The Mugger knows . Oho ! the Mugger knows . As soon as the water has drained off , he creeps up the little creeks that men think would not hide a dog , and there he waits . Presently comes a farmer saying he will plant cucumbers here , and melons there , in the new land that the river has given him . He feels the good mud with his bare toes . Anon comes another , saying he will put onions , and carrots , and sugar-cane in such and such places . They meet as boats adrift meet , and each rolls his eye at the other under the big blue turban . The old Mugger sees and hears . Each calls the other ` Brother , ' and they go to mark out the boundaries of the new land . The Mugger hurries with them from point to point , shuffling very low through the mud . Now they begin to quarrel ! Now they say hot words ! Now they pull turbans ! Now they lift up their lathis -LRB- clubs -RRB- , and , at last , one falls backward into the mud , and the other runs away . When he comes back the dispute is settled , as the iron-bound bamboo of the loser witnesses . Yet they are not grateful to the Mugger . No , they cry ` Murder ! ' and their families fight with sticks , twenty a-side . My people are good people -- upland Jats -- Malwais of the Bet .
They do not give blows for sport , and , when the fight is done , the old XXXXX waits far down the river , out of sight of the village , behind the kikar-scrub yonder .
Anon Brother Jats Malwais Mugger Oho bamboo lathis melons sugar-cane