'You will be a martyr,' said the Centipede. 'I shall respect you for the rest of my life.'
'So will I,' said Miss Spider. 'And your name will be in all the newspapers. Earthworm gives life to save friends...'
'But he won't have to give his life,' James told them. 'Now listen to me. This is what we'll do...'
Twenty-one
'Why, it's absolutely brilliant!' cried the Old-Green-Grasshopper when James had explained his plan.
'The boy's a genius!' the Centipede announced. 'Now I can keep my boots on after all.'
'Oh, I shall be pecked to death!' wailed the poor Earthworm.
'Of course you won't.'
'I will, I know I will! And I won't even be able to see them coming at me because I have no eyes!'
James went over and put an arm gently round the Earthworm's shoulders. 'I won't let them touch you,' he said. 'I promise I won't. But we've got to hurry! Look down there!'
There were more sharks than ever now around the peach. The water was boiling with them. There must have been ninety or a hundred at least. And to the travellers up on top, it certainly seemed as though the peach were sinking lower and lower into the water.
'Action stations!' James shouted. 'Jump to it! There's not a moment to lose!' He was the captain now, and everyone knew it. They would do whatever he told them.
'All hands below deck except Earthworm!' he ordered.
'Yes, yes!' they said eagerly as they scuttled into the tunnel entrance. 'Gome on! Let's hurry!'
'And you - Centipede!' James shouted. 'Hop downstairs and get that Silkworm to work at once! Tell her to spin as she's never spun before! Our lives depend upon it! And the same applies to you, Miss Spider! Hurry on down! Start spinning.'
Twenty-two
In a few minutes everything was ready.
It was very quiet now on the top of the peach. There was nobody in sight - nobody except the Earthworm.
One half of the Earthworm, looking like a great, thick, juicy, pink sausage, lay innocently in the sun for all the seagulls to see.
The other half of him was dangling down the tunnel.
James was crouching close beside the Earthworm in the tunnel entrance, just below the surface, waiting for the first seagull. He had a loop of silk string in his hands.
The Old-Green-Grasshopper and the Ladybird were further down the tunnel, holding on to the Earthworm's tail, ready to pull him quickly in out of danger as soon as James gave the word.
And far below, in the great stone of the peach, the Glow-worm was lighting up the room so that the two spinners, the Silkworm and Miss Spider, could see what they were doing. The Centipede was down there too, exhorting them both frantically to greater efforts, and every now and again James could hear his voice coming up faintly from the depths, shouting, 'Spin, Silkworm, spin, you great fat lazy brute! Faster, faster, or we'll throw you to the sharks!'
'Here comes the first seagull!' whispered James. 'Keep still now, Earthworm. Keep still. The rest of you get ready to pull.'
'Please don't let it spike me,' begged the Earthworm.
'I won't, I won't. Ssshh...'
Out of the corner of one eye, James watched the seagull as it came swooping down towards the Earthworm. And
then suddenly it was so close that he could see its small black eyes and its curved beak, and the beak was open, ready to grab a nice piece of flesh out of the Earthworm's back.
'Pull!' shouted James.'
The Old-Green-Grasshopper and the Ladybird gave the Earthworm's tail an enormous tug, and like magic the Earthworm disappeared into the tunnel. At the same time, up went James's hand and the seagull flew right into the loop of silk that he was holding out. The loop, which had been cleverly made, tightened just the right amount (but not too much) around its neck, and the seagull was captured.