thee, Little Brother. The others they hate thee because their eyes
cannot meet thine; because thou art wise; because thou hast pulled
out thorns from their feet--because thou art a man.'

'I did not know these things,' said Mowgli, sullenly; and he frowned
under his heavy black eyebrows.

'What is the Law of the Jungle? Strike first and then give tongue. By
thy very carelessness they know that thou art a man. But be wise. It
is in my heart that when Akela misses his next kill,--and at each
hunt it costs him more to pin the buck,--the Pack will turn against
him and against thee. They will hold a jungle Council at the Rock,
and then--and then--I have it!' said Bagheera, leaping up. 'Go thou
down quickly to the men's huts in the valley, and take some of the
Red Flower which they grow there, so that when the time comes thou
mayest have even a stronger friend than I or Baloo or those of the
Pack that love thee. Get the Red Flower.'

By Red Flower Bagheera meant fire, only no creature in the jungle
will call fire by its proper name. Every beast lives in deadly fear
of it, and invents a hundred ways of describing it.

'The Red Flower?' said Mowgli. 'That grows outside their huts in the
twilight. I will get some.'

'There speaks the man's cub,' said Bagheera, proudly. 'Remember that
it grows in little pots. Get one swiftly, and keep it by thee for
time of need.'

'Good!' said Mowgli. 'I go. But art thou sure, O my Bagheera'--he