Marable came scrambling down the side of the block to help her. He was breathing hard, and she turned toward him; as Betty looked away, a portion of the scarlet tail hit her in the body and she fell, striking her head on the floor.
Marable reached down, seized the ax, and in a desperate frenzy hacked at the reptile's awful head. He leaped in and out like a terrier, sinking the ax deep into the neck and head of the beast. He gave the impression of slashing at heavy rubber, and Betty Young, trying to drag herself away from that dangerous body, heard his whistling breath.
They were almost hidden from one another now, in the mist which came from the thing's nostrils.
"Help, help!" screamed the girl, mustering her last strength in the despairing cry.
She saw Marable go down, then, as the reptile hit him a glancing blow with its body. When the powerful young fellow did not rise, the girl thought it was all over. The air really became black to her; she fainted and lay still.
When Betty Young opened her eyes, the air had cleared greatly, and she could see the familiar outlines of the paleontological laboratory and the bulks of the amber blocks. Her father was holding her head in his lap, and was bathing her temples with water.
"Darling," he said, "are you badly hurt?"
"No," she murmured faintly. "I'm—I'm all right. But—but Walter—did it—"
"He's all right," said her father. "The reptile was dying, and could do him no damage. We finished it off."