he head, he would get the return-stroke in his eye or
lip. But Rikki did not know: his eyes were all red, and he rocked
back and forth, looking for a good place to hold. Karait struck out.
Rikki jumped sideways and tried to run in, but the wicked little
dusty gray head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder, and he had
to jump over the body, and the head followed his heels close.

Teddy shouted to the house: 'Oh, look here! Our mongoose is killing a
snake'; and Rikki-tikki heard a scream from Teddy's mother. His
father ran out with a stick, but by the time he came up, Karait had
lunged out once too far, and Rikki-tikki had sprung, jumped on the
snake's back, dropped his head far between his fore-legs, bitten as
high up the back as he could get hold, and rolled away. That bite
paralysed Karait, and Rikki-tikki was just going to eat him up from
the tail, after the custom of his family at dinner, when he
remembered that a full meal makes a slow mongoose, and if he wanted
all his strength and quickness ready, he must keep himself thin.

He went away for a dust-bath under the castor-oil bushes, while
Teddy's father beat the dead Karait. 'What is the use of that?'
thought Rikki-tikki. 'I have settled it all'; and then Teddy's mother
picked him up from the dust and hugged him, crying that he had saved
Teddy from death, and Teddy's father said that he was a providence,
and Teddy looked on with big scared eyes. Rikki-tikki was rather
amused at all the fuss, which, of course, he did not understand.
Teddy's mother might just as well have petted Teddy for playing in
the dust. Rikki was thoroughly enjoying himself.

That night, at dinner, walking to and fro among the wine-glasses on
the table, he could have stuffed himself three times over with nice
things; but he remembered Nag and Nagaina, and though it was very
pleasant to be patted and petted by Teddy's mother, and to sit on
Teddy's shoulder, his eyes would get red from time to time, and he
would go off into his long war cry of '_Rikk-tikk-tikki-tikki-tchk!_'

Teddy carried him off to bed, and insisted on Rikki-tikki sleeping
under his chin. Rikki-tikki was too well bred to bite or scratch, but
as soon as Teddy was asleep he went off for his nightly walk round
the house, and in the dark he ran up against Chuchundra, the
musk-rat, creeping round by the wall. Chuchundra is a broken-hearted
little beast, He whimpers and cheeps all the night, trying to make up
his mind to run