"what's this?"

"Those are Mugger's eggs," said Little Black Mingo.

[Illustration]

"I'm not afraid of Muggers!" said the Mongoose; and he sat down and
began to crack the eggs, and eat the little muggers as they came out.
And he threw the shells into the water, so that the old Mugger should
not see that any one had been eating them. But he was careless, and he
left one eggshell on the edge, and he was hungry and he ate so many that
the pile got much smaller, and when the old Mugger came back he saw at
once that some one had been meddling with them.

So he ran to Little Black Mingo, and said, "How dare you eat my eggs?"

"Indeed, indeed I didn't," said Little Black Mingo.

"Then who could it have been?" said the Mugger, and he ran back to
the eggs as fast as he could, and sure enough when he got back he found
the Mongoose had eaten a whole lot more!!

[Illustration]

Then he said to himself, "I must stay beside my eggs till they are
hatched into little muggers, or the Mongoose will eat them all." So he
curled himself into a ring round the eggs and went to sleep.

[Illustration]

But while he was asleep the Mongoose came to eat some more of the eggs,
and ate as many as he wanted, and when the Mugger woke this time, oh!
_what_ a rage he was in, for there were only six eggs left! He roared
so loud that all the little muggers inside the shells gnashed their
teeth, and tried to roar too.

[Illustration]

Then he said, "I know what I'll do, I'll fetch Little Black Mingo's big
chatty and cover my eggs with that, then the Mongoose won't be able to
get at them." So he swam across to the shore, and fetched the dhobi's
big chatty, and covered the eggs with it. "Now, you wicked little
Mongoose, come and eat my eggs if you can," said he, and he went off
quite proud and happy.

[Illustration]

By and by the Mongoose came back, and he was terribly disappointed
when he found the eggs all covered with the big chatty.

[Illustration]

So he ran off to Little Black Mingo, and asked her to help him, and
Little Black Mingo came and took the big chatty off the eggs, and the
Mongoose ate them every one.

"Now," said he, "there will be no little muggers to make a feast for
to-morrow."

"No," said Little Black Mingo, "but the Mugger will eat me all by
himself I am afraid."

"No he won't," said the Mongoose, "for we will sail away together in the
big chatty before he comes back."

[Illustration]

So he climbed on to