With a touch of genius, Kipling
revealed the kinship between Mowgli and the denizens of the jungle.
Kipling's eyes could see both the harsh realism of animal existence
and the genuine idealism of Mother Wolf and the Pack and the
Jungle-law.

_Just So Stories_ (1902), written primarily for children, but
entertaining to all, is a collection of romantic stories, mostly of
animals, illustrated by Kipling himself. One of the best of these
tales is _The Cat that Walked by Himself_, which has distinct ethical
value in showing how the cat through service won his place by the
fireside.

Though Kipling has written four novels, only two, _The Light that
Failed_ (1891) and _Kim_ (1901), can compare with his best short
stories. _The Light that Failed_, the tragedy of an artist who becomes
blind, proves that Kipling was able to handle a long plot sufficiently
well to sustain interest. _Kim_ is an attempt to present as a more
completed whole that India of which the stories give only glimpses. On
the slenderest thread of plot is strung a bewildering array of scenes,
characters, and incidents. His intimate knowledge of India and his
photographic power of description are here used with remarkable
picturesque effect.

[Illustration: THE CAT THAT WALKED. _Copyright, 1902, by Rudyard
Kipling._]

Verse.--Kipling's poetry has many of the same qualities as his
prose,--originality, force, love of action. In _Barrack Room Ballads_
(1892), the soldier is again celebrated in vigorous songs with
swinging choruses. _Mandalay, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, Danny Deever_, show what
spirited verse can be fashioned from a common ballad meter and a bold
use of dialect.

"So 'ere's _to_ you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your 'ome in the Soudan;
You're a pore benighted 'eathen, but a first class fightin' man;
An' 'ere's _to_ you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your 'ayrick 'ead of 'air--
You big black boundin' beggar--for you broke a British square!"

Much of his verse is political. His opinion of questions at issue is
sometimes given with much heat, but always with sincerity and true
patriotism. The best known of his patriotic songs, and perhaps his
noblest poetic effort, _The Recessional_ (1897), was inspired by the
fiftieth anniversary of Victoria's reign. _The Truce of the Bear_
(1898) is a warning against Russia. _The Native-Born_ is a toast to
the colonies in every clime.

Kipling's verse breaks with many of the accepted standards of English
verse. He does not aim at such