James does have an idea for escaping the sharks, but he says his idea is no good because they don’t have any strong string. This is met with shouts from the group that they DO have string: Miss Spider and Silkworm can make as much as he needs. James explains his idea to his frantic friends—lasso seagulls and tie them to the stem of the peach to lift it out of the water. This idea is met with ridicule and shouts of “‘Absurd!’ ‘Poppycock!’ ‘Balderdash!’ ‘Madness!’” (70) from the group.

When James elaborates on his plan to catch the seagulls, using Earthworm as bait to draw them in, Earthworm screams “Stop!” but the others start listening, thinking the plan might work. James tells them that Earthworm won’t be pecked or eaten, they will pull him to safety once the seagull has been caught, and then he’ll wiggle again out of the hole in the top of the peach to catch another seagull, and so on until they have enough birds to lift the peach. “The boy is a genius” (73), Centipede says, and all the others except Earthworm agree. James puts his arm around Earthworm and reassures him that he’ll be safe, but that they must hurry.