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 round, and saw the egg on the verandah.
'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; and 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 bath-room.' 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 last of my eggs, and I will go away and never come back,'