Wolf, at the back of the cave, knew by his breathing that something was
troubling her frog.
What is it, Son? she said.
Some bat s chatter of Shere Khan, he called back. I hunt among the
plowed fields tonight, and he plunged downward through the bushes, to
the stream at the bottom of the valley. There he checked, for he heard
the yell of the Pack hunting, heard the bellow of a hunted Sambhur,
and the snort as the buck turned at bay. Then there were wicked, bitter
howls from the young wolves: Akela! Akela! Let the Lone Wolf show his
strength. Room for the leader of the Pack! Spring, Akela!
The Lone Wolf must have sprung and missed his hold, for Mowgli heard the
snap of his teeth and then a yelp as the Sambhur knocked him over with
his forefoot.
He did not wait for anything more, but dashed on; and the yells grew
fainter behind him as he ran into the croplands where the villagers
lived.
Bagheera spoke truth, he panted, as he nestled down in some cattle
fodder by the window of a hut. To-morrow is one day both for Akela and
for me.
Then he pressed his face close to the window and watched the fire on
the hearth. He saw the husbandman s wife get up and feed it in the night
with black lumps. And when the morning came and the mists were all white
and cold, he saw the man s child pick up a wicker pot plastered inside
with earth, fill it with lumps of red-hot charcoal, put it under his
blanket, and go out to tend the cows in the byre.
Is that all? said Mowgli. If a cub can do it, there is nothing to
fear. So he strode round the corner and met the boy, took the pot from
his hand, and disappeared into the mist while the boy howled with fear.
They are very like me, said Mowgli, blowing into the pot as he had
seen the woman do. This thing will die if I do not give it things to
eat ; and he dropped twigs and dried bark on the red stuff. Halfway up
the hill he met Bagheera with the morning dew shining like moonstones on
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