The worm that
never dies is hardly a thing to escape notice!"
We rode on and on. All at once my uncle threw up his hands, dropping the
reins, and with a fearful cry covered his face.
"It is gone! I have not killed it! No, I have not! It is here! it is
here!" he cried, pressing his hand to his heart. "It is here, and it was
here all the time I thought it dead! What will become of me! I am lost,
lost!"
At the word, old Death gave a scream, and laying himself out, flew with
all the might of his swift limbs to get away from the place. But the
wind, which was behind us as we came, now stormed in our faces; and
presently I saw we should never reach home, for, with all Death's fierce
endeavour, we moved but an inch or two in the minute, and that with a
killing struggle.
"Little one," said my uncle, "if you don't get down we shall all be lost.
I feel the worm rising. It is your weight that keeps poor Death from
making any progress."
I turned my head, leaning past my uncle, so as to see behind him. A long
neck, surmounted by a head of indescribable horror, was slowly rising
straight up out of the middle of the pool. It should not catch them! I
slid down by my uncle's leg. The moment I touched the ground and let go,
away went Death, and in an instant was out of sight. I was not afraid. My
heart was lifted up with the thought that I was going to die for my uncle
and old Death.
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