Page 50 - THE JUNGLE BOOK

The Jungle Book

The last words were shrieked as he was being swung
through the air, but Rann nodded and rose up till he
looked no bigger than a speck of dust, and there he hung,
watching with his telescope eyes the swaying of the

treetops as Mowgli’s escort whirled along.
‘They never go far,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘They
never do what they set out to do. Always pecking at new
things are the Bandar-log. This time, if I have any eye-
sight, they have pecked down trouble for themselves, for
Baloo is no fledgling and Bagheera can, as I know, kill
more than goats.’
So he rocked on his wings, his feet gathered up under
him, and waited.
Meantime, Baloo and Bagheera were furious with rage
and grief. Bagheera climbed as he had never climbed
before, but the thin branches broke beneath his weight,
and he slipped down, his claws full of bark.
‘Why didst thou not warn the man-cub?’ he roared to
poor Baloo, who had set off at a clumsy trot in the hope
of overtaking the monkeys. ‘What was the use of half
slaying him with blows if thou didst not warn him?’
‘Haste! O haste! We—we may catch them yet!’ Baloo
panted.

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