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 at any angle you please , and in dealing with snakes this is an advantage . If Rikki-tikki had only known , he was doing a much more dangerous thing than fighting Nag , for Karait is so small , and can turn so quickly , that unless Rikki bit him close to the back of the head , he would get the return stroke in his eye or his lip . But Rikki did not know . His eyes were all red , and he rocked back and forth , looking for a good place to hold . Karait struck out . Rikki jumped sideways and tried to run in , but the wicked little dusty gray head lashed within a fraction of his shoulder , and he had to jump over the body , and the head followed his heels close . Teddy shouted to the house : `` Oh , look here ! Our mongoose is killing a snake . '' And Rikki-tikki heard a scream from Teddy 's mother . His father ran out with a stick , but by the time he came up , Karait had lunged out once too far , and Rikki-tikki had sprung , jumped on the snake 's back , dropped his head far between his forelegs , bitten as high up the back as he could get hold , and rolled away . That bite paralyzed Karait , and Rikki-tikki was just going to eat him up from the tail , after the custom of his family at dinner , when he remembered that a full meal makes a slow mongoose , and if he wanted all his strength and quickness ready , he must keep himself thin . He went away for a dust bath under the castor-oil bushes , while Teddy 's father beat the dead Karait . `` What is the use of that ? '' thought Rikki-tikki . `` I have settled it all ; '' and then Teddy 's mother picked him up from the dust and hugged him , crying that he had saved Teddy from death , and Teddy 's father said that he was a providence , and Teddy looked on with big scared eyes . Rikki-tikki was rather amused at all the fuss , which , of course , he did not understand . Teddy 's mother might just as well have petted Teddy for playing in the dust . Rikki was thoroughly enjoying himself .
That night at dinner , walking to and fro among the wine-glasses XXXXX the table , he might have stuffed himself three times over with nice things .
If as between by for on under up while with