Not long after this the entire party was on the steam launch once more.  They took with them provisions enough to last a couple of days and also an extra cask of drinking water.

By one o’clock in the afternoon the sun burst through the mist and an hour later the entire river was clear, so that they could see steamboats and sailboats a long distance off.  The captain of the tug brought forth his spyglass and they took turns in looking through the instrument.

“Nothing like a houseboat in sight,” said Sam, disconsolately.  “It beats the nation where they have gone to.”

“They may be hiding around some point or in some cove,” suggested Fred.  “They must know that we will follow them.”

“I think you ought to telegraph up and down the river,” put in Songbird.

“Dot’s der dalk,” came from Hans.  “Let eferypody know vot rascals da vos alretty!”

In the middle of the afternoon they made a stop at a town called Smuggs’ Landing and from this point Dick sent messages in various directions.  One message was sent to a city ten miles further down the river and an answer came back in half an hour stating that, so far as the authorities could find out, nothing had been seen of the Dora.

“Now the question is, has she gone past that town, or is she between there and this point?” said Dick.

“Persackly,” came from Aleck.  “An’ I dun gib two dollahs to know de answer to dat cojumdrum.”

“All we can do is to continue the search,” said Tom.  “But I must say it is getting a good deal like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“Vot for you looks for a needle py a haystack?” questioned Hans, innocently.  “Needles ton’t vos goot for noddings in hay.  A hoss vot schwallows a needle vould die kvick, I tole you dot!” And his innocence brought forth a short laugh.

“I move we make a swift run down the river for a distance of twenty or thirty miles,” came from Tom.  “We can go down on one side and come up the other, and keep the spyglass handy, so that nothing that can be seen escapes us.”

The matter was discussed a few minutes and it was decided to follow Tom’s suggestion.  Additional coal had been taken on and soon the steam tug was flying down the river under a full head of steam, causing not a little spray to fly over the forward deck.

“Say, dot pow ist like a fountain,” was Hans’ comment, after he had received an unexpected ducking.  “I shall sit py der pack deck after dis;” and he did.

So far Captain Starr had said but little during the pursuit, but now he began to show signs of interest.

“Let me lay my hands on the villains who tied me fast in that stable and I shall teach them a lesson they will not forget in a hurry,” said he, bitterly.  “They made a fool of me.”

“That’s what they did, captain,” said Sam.  “Still, they might have imposed upon anybody.”

“I’ve been thinking of something.  You’ll remember about those two horse thieves?” went on the captain of the houseboat.