, that I cannot agree with you. The 'Aphrodite' is even now submerged in the Zanzibar Channel, and I--whom you know as Hugh Tretheway--I am Captain John Restronguet."
CHAPTER XXV.
THE APPROACH OF THE "VORWARTZ."
Beyond muttering "Well, I'm dashed!" the aviator relapsed into silence. In vain Captain Restronguet and Hythe looked for a trace of the "Aphrodite." As a last resource the former produced a silk green and white flag from his pocket and lashed it to one of the vertical stays in the hope that the submarine might locate it by means of her periscope.