so he sent among them a big stork that soon set to work eati

so he sent among them a big stork that soon set to work eating them all up.
该句子中的 sent among 是短语吗,还是among them 是组合在一起的.该句子意思是所以他派了一只大鹳去,这只大鹳很快就开始工作,并把它们都吃光了
为什么set to work 后面直接加 eating them all up ,是省略了and还是 set to work doing是短语.