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.Suddenly there came an assault upon the shell that almost tipped me from itsbell mouth before I was properly awake and bracing myself against the sides ofthe cavity.What had it been, this rude awakening? My sleep-dulled mind couldnot quite grasp it.There had been a rumble as of distant thunder, then a vaststirring of the ground that tilted the shell on its side, almost tipping meout.This had shaken me roughly awake, and -Again the ground rocked, jolting the shell wildly up and down, shaking me violently and threatening to cast me loose from my position against thecurving walls.There came a frightened squawking from outside in thenight and a lurid orange glow shone dimly even through the coils of myammonite refuge.This could only mean volcanic activity, a second eruption!Above the low rumblings of the earth there came then a frantic flapping ofleathery wings and the sudden hisss of swirling waters.I could hear thepteranodon squawking and blustering as it rose high in the disturbed air, andas I crawled from the mouth of the mammoth ammonite I saw the sky-lizard'swildly fluttering shadow cast by the glare from the distant mountains.Out at sea the volcano was on the move again, sinking this time as secondarycones broke the surface much further out.A rush of cool water swirled aboutmy feet, lifting the huge shell and floating it away along the beach.Hastily,with the water rising quickly to my knees, fearing a shock wave of water suchas had left me in my present predicament, I backed up the beach to slightlyhigher ground.The expected shock wave did not come, however; instead, thedisturbed water quickly subsided.Out near the cone the whole surface of the sea sprayed up suddenly in foamingwhite crests, and I could see that the new volcano was quite definitelysinking.Way out beyond the reef it had formed, at a distance of what musthave been five or six miles, many fires shot the darkness with lurid light,hissing and roaring as they spouted flames from the sea.Plainly I had sleptall through the night, for already dawn was showing on the horizon.Even as Iwatched, the edge of the sun crept up to illuminate a fantastic scene.The sea was on fire! For mile upon mile the surface of the water was lit bysubmarine explosions; geysers of superheated water shot into the air;turbulent waters tossed and rushed in an utter confusion of currents.Behindme the hills seemed to burn as rivers of lava beganto course down them.Away to my right these lava streams had already reachedthe water, sending sheets of steam hissing and searing skyward.And then awonderful thing happened.The last of the waters washing about my feet began a hurried retreat and, asthe sun rose higher and the volcanic activity out at sea grew more furious,that retreat became an absolute rout of receding waters.Down went the reef ina sundering of ocean, back to its watery origins, and the blazing cone withit.A tremendous cloud of steam rose up then that turned the sun into a pinkglow, washing the entire horizon in rose and blood tints.The whole beach jerked and tossed now, no longer in violent spasms but ratherin short, spastic rhythms that kept me adjusting my balance as I watched thespectacle of the red, retreating waters.They were in full flood now, leavingthe beach bubbling and slimy and scattered with gasping fish and floppingshapes behind them.Why, at this rate -At this rate the time-clock would soon be exposed! Somewhere out there in themud and pebbles my time-machine lay, just waiting for the retreating waters toleave it high and dry.I started down the beach in the wake of the fleeing ocean, beginning to runacross the coarse wet sands as the sun rose up above the volcanic mists toturn the entire Cretaceous scene pink and gold.The sand sucked at my feet andvarious stranded creatures snapped at me in their death agonies as I sloshedpast them.To my left a huge shadow grew up from the misty beach to flopawkwardly in a shallow pool.I barely gave it a second glance, however, barelyrecognized it as a vast tylosaurus, as a second shape, one with which I wasfar more familiar, suddenly appeared in a swirl of black, receding water.The time-clock! There it was, half buried in wet sands, its narrow endpointing at thirty degrees to the sky, itsface buried deep in muck.My vessel, my gateway to the future, to the world ofmen!Through a pool of warm water I splashed and struggled, dimly aware that something huge splashed after me, but I was interested in one thing only: toregain my clock and find a way to dig it from the clinging muck.Now I wasalmost upon it, falling beside it as finally I tripped and sprawled in thetrembling, quaking sands.My hand touched the clock's peculiar wood-liketexture.I trembled then in a cold sweat of frustration and fear.It wouldtake me hours to dig the thing out, assuming that I was to have the chance!Far down the beach seaward a massive wall of water was gathering, pilingitself up for a titanic onslaught on the land.But I must at least try.Evenas I began scrabbling at the wet sand and pulling uselessly at the heavy bulkof the clock a shadow fell upon me and a primal scream tore the salty, mistedair.I hurled myself flat and headlong as a monster flipper slapped down at thespot where I had crouched, spraying me with slimy pebbles and mud and halflifting the clock from the grip of the sand.The great jaws of the strandedtylosaurus struck at me, missed, fastened in terrible anger on my half buriedvessel.Balanced on its massive foreflip-pers, the creature slammed its rearquarters time and again down onto the sand to assist its jaws in their actionof tearing the time-clock up from its boggy bed.At last the time-machine cameloose, was tossed a dozen yards as easily as a man might fling a light chair,landing on its back, face up.As the ground began to rock more violently and the tylosaurus again turned tosnap at me, I scrambled after the clock, diving on it and groping for thehidden mechanisms that would open its panel.The great sea beastflopped after me, its body thudding down on the wet sand with each convulsiveheave of gigantic flippers
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