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XIV . Nagaina In the morning Rikki - tikki was very stiff , but pleased . “ Now I must deal with Nagaina , and she will be worse than five Nags , ” he thought . “ And nobody knows when her eggs will open . ” He ran to the thorn bush . Darzee was singing a happy song at the top of his voice . “ Nag is dead , is dead , is dead ! ” he sang . “ Brave Rikki - tikki caught him by the head ! ” “ Is this the time to sing , you silly bunch of feathers ? ” said Rikki - tikki . “ Where is Nagaina ? And where does she keep her eggs ? ” “ She is on the rubbish heap by the stables , where the servants threw Nag’s body . She is crying for him , ” said Darzee . “ And her eggs are in the melon bed , near the wall . ” “ Then fly to the stables and pretend that your wing is broken . Let Nagaina chase you , so that she does not see me . ” Darzee did not want to stop singing , but his wife was sensible . She knew that cobra’s eggs meant young cobras later . So she flew off and fluttered on the ground in front of Nagaina . “ Oh , my wing is broken ! ” she cried . “ You warned Rikki - tikki when I tried to kill him , ” hissed Nagaina . “ You have chosen a bad place to be lame . ” And she moved after Darzee’s wife over the dust . Rikki - tikki raced to the melon bed . There , well hidden , he found twenty - five eggs with soft white skins . Inside them he could see the baby cobras . “ I am not a day too soon , ” he said . He broke the eggs one by one as fast as he could . At last there were only three eggs left . Then he heard Darzee’s wife screaming . “ Rikki - tikki , Nagaina has gone to the house ! Come quickly ! She is going to kill ! ” Rikki - tikki broke two more eggs , picked up the last one in his mouth and ran to the veranda . Teddy and his mother and father were sitting at breakfast , as still as stone . Their faces were white . Nagaina lay on the floor by Teddy’s chair , close to his bare leg , and she was swaying from side to side . “ Son of the big man who killed Nag , ” she hissed , “ stay still . If you move , I strike . And if you do not move , I strike . ” “ Sit still , Teddy , ” whispered his father . “ You mustn’t move . ” Then Rikki - tikki came up and cried , “ Turn round , Nagaina ! Turn and fight ! Look at your eggs in the melon bed ! ” The snake turned her head and saw the egg on the floor . “ Ah ! Give it to me , ” she said . Rikki - tikki put his paws on each side of the egg , and his eyes were blood - red . “ What will you pay for the last of your eggs ? The ants are eating all the others . ”
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