Chapter I: Preface: My Dear Boys

Perhaps some of you, at one time or another, have had a desire to be cast away on an island in the middle of the ocean, there to have all sorts of adventures, to build a boat, and sail away, maybe; or, at any rate, to have some experience on the great sea.

Something like this fell to the lot of Dick Hamilton, though he was not exactly looking for it, and it is my privilege to give you in this, the third volume of the "Dick Hamilton Series," an account of what happened to the young millionaire when he had purchased a steam yacht, and started out on a cruise with some of his friends.

Dick was marooned on a small island, but, far from that proving a delightful experience, he was very glad to leave, even though it was on a raft, which he and his companions constructed.

How the wealthy youth happened to be marooned there, an account of how he got his yacht, how he foiled the plans of the kidnappers and his uncle Ezra Larabee, how the wrong young man was spirited away, how Dick gave chase, and the surprising rescue at sea--all this you will find set down in the present book, and I venture to hope that you will like it. Thanking you for the appreciation you have accorded my previous books, I remain,

Yours sincerely, HOWARD R. GARIS.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I DICK'S COMPANY WINS 1

II MR. HAMILTON'S LETTER 8

III DICK'S STEAM YACHT 18

IV UNCLE EZRA'S PLOT 28

V DICK IS SHADOWED 45

VI DICK ENTERS THE TRAP 56

VII THE ESCAPE 65

VIII THE FIGHT IN THE DARK 74

IX OUT TO SEA 78

X UNCLE EZRA'S OFFER 90

XI PLUM DUFF FALLS OVERBOARD 97

XII SAVED FROM THE SEA 105

XIII THE MERMAID'S SONG 112

XIV JUST IN TIME 119

XV TIM MULDOON DISAPPEARS 127

XVI UNCLE EZRA AS A SAILOR 136

XVII WIDDY HEARS A VOICE 143

XVIII THE PRINCESS PASSES 149

XIX AT HAVANA 157

XX OFF TO SANTIAGO 163

XXI THE KIDNAPPERS 171

XXII THE WRONG CAPTIVE 178

XXIII DICK ON THE TRAIL 186

XXIV OFF FOR STONE ISLAND 192

XXV DICK'S YACHT IS GONE 199

XXVI MAROONED 209

XXVII DICK FINDS HIS RELATIVES 216

XXVIII BUILDING A RAFT 225

XXIX THE RESCUE 234

XXX THE PURSUIT 242

XXXI "MAN OVERBOARD!"--CONCLUSION 249

DICK HAMILTON'S STEAM YACHT