Negotiations for the hire of a small, but swift, steamer were completed the next day, and Dick and his friends went aboard. Of course, Grit went also. Inquiries had failed to throw any light as to who might have stolen Dick's yacht and launch from Stone Island, nor was any trace found of the steamer _Princess_, containing Uncle Ezra and the men and two youths whom he had hired to kidnap Dick. "Then, if you can't get any trace, how are you going to know in which direction to search?" asked Beeby. "You can't cover all the waters around Cuba." "I don't intend to," replied Dick. "In the first place, Captain Barton, and the others of the crew are--or were--aboard my yacht when it was captured. They are either aboard her now or they have been put ashore somewhere by the thieves. In the latter case, we will hear something from them sooner or later, for they'll communicate with us, and we'll get a clue to work on. If they are still held as prisoners, I'll have to adopt a different course." "And what'll it be?" asked Paul Drew. "Why, I think our best plan is to sail back to Stone Island." "Stone Island?" cried Henry Darby. "Do you mean to camp out there again?" asked Frank. "No, we had enough of that," answered the wealthy lad. "But I have an idea that the men who stole my yacht have a sort of headquarters on that island. We didn't have time to look for it, but it must be there. What would be more natural than that they will either hang around in that vicinity, or even visit the island." "Hardly that, if they think we are there still," objected Beeby. "That's just it. They may think we have been taken off by some steamer, and that the coast is clear, so that they can come back. If they do we have them, and so I think our best plan is to set sail for the island where we were marooned." "I guess you're right, Dick," admitted Paul. The next day the _Golconda_, which was the steamer Dick had hired, slipped away from her dock, and headed for Stone Island. Aboard her, though the boys did not live as finely as they had in the yacht of the young millionaire, they had a good time, and most of their hours were spent on deck, as they cruised on, looking for a sight of the _Albatross_. Dick declared that he was getting cross-eyed from so constantly looking through the binoculars, but he would not give up. Many ships were passed, but they proved to be other than the _Albatross_. Nor was the _Princess_ sighted. "I guess Uncle Ezra and his crowd had enough, and went back to New York," ventured Dick. "My uncle is probably in Dankville now, figuring up how much money he lost. Oh, won't I have the laugh on him when I jolly him for kidnapping the wrong person!" "I'd do more than _jolly_ him," said Beeby, vindictively. "He ought to be arrested." "Oh, Uncle Ezra is a peculiar man," said Dick. "He can make himself believe that he acted just right. He's afraid I'll die a pauper in the poorhouse, I guess."