"All right; come on," said Sam, and showed the way, which was decidedly uncertain. At one point there was a wide ditch to cross, and Tom had his hands full getting Dick over. Martin Harris was watching for them, and had all ready to cast off should this be required. "I'm mighty glad you found the police," he said to Dick, who now felt able to do for himself once more. "Will they go with us?" "You are certain those folks on the other boat are thieves?" demanded Sergeant Brown. "Carter and I don't want to go off on any wild goose chase." "They are not only thieves, but abductors," said Dick. "We can easily prove it. They must be caught if it is possible to do so." "All right then, we'll go with you. Come, Carter," and the two officers hopped on board. Soon the mainsail was set, followed by all the other available canvas, and the _Searchlight_ was continuing the chase which had been so curiously broken off. Martin Harris was in the dark so far as knowing what course the _Flyaway_ had taken, and had to trust to luck to fall in with the fleeing craft. "If she's going outside of Staten Island, I reckon I can spot her before long," he said. "It looks to me as if the clouds were blowing away," said Tom. "If they do, the starlight will help us a good deal." As the yacht tore along through the water, the two police officers listened with close attention to what the boys had to tell them. "If they are the men who robbed Rush & Wilder it will make a fine haul to capture them," said Sergeant Brown. "We want to save Dora Stanhope as much as we want to catch those thieves," returned Dick. "I wonder if her disappearance has been reported to the police?" "I can't say. You see, Carter and I have been out all day looking for a pair of harbor thieves who stole some clothing from a pleasure yacht lying off the Staten Island shore." "Did you see anything of your men?" "We saw them; but they got away in a rowboat. Where they have gone to is hard telling. But I don't imagine the theft amounted to much--at least, it was nothing in comparison to the crimes you are trying to run down." On and on went the _Searchlight_ through the night, and slowly but surely the clouds in the heavens cleared away, letting the stars shine down once more on the silent waters. Suddenly Martin Harris gave a murmur of satisfaction. "There she is." "The _Flyaway_!" came from several of the others. "Yes. Just as I thought; she is heading down the Staten Island shore straight for Sandy Hook." "They are bound for Searock!" cried Dick suddenly. "Mr. Baxter mentioned the place just before they discovered that I was spying on them." "That's a good way down the New Jersey coast," said Sergeant Brown. "Can this boat stand such a sail?" "Can she?" snorted Harris. "She's strong enough to go to Europe if you want to make the trip." "Thank you; when I go to Europe I'll go in a steamer," laughed the police officer. "I don't think you'd do much in a heavy blow."