to me," said Baloo. There is neither word nor
will here to hold thee back. Look up! Who may question the Master of the
Jungle? I saw thee playing among the white pebbles yonder when thou wast
a little frog; and Bagheera, that bought thee for the price of a young
bull newly killed, saw thee also. Of that Looking Over we two only
remain; for Raksha, thy lair-mother, is dead with thy lair-father; the
old Wolf-Pack is long since dead; thou knowest whither Shere Khan went,
and Akela died among the dholes, where, but for thy wisdom and strength,
the second Seeonee Pack would also have died. There remains nothing but
old bones. It is no longer the Man-cub that asks leave of his Pack, but
the Master of the Jungle that changes his trail. Who shall question Man
in his ways?"

"But Bagheera and the Bull that bought me," said Mowgli. "I would
not----"

His words were cut short by a roar and a crash in the thicket below, and
Bagheera, light, strong, and terrible as always, stood before him.

"Therefore," he said, stretching out a dripping right paw, "I did not
come. It was a long hunt, but he lies dead in the bushes now--a bull in
his second year--the Bull that frees thee, Little Brother. All debts
are paid now. For the rest, my word is Baloo's word." He licked Mowgli's
foot. "Remember, Bagheera loved thee," he cried, and bounded away. At
the foot of the hill he cried again long and loud, "Good hunting on a
new trail, Master of the Jungle! Remember, Bagheera loved thee."

"Thou hast heard," said Baloo. "There is no more. Go now; but first come
to me. O wise Little Frog, come to me!"

"It is hard to cast the skin," said Kaa as Mowgli sobbed and sobbed,
with his head on the blind bear's side and his arms round his neck,
while Baloo tried feebly to lick his feet.

"The stars are thin," said Gray Brother, snuffing at the dawn wind.
"Where shall we lair to-day? for from now, we follow new trails."

*****

And this is the last of the Mowgli stories.

THE OUTSONG

[This is the song that Mowgli heard behind him in the Jungle till he
came to Messua's door again.]

Baloo

For the sake of him who showed
One wise Frog the Jungle-Road,
Keep the Law the Man-Pack make--
For thy blind old Baloo's sake!
Clean or tainted, hot or stale,
Hold it as it were the Trail,
Through the day and through the night,
Questing neither left nor right.
For the sake of him who loves
Thee