Nag crawls into a water jug to wait for Teddy’s father, unaware that the mongoose is nearby. They intend to murder the humans, causing the mongoose to leave the home and allowing them to rule the garden along with their young. Rikki-tikki follows the sound to the source, where he hears the two cobras plotting outside of the house. He’s terribly afraid of Rikki-tikki, but he also carries a vital bit of knowledge that he reveals: the sound of snake’s scales can be heard moving across the bathroom sluice. When the family goes to bed, he patrols the house, where he meets the fearful muskrat Chuchundra. Teddy’s family is quite grateful and the mongoose enjoys the attention, but he knows that the cobras are still out there. Teddy’s father comes out to beat the corpse, which Rikki-tikki finds amusing since the snake is already dead. The baby is much quicker than his parents, making him more dangerous, but Rikki-tikki doesn’t know that and swiftly dispatches the baby before it can hurt the boy. On the way back to the house, Rikki-tikki notices a baby cobra in the dust, Karait, threatening to bite Teddy. She’s left wounded and enraged, and the cobras vanish into the brush. He comes down on his back and bites her, but since he has little experience fighting cobras, he fails to land a killing blow.

At a sudden warning from Darzee, Rikki-tikki leaps into the air to avoid a sneak attack from Nagaina, Nag’s mate. Spreading his hood, Nag claims that the god Brahm gave him his black and white markings and tells Rikki-tikki to be afraid. A cobra called Nag ate the chick, and no sooner do the birds mention the snake that he appears. There, he meets a pair of tailorbirds- Darzee and his wife-who are crying over one of their babies who fell out of their tree. The next day, he sets out to explore the garden, which is still half-wild and overgrown. At night, Rikki-tikki sleeps in Teddy’s bed, though he ventures out and investigates whenever he hears a noise. He also climbs on Teddy’s shoulder, worrying Teddy’s mother, but Teddy’s father assures her that he won’t hurt Teddy in fact, the mongoose provides protection from snakes. Being without fear, like all his kind, Rikki-tikki begins to explore the house. They take the mongoose into the house to dry him, and he soon recovers. A young English boy, Teddy, finds Rikki-tikki and thinks that he has died, but Teddy’s mother suspects he is still alive. One day, Rikki-tikki finds himself in the English family’s care after a flood washes him out of his burrow and onto the garden path of the family’s home. The story recounts the “great war” fought between Rikki-tikki-tavi, a mongoose, and a pair of cobras in the garden of an English family living in the Indian province of “ Segowlee.” Rikki-tikki’s name stems from his war cry, which he delivers as he runs through the tall grass.

Rickey tickey tavi