Mowgli explained his plan to Akela. Then Akela and Gray Brother got to work. The two wolves ran in and out of the herd of buffalo. They separated the herd into two groups. The females and young buffalo were in one group. They glared and pawed, ready to attack the wolves. The male buffalo stood together in the other group. They were bigger and looked more threatening. But Mowgli knew they were less dangerous than the females. The males had no young calves to protect.
Mowgli slipped onto Rama's back. "Akela, drive your herd left, toward the head of this big ravine. Gray Brother, drive the females to the ravine's other end. Keep them there till we come down."
Akela howled and his group took off. Gray Brother began to lead the females in the opposite direction.
Meanwhile some of the village children were watching the scene. They hurried home with the cattle as fast as their legs could carry them. "The buffalo have gone mad. They're running away!"
Mowgli's plan was simple. He planned to trap Shere Khan in the ravine, between the two herds. Shere Khan had just eaten a large meal. It would be hard for him to fight or climb up the sides of the ravine.
Mowgli rounded up the confused males at the head of the ravine. They stood on a grassy slope that led down to the ravine.
"Good," Mowgli thought, looking at the sides of the ravine. The sides ran nearly straight up and down. Thick vines hung over them. That would make it even harder for the tiger to climb out.
Mowgli held up a hand to signal Akela. Then he put his hands to his mouth and shouted down the ravine. "Shere Khan!" Echoes jumped from rock to rock.
A snarl echoed back. "Who calls me?"
"It's me—Mowgli!" He turned to Akela. "Bring the herd down now! Down, Rama, down!" he commanded the buffalo.
The male herd stood at the edge of the slope. Akela gave a hunting yell, and they fell forward. They fell, one after the other, like boulders crashing down during a flood.
In the ravine Rama quickly caught Shere Khan's scent. Now the buffalo knew what their job was—it was a charge against a tiger.
Shere Khan first heard a thunder of hooves. He picked himself up and looked from side to side, trying to find a way out of the ravine. But its walls were straight and full of twisting vines. And he was still sleepy and heavy from his large meal.
The stampede splashed through a pool of water. The animals bellowed loudly. Mowgli heard a reply from the females at the other end of the ravine. Shere Khan turned to look toward the females too. Then the tiger whirled back toward the males. The tiger knew by instinct that it was better to face them than any protective mothers.
Just then Rama tripped and stumbled. The beasts behind him crashed hard into the approaching females. Soon both herds were charging through the ravine, stamping and snorting as they ran.
Mowgli slipped off Rama's neck. "Quick, Akela! Break them up before they start fighting one another."
Akela and Gray Brother ran around the buffalo, trying to separate them. Suddenly the herd turned toward Mowgli. They were ready to charge through the ravine again.
But Mowgli held up his hand. Shere Khan was already dead. Soon hungry birds would be coming for him.