May my tail be bitten off by blind puppies if the shadow of such a thought has crossed my humble mind ! The Protector of the Poor has condescended to inform me , his slave , that once in his life he has been wounded by a woman . That is sufficient , and I will tell the tale to all my children , asking for no proof . '' `` Over-much civility is sometimes no better than over-much discourtesy , for , as the saying is , one can choke a guest with curds . I do NOT desire that any children of thine should know that the Mugger of Mugger-Ghaut took his only wound from a woman . They will have much else to think of if they get their meat as miserably as does their father . '' `` It is forgotten long ago ! It was never said ! There never was a white woman ! There was no boat ! Nothing whatever happened at all . '' The Jackal waved his brush to show how completely everything was wiped out of his memory , and sat down with an air . `` Indeed , very many things happened , '' said the Mugger , beaten in his second attempt that night to get the better of his friend . -LRB- Neither bore malice , however . Eat and be eaten was fair law along the river , and the Jackal came in for his share of plunder when the Mugger had finished a meal . -RRB- `` I left that boat and went up-stream , and , when I had reached Arrah and the back-waters behind it , there were no more dead English . The river was empty for a while . Then came one or two dead , in red coats , not English , but of one kind all -- Hindus and Purbeeahs -- then five and six abreast , and at last , from Arrah to the North beyond Agra , it was as though whole villages had walked into the water . They came out of little creeks one after another , as the logs come down in the Rains . When the river rose they rose also in companies from the shoals they had rested upon ; and the falling flood dragged them with it across the fields and through the Jungle by the long hair .
All XXXXX , too , going North , I heard the guns , and by day the shod feet of men crossing fords , and that noise which a heavy cart-wheel makes on sand under water ; and every ripple brought more dead .
Agra Jackal Mugger Mugger-Ghaut Protector back-waters discourtesy night second up-stream