“So this is the manling,” said Kaa.“Very soft is his skin,and heis not unlike the Bandar-log. Have a care, manling, that I do not mistakeyou for a monkey some twilight when I have newly changed my coat.”
“We be one blood, you and I,” Mowgli answered. “I take mylife from you tonight. My kill shall be your kill if ever you are hungry, OKaa.”
“All thanks, Little Brother,” said Kaa, though his eyes twinkled.
“And what may so bold a hunter kill？ I ask that I may follow whennext he goes abroad.”
“I kill nothing,——I am too little,——but I drive goats towardsuch as can use them. When you are empty come to me and see if I speakthe truth. I have some skill in these [he held out his hands], and if ever youare in a trap, I may pay the debt which I owe to you, to Bagheera, and toBaloo, here. Good hunting to you all, my masters.”
“Well said,” growled Baloo, for Mowgli had returned thanks veryprettily. The Python dropped his head lightly for a minute on Mowgli"sshoulder. “A brave heart and a courteous tongue,”said he.
“They shallcarry you far through the jungle, manling.But now go hence quickly withyour friends. Go and sleep, for the moon sets, and what follows it is notwell that you shouldst see.”
The moon was sinking behind the hills and the lines of tremblingmonkeys huddled together on the walls and battlements looked like raggedshaky fringes of things. Baloo went down to the tank for a drink andBagheera began to put his fur in order,as Kaa glided out into the center ofthe terrace and brought his jaws together with a ringing snap that drew allthe monkeys" eyes upon him.
“The moon sets,” he said. “Is there yet light enough to see？”
From the walls came a moan like the wind in the tree-tops——“Wesee, O Kaa.”
“Good. Begins now the dance——the Dance of the Hunger ofKaa. Sit still and watch.”
He turned twice or thrice in a big circle, weaving his head from rightto left. Then he began making loops and figures of eight with his body,and soft, oozy triangles that melted into squares and five-sided figures, andcoiled mounds, never resting,never hurrying, and never stopping his lowhumming song. It grewdarker and darker, till at last the dragging, shiftingcoils disappeared, but they could hear the rustle of the scales.
Baloo and Bagheera stood still as stone, growling in their throats,their neck hair bristling, and Mowgli watched and wondered.
“Bandar-log,” said the voice of Kaa at last, “can you stir foot orhand without my order？ Speak！”
“Without your order we cannot stir foot or hand, O Kaa！”
“Good！ Come all one pace nearer to me.”
The lines of the monkeys swayed forward helplessly, and Baloo andBagheera took one stiff step forward with them.
“Nearer！” hissed Kaa, and they all moved again.
Mowgli laid his hands on Baloo and Bagheera to get them away,andthe two great beasts started as though they had been waked from a dream.
“Keep your hand on my shoulder,” Bagheera whispered. “Keepit there, or I must go back——must go back to Kaa. Aah！”
“It is only old Kaa making circles on the dust,” said Mowgli.“Letus go.” And the three slipped off through a gap in the walls to the jungle.
“Whoof！” said Baloo, when he stood under the still trees again.
“Never more will I make an ally of Kaa,” and he shook himself all over.
“He knows more than we,” said Bagheera, trembling. “In alittle time, had I stayed, I should have walked down his throat.”
“Many will walk by that road before the moon rises again,”saidBaloo. “He will have good hunting——after his own fashion.”
“But what was the meaning of it all？” said Mowgli, who did notknow anything of a python"s powers of fascination. “I saw no more thana big snake making foolish circles till the dark came. And his nose was allsore. Ho！ Ho！”
“Mowgli,” said Bagheera angrily, “his nose was sore on youraccount, as my ears and sides and paws, and Baloo"s neck and shoulders arebitten on your account. Neither Baloo nor Bagheera will be able to huntwith pleasure for many days.”
“It is nothing,” said Baloo; “we have the man-cub again.”
“True, but he has cost us heavily in time which might have beenspent in good hunting, in wounds, in hair——I am half plucked along myback——and last of all, in honor.For,remember, Mowgli, I, who am theBlack Panther, was forced to call upon Kaa for protection, and Baloo and Iwere both made stupid as little birds by the Hunger Dance. All this, man-cub, came of your playing with the Bandar-log.”
“True, it is true,” said Mowgli sorrowfully. “I am an evil man-cub, and my stomach is sad in me.”
“Mf！ What says the Law of the Jungle, Baloo？”
Baloo did not wish to bring Mowgli into any more trouble, but hecould not tamper with the Law, so he mumbled: “Sorrow never stayspunishment. But remember, Bagheera, he is very little.”
“I will remember. But he has done mischief, and blows must bedealt now. Mowgli, hast you anything to say？”
“Nothing. I did wrong. Baloo and you are wounded. It is just.”
Bagheera gave him half a dozen love-taps from a panther"s point ofview (they would hardly have waked one of his own cubs),but for a seven-year-old boy they amounted to as severe a beating as you could wish toavoid.When it was all over Mowgli sneezed,and picked himself up withouta word.
“Now,” said Bagheera, “jump on my back, Little Brother, and we will go home.”
One of the beauties of Jungle Law is that punishment settles all scores. There is no nagging afterward.
Mowgli laid his head down on Bagheera"s back and slept so deeply that he never waked when he was put down in the home-cave.
The Jungle StoryChapter 4 Road-Song of the Bandar-LogHere we go in a flung festoon,Half-way up to the jealous moon！
Don"t you envy our pranceful bands？
Don"t you wish you had extra hands？
Wouldn"t you like if your tails were--so——Curved in the shape of a Cupid"s bow？
Now you"re angry, but--never mind,Brother, your tail hangs down behind！
Here we sit in a branchy row,Thinking of beautiful things we know；Dreaming of deeds that we mean to do,All complete, in a minute or two--Something noble and wise and good,Done by merely wishing we could.
We"ve forgotten, but--never mind,Brother, your tail hangs down behind！
All the talk we ever have heardUttered by bat or beast or bird——Hide or fin or scale or feather——Jabber it quickly and all together！
