"It can happen, but it does not happen very often. It has never happened here." said Father Wolf. "The baby has no hair. I can kill him with just my foot. But look at him! He looks at me and he is not scared."

Suddenly there was no moonlight. The tiger, Shere Khan was in the entrance. His big square head and shoulders filled all the space. Tabaqui, the jackal was behind him. "My lord, my lord, it went in here!" Tabaqui said.

"Thank you for coming to see us, Shere Khan ," said Father Wolf. He was polite, but his eyes were very angry. "What do you want?"

"I want what I am hunting. The man's cub came here," said Shere Khan. "The man cub's parents have run away. Give me the baby." Shere Khan had jumped into a woodcutter's campfire, just as Father Wolf had guessed. the tiger had burned his feet and he was very angry. But Father Wolf knew that his home was too small for a tiger to get in. Even the entrance was too small for the tiger, who would not be able to fight properly there.

"The Wolves are free," said Father Wolf. "They take orders from their chief, and not from an animal with stripes that kills cows. The man's cub is ours - we will kill him if we want to."

"Don't tell me what you want! What are you talking about? I am an animal that can kill a bull, by myself. I am not going to stand outside a dog's home politely asking for my property. It is I, Shere Khan, who speaks!" The tiger's voice was like thunder.