"What is this new folly, little dreamer of dreams?" said Bagheera.

"Yes, and throw branches and dirt at old Baloo," Mowgli went on. "They
have promised me this. Ah!"

"Whoof!" Baloo's big paw scooped Mowgli off Bagheera's back, and as the
boy lay between the big fore-paws he could see the Bear was angry.

"Mowgli," said Baloo, "thou hast been talking with the Bandar-log--the
Monkey People."

Mowgli looked at Bagheera to see if the Panther was angry too, and
Bagheera's eyes were as hard as jade stones.

"Thou hast been with the Monkey People--the gray apes--the people
without a law--the eaters of everything. That is great shame."

"When Baloo hurt my head," said Mowgli (he was still on his back), "I
went away, and the gray apes came down from the trees and had pity on
me. No one else cared." He snuffled a little.

"The pity of the Monkey People!" Baloo snorted. "The stillness of the
mountain stream! The cool of the summer sun! And then, man-cub?"

"And then, and then, they gave me nuts and pleasant things to eat, and
they--they carried me in their arms up to the top of the trees and said
I was their blood brother except that I had no tail, and should be their
leader some day."