But where are the Four ? I do not wish one of the Man-Pack to leave the gates to-night . '' `` What need of the Four , then ? '' said Bagheera , shifting from foot to foot , his eyes ablaze , and purring louder than ever . `` I can hold them , Little Brother . Is it killing at last ? The singing and the sight of the men climbing up the trees have made me very ready . Who is Man that we should care for him -- the naked brown digger , the hairless and toothless , the eater of earth ? I have followed him all day -- at noon -- in the white sunlight . I herded him as the wolves herd buck . I am Bagheera ! Bagheera ! Bagheera ! As I dance with my shadow , so danced I with those men . Look ! '' The great panther leaped as a kitten leaps at a dead leaf whirling overhead , struck left and right into the empty air , that sang under the strokes , landed noiselessly , and leaped again and again , while the half purr , half growl gathered head as steam rumbles in a boiler . `` I am Bagheera -- in the jungle -- in the night , and my strength is in me . Who shall stay my stroke ? Man-cub , with one blow of my paw I could beat thy head flat as a dead frog in the summer ! '' `` Strike , then ! ''
said Mowgli , in the dialect of the village , NOT the talk of the Jungle , and the human words brought XXXXX to a full stop , flung back on haunches that quivered under him , his head just at the level of Mowgli 's .
Bagheera Man-Pack Man-cub day eater left night noon purr to-night