Some of the water, which, although it was quite hot, had _not_ evaporated, thank God! flew against his parched lips, and I saw him bite them till the blood came in the fierceness of the temptation to assuage his raging thirst.

But he resisted it like the man he is, and, without drinking a drop, handed me the bottle, saying simply: "You are the oldest; take care of this, Adams." Now it was my turn to be tempted, but I, too, overcame, and, sitting down, laid Higgs's head upon my knee; then, drop by drop, let a little of the water trickle between his swollen lips.
The effect was magical, for in less than a minute the Professor sat up, grasped at the flask with both hands, and strove to tear it away.
"You cruel brute! You cruel selfish brute!" he moaned as I wrenched it from him.
"Look here, Higgs," I answered thickly; "Orme and I want water badly enough, and we have had none.

But you might take it all if it would save you, only it wouldn't.

We are lost in the desert, and must be sparing.
If you drank everything now, in a few hours you would be thirsty again and die." He thought awhile, then looked up and said: "Beg pardon--I understand.

I'm the selfish brute.