Page 102 - THE JUNGLE BOOK

The Jungle Book

thee one anna of the reward, but only a very big beating.
Leave the carcass!’
‘By the Bull that bought me,’ said Mowgli, who was
trying to get at the shoulder, ‘must I stay babbling to an

old ape all noon? Here, Akela, this man plagues me.’
Buldeo, who was still stooping over Shere Khan’s head,
found himself sprawling on the grass, with a gray wolf
standing over him, while Mowgli went on skinning as
though he were alone in all India.
‘Ye-es,’ he said, between his teeth. ‘Thou art altogether
right, Buldeo. Thou wilt never give me one anna of the
reward. There is an old war between this lame tiger and
myself—a very old war, and—I have won.’
To do Buldeo justice, if he had been ten years younger
he would have taken his chance with Akela had he met
the wolf in the woods, but a wolf who obeyed the orders
of this boy who had private wars with man-eating tigers
was not a common animal. It was sorcery, magic of the
worst kind, thought Buldeo, and he wondered whether
the amulet round his neck would protect him. He lay as
still as still, expecting every minute to see Mowgli turn
into a tiger too.
‘Maharaj! Great King,’ he said at last in a husky
whisper.

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