He bit , indeed , but did not bite long enough , and he jumped clear of the whisking tail , leaving Nagaina torn and angry . `` Wicked , wicked Darzee ! '' said Nag , lashing up as high as he could reach toward the nest in the thorn-bush . But Darzee had built it out of reach of snakes , and it only swayed to and fro . Rikki-tikki felt his eyes growing red and hot -LRB- when a mongoose 's eyes grow red , he is angry -RRB- , and he sat back on his tail and hind legs like a little kangaroo , and looked all round him , and chattered with rage . But Nag and Nagaina had disappeared into the grass . When a snake misses its stroke , it never says anything or gives any sign of what it means to do next . Rikki-tikki did not care to follow them , for he did not feel sure that he could manage two snakes at once . So he trotted off to the gravel path near the house , and sat down to think . It was a serious matter for him . If you read the old books of natural history , you will find they say that when the mongoose fights the snake and happens to get bitten , he runs off and eats some herb that cures him . That is not true . The victory is only a matter of quickness of eye and quickness of foot -- snake 's blow against mongoose 's jump -- and as no eye can follow the motion of a snake 's head when it strikes , this makes things much more wonderful than any magic herb . Rikki-tikki knew he was a young mongoose , and it made him all the more pleased to think that he had managed to escape a blow from behind . It gave him confidence in himself , and when Teddy came running down the path , Rikki-tikki was ready to be petted . But just as Teddy was stooping , something wriggled a little in the dust , and a tiny voice said : `` Be careful . I am Death ! '' It was Karait , the dusty brown snakeling that lies for choice on the dusty earth ; and his bite is as dangerous as the cobra 's . But he is so small that nobody thinks of him , and so he does the more harm to people . Rikki-tikki 's eyes grew red again , and he danced up to Karait with the peculiar rocking , swaying motion that he had inherited from his family .
It looks very funny , but it is so perfectly balanced a gait that you can fly off from it XXXXX any angle you please , and in dealing with snakes this is an advantage .
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