hink you can taunt me into throwing the gun away, you are
mistaken," he said. "In the meantime, I have issued water to everyone
else and I assume you and Michaelson will want your shares. If you will
come aft, one at a time, I will see that you get it."

"Water?" said Michaelson vaguely. He had paid no attention to the
argument. When he heard his name mentioned, he looked up and smiled.
"Water? Oh, yes, I believe I would like some." He came aft and Craig
held the tin cup under the faucet in the keg. The water rilled out very
slowly. Craig stared at it in perplexity. The stream dried to a trickle,
then stopped running.

Horror tightened a band around his heart. He lifted the keg, shook it,
then set it down.

Michaelson gazed at the few drops of water in the cup. "What is the
matter?" he asked. "Is this all I get?"

"The keg is almost empty!" Craig choked out the words.

"Empty?" Michaelson said dazedly. "But yesterday you said it was a
quarter full!"

"That was yesterday," Craig said. "Today there isn't over two cups of
water left in the keg."

Silence settled over the boat as he spoke. He was aware that four sets
of eyes were gazing steadily at him. He picked up the keg, examined it
to see if it were leaking. It wasn't. When he set it down, the eyes were
still staring at him. There was accusation in them now.

"_You_ were the self-appointed guardian of the water supply," Voronoff
spat out the words.

Craig didn't answer.

"Last night, when we were asleep, did you help yourself to the water?"
Voronoff demanded.

"I did not!" Craig said hotly. "Damn you--"

Voronoff kept silent. Craig looked around the boat. "I don't know what
happened to the water," he said. "I didn't drink it, that's certain--"

"Then what became of it?" Michaelson spoke.

He seemed to voice the question in the minds of all the others. If Craig
had not taken the water, then what had happened to it? It was gone, the
keg didn't leak, and he had been guarding it.

"And here I thought you were a good guy," Margy Sharp said, moving aft.

"Honestly, I didn't drink the water," Craig answered.

"_Honestly?_" she mocked him. "No wonder you were so generous about
giving me your share this morning. You had already had all you wanted to
drink."

Her voice was bitter and hard.

"If you want to think that, I can't stop you," Craig said.

"I hope you feel good while you stay alive and watch the rest of us die
of thirst," the girl said.

"Sh