Mowgli could smell things better than most humans could. But he did not have a true jungle nose. So it took him longer to find the scent.
"It's Buldeo!" he whispered. "He must have followed my trail. I can see the sunlight glinting off his gun. Look!"
There was just a quick flash of light among some shrubs. But they all saw it.
The four young wolves suddenly ran downhill.
"Where are you going?" Mowgli said.
"Hunting!" Gray Brother answered. "Come on with us!"
"I can't. Humans do not hunt other humans!" Mowgli called after them.
Akela gazed at him, and Mowgli looked away.
"Let's just find this man and see what he wants," Bagheera said.
Mowgli ran forward, darting noiselessly through the jungle behind the young wolves. The others followed. Sure enough, when Mowgli pushed aside some bushes, there was Buldeo. His gun on one shoulder, the hunter trotted along the path. Abruptly he halted, looking at the ground in confusion.
Akela chuckled softly from beside Mowgli. "This morning I added some prints to the trail. They're going in all different directions."
"No wonder Buldeo is confused," Mowgli whispered with a grin.
Finally the hunter grunted and sat down. He had no idea that Mowgli and the animals were nearby, watching him. He muttered angrily to himself.
"What is he saying?" Bagheera asked Mowgli.
He quickly translated Buldeo's words. "He says, 'packs of wolves must have danced round me. I never saw a trail like this!' Now he's complaining about being tired and hungry."
Buldeo ate some nuts. Soon some other men wandered along the trail. They sat down for a rest too. Buldeo began telling them some wild stories.
Mowgli nearly laughed aloud as he listened. Buldeo was telling the men that he had killed the great tiger, Shere Khan. Then he said that a boy had turned himself into a wolf.
"I fought with him all afternoon," the hunter said. "I think he used magic on my gun."
"What makes you say that?" one of the men asked.
"A bullet meant for him suddenly spun around. It went into one of my own buffalo! I'm the chief hunter. So my village has sent me to hunt him down."
Mowgli's friends glanced over, worried. However, Mowgli was still grinning. "His stories are ridiculous. But the other men believe him!"
"Meanwhile the villagers have locked up Messua and her husband," Buldeo was saying. "They are sorcerers too. In fact, they are the worst kind because they were raising this wolf child. They will be punished—perhaps even burned to death."
The men gasped. "When?" one asked.
"Nothing will be done until I return with the boy's dead body," Buldeo replied. "By the way, I have reason to think he's nearby. Have you seen him?"
Bagheera glanced at Mowgli again. He noticed that the boy's expression had changed.
"What are the men saying?" the panther whispered.
With a grim look, Mowgli translated. He explained the villagers had trapped Messua and her husband.
"What?" Gray Brother shook his head in confusion. "Humans trap each other?"
"So Buldeo says." Mowgli scowled. "I cannot understand all his talk—people are crazy. But I do know this: Messua and her husband have done nothing wrong. All they did was feed me and shelter me."
Mowgli listened to Buldeo some more. His expression grew more and more determined. "I am going back to the village. I won't let them kill Messua!"