"Oh, it's horrible," whispered the girl.
She clung to his arm. He went on talking. "It is some sort of terrestrial octopus...."
To the girl, it seemed that the living fossil was endless in length. Coil after coil showed as the ripples passed along its body and the straight fang threatened them with destruction.
"See, it is armored," said Marable.
"Betty, no one has ever had such an experience as this, seen such a sight, and lived to tell of it. It must be ravenous with hunger, shut up in its amber cell inside the black fluid. I—"
A sharp, whistling hiss interrupted his speech. The reptile was puffing and swelling, and as it grew in bulk with the intake of the air, its enamel-like scales stood out like bosses on the great body. It spat forth a cloud of black, oily mist, and Marable came to himself at last.
He raised his revolver and fired at the creature, sending shot after shot from the heavy revolver into the head.
Betty Young screamed as the reptile reared up and made a movement toward them. Marable and the girl retreated swiftly, as the beast thumped to the floor with a thud and started at them, advancing with a queer, crawling movement.
It was between them and the door. Betty thrust her gun into Marable's hands, for his own was empty and he had hurled it at the monster.