ut up!"

"I won't shut up. I'll talk all I want to. You won't stop me either. Do
you hear that? You won't stop me!"

She was on the verge of hysteria. Craig let her scream. There was
nothing he could do to stop her, short of using force. He sat silent and
impassive on the seat. Hot fires smouldered behind his eyes. In his mind
was a single thought: What had happened to the water?

* * * * *

The boat drifted on the sullen sea. Michaelson, after trying to
comprehend what had happened, and failing in the effort, went back to
studying the figures in the notebook. Voronoff furtively watched Craig.
English had lapsed into a coma. Mrs. Miller huddled in the middle of the
boat. She watched the horizon, seeking a sail, a plume of smoke, the
sight of a low-lying shore. Margy Sharp had collapsed at Craig's feet.
She did not move. Now and then her shoulders jerked as a sob shook her
body.

"Well," thought Craig, "I guess this is it. I guess this is the end of
the line. I guess this is where we get off. What happens to you after
you're dead, I wonder?"

He shrugged. Never in his life had he worried about what would happen
after he died and it was too late to begin now.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he did not hear the plane until it
had swooped low over them. The roar of its motor jerked his head to the
sky. It was an American naval plane, the markings on its wings revealed.

The occupants of the boat leaped to their feet and shouted themselves
hoarse. The pilot waggled his wings at them and flew off.

Against the far horizon the superstructure of a warship was visible. It
was coming closer. Craig put his fingers to his nose, wiggled them at
the sea.

"Damn you, we beat you," he said.

He knew they hadn't beaten the sea. Luck and nothing else had brought
that warship near them. Luck had a way of running good for a time. Then
it ran bad.

CHAPTER II

When the Sun Jumped

"The captain wishes to see you, sir," the sailor said.

Craig snubbed the cigarette and rose to his feet. He had eaten and drank
sparingly, very sparingly indeed. They had tried to take him to the
hospital bay with the others, but he had gruffly refused. There was
nothing wrong with him that a little food and water wouldn't cure.

He followed the sailor to the captain's quarters. Unconsciously he noted
the condition of the ship. She was a battleship, the Idaho, one of the
new series. Craig guessed sh