path, and naturally
halted to speak to Buldeo, whose fame as a hunter reached for at least
twenty miles round. They all sat down and smoked, and Bagheera and
the others came up and watched while Buldeo began to tell the story of
Mowgli, the Devil-child, from one end to another, with additions and
inventions. How he himself had really killed Shere Khan; and how Mowgli
had turned himself into a wolf, and fought with him all the afternoon,
and changed into a boy again and bewitched Buldeo's rifle, so that the
bullet turned the corner, when he pointed it at Mowgli, and killed one
of Buldeo's own buffaloes; and how the village, knowing him to be the
bravest hunter in Seeonee, had sent him out to kill this Devil-child.
But meantime the village had got hold of Messua and her husband, who
were undoubtedly the father and mother of this Devil-child, and had
barricaded them in their own hut, and presently would torture them to
make them confess they were witch and wizard, and then they would be
burned to death.

"When?" said the charcoal-burners, because they would very much like to
be present at the ceremony.

Buldeo said that nothing would be done till he returned, because the
village wished him to kill the Jungle Boy first. After that they would
dispose of Messua and her husband, and divide their lands and buffaloes
among the village. Messua's husband had some remarkably fine buffaloes,
too. It was an excellent thing to destroy wizards, Buldeo thought; and
people who entertained Wolf-children out of the Jungle were clearly the
worst kind of witches.

But, said the charcoal-burners, what would happen if the English heard
of it? The English, they had heard, were a perfectly mad people, who
would not let honest farmers kill witches in peace.

Why, said Buldeo, the head-man of the village would report that Messua
and her husband had died of snake-bite. THAT was all arranged, and the
only thing now was to kill the Wolf-child. They did not happen to have
seen anything of such a creature?

The charcoal-burners looked round cautiously, and thanked their stars
they had not; but they had no doubt that so brave a man as Buldeo would
find him if any one could. The sun was getting rather low, and they had
an idea that they would push on to Buldeo's village and see that wicked
witch. Buldeo said that, though it was his duty to kill the Devil-child,
he could not think of letting a party of unarmed men go through the
Jungle, which might