ua pronounced a word Mowgli would imitate
it almost perfectly, and before dark he had learned the name of many
things in the hut.

There was a difficulty at bedtime, because Mowgli would not sleep
under anything that looked so like a panther-trap as that hut, and
when they shut the door he went through the window. 'Give him his
will,' said Messua's husband. 'Remember he can never till now have
slept on a bed. If he is indeed sent in the place of our son he will
not run away.'

So Mowgli stretched himself in some long clean grass at the edge of
the field, but before he had closed his eyes a soft gray nose poked
him under the chin.

'Phew!' said Gray Brother (he was the eldest of Mother Wolfs cubs).
'This is a poor reward for following thee twenty miles. Thou smellest
of wood-smoke and cattle--altogether like a man already. Wake, Little
Brother; I bring news.'

'Are all well in the jungle?' said Mowgli, hugging him.

'All except the wolves that were burned with the Red Flower. Now,
listen. Shere Khan has gone away to hunt far off till his coat grows
again, for he is badly singed. When he returns he swears that he will
lay thy bones in the Waingunga.'

'There are two words to that. I also have made a little promise. But
news is always good. I am tired to-night,--very tired with new
things, Gray Brother,--but bring me the news always.'

'Thou wilt not forget that thou art a wolf? Men will not make thee
forget?' said Gray Brother, anxiously.

'Never. I will always remember that I love thee and all in our cave;
but also I will always remember that I have been cast out of the
Pack.'

'And that thou may'st be cast out of another pack. Men are only men,
Little Brother, and their talk is like the talk of frogs in a pond.
When I come down here again, I will wait for thee in the bamboos at
the edge of the grazing-ground.'

For three months after that night Mowgli hardly ever left the village
gate, he was so busy learning the ways and customs of men. First he
had to wear a cloth round him, which annoyed him horribly; and then
he had to learn about money, which he did not in the least
understand, and about ploughing, of which he did not see the use.
Then the little children in the village made him very angry. Luckily,
the Law of the Jungle had taught him to keep his temper, for in the
jungle, life and food depend on keeping your temper; but when they
made fun of him because he would not play games or fly kites, or
beca