George and Harry remembered at the same moment.
“The earth-pile! Quick!”
Belinda watched, puzzled, as the two centis began frantically pushing and shoving at the loose earth with their heads and front legs.
“What are you doing?” she cried. “We must run! We must—” But she had to stop because the smoke was getting thicker.
And suddenly she understood.
“NO!” she crackled as loudly as she could. “Not that! Not Up the Up-Pipe, I tell you, NO!”
But George and Harry took no notice. They had quite a high pile of earth now. It was nearly tall enough for George to reach the bottom rim of the Up-Pipe with his front four pairs of legs.
Not quite, though.
Now each time they shoved a bit of earth to the top of the pile, to make it higher, it rolled back down. They were not going to make it!
Suddenly Harry stopped digging and piling and looked at his mother.
“Mama,” he said. “Come here. Come quickly.”
Belinda wasn’t stupid. She saw what Harry wanted. As the white-choke got thicker, it overcame all her other fears.
She ran up the side of the earth-pile. She stood upright on the top. She easily reached the rim of the Up-Pipe.
She got a good grip on the inside of the pipe with her front eight pairs of legs.
“Climb!” she said.
Her segments were as good as a ladder. The two centis ran up her body faster than you could run upstairs.
They were inside the Up-Pipe.
Belinda’s urgent signal crackled after them: “Keep going! Hide up there and come down when it’s safe! Don’t look back, I’m all right!”