n the melon-bed
with the third egg in his mouth, and scuttled to the veranda as hard as
he could put foot to the ground. Teddy and his mother and father were
there at early breakfast, but Rikki-tikki saw that they were not eating
anything. They sat stone-still, and their faces were white. Nagaina was
coiled up on the matting by Teddy's chair, within easy striking distance
of Teddy's bare leg, and she was swaying to and fro, singing a song of
triumph.

"Son of the big man that killed Nag," she hissed, "stay still. I am not
ready yet. Wait a little. Keep very still, all you three! If you move I
strike, and if you do not move I strike. Oh, foolish people, who killed
my Nag!"

Teddy's eyes were fixed on his father, and all his father could do was
to whisper, "Sit still, Teddy. You mustn't move. Teddy, keep still."

Then Rikki-tikki came up and cried, "Turn round, Nagaina. Turn and
fight!"

"All in good time," said she, without moving her eyes. "I will settle my
account with you presently. Look at your friends, Rikki-tikki. They are
still and white. They are afraid. They dare not move, and if you come a
step nearer I strike."

"Look at your eggs," said Rikki-tikki, "in the melon bed near the wall.
Go and look, Nagaina!"

The big snake turned half around, and saw the egg on the veranda. "Ah-h!
Give it to me," she said.

Rikki-tikki put his paws one on each side of the egg, and his eyes were
blood-red. "What price for a snake's egg? For a young cobra? For a
young king cobra? For the last--the very last of the brood? The ants are
eating all the others down by the melon bed."

Nagaina spun clear round, forgetting everything for the sake of the one
egg. Rikki-tikki saw Teddy's father shoot out a big hand, catch Teddy
by the shoulder, and drag him across the little table with the tea-cups,
safe and out of reach of Nagaina.

"Tricked! Tricked! Tricked! Rikk-tck-tck!" chuckled Rikki-tikki. "The
boy is safe, and it was I--I--I that caught Nag by the hood last night
in the bathroom." Then he began to jump up and down, all four feet
together, his head close to the floor. "He threw me to and fro, but he
could not shake me off. He was dead before the big man blew him in two.
I did it! Rikki-tikki-tck-tck! Come then, Nagaina. Come and fight with
me. You shall not be a widow long."

Nagaina saw that she had lost her chance of killing Teddy, and the egg
lay between Rikki-tikki's paws. "Give me the egg, Rikki-tikki. Give me
the