"I will remember. But he has done mischief
Marlboro Red, and blows must be dealt now. Mowgli, hast thou anything to say?"
"Nothing. I did wrong. Baloo and thou are wounded. It is just."
Bagheera gave him half a dozen love-taps from a panther's point of view (they would hardly have waked one of his own cubs), but for a seven-year-old boy they amounted to as severe a beating as you could wish to avoid. When it was all over Mowgli sneezed, and picked himself up without a word.
"Now
Cheap Newport," said Bagheera, "jump on my back, Little Brother
Marlboro Red, and we will go home."
One of the beauties of Jungle Law is that punishment settles all scores. There is no nagging afterward.
Mowgli laid his head down on Bagheera's back and slept so deeply that he never waked when he was put down in the home-cave.