Mowgli followed the woman into her hut.
He felt nervous, but the woman seemed kind.
Inside the hut was a bed.
He also saw a large chest for storing grain and copper cooking pots.
Hanging on the wall were images of gods and a tall glass.
When Mowgli stepped in front of the glass, he gasped.
"Another boy lives here!" he thought in surprise.
He lifted an arm.
So did the boy in the glass.
Mowgli wiggled his fingers.
Again the boy did just what Mowgli was doing.
The woman laughed.
She pointed from Mowgli to the mirror.
"Oh!" Finally Mowgli understood. "That's me in the glass!"
The woman gave him some milk and bread.
Then she lay her hand on his head.
"Nathoo? Do you remember the shoes I gave you?"
Mowgli shook his head, unable to understand.
The woman touched his foot. It felt as hard as an animal horn.
"No," she said sadly.
"These feet have never worn shoes.
But you look like my Nathoo, and you shall be my son."
Mowgli had never been under a roof before.
He climbed on a stool to touch the straw over his head.
The hut had a door and a window.
But he could also rip the roof's straw if he felt trapped.
That thought eased his mind.
But something else was bothering him.
"I must learn the humans' language," he realized.
"I cannot live with people if I don't understand their words."
So as soon as Messua pronounced a word, Mowgli repeated it.
Before dark he had learned the names of many things in the hut.
At bedtime Messua and her husband shut the door to the hut.
Mowgli felt trapped.
He quickly slipped through a window.
"I must fetch him!" Messua said.
Her husband stopped her. "Leave him alone," he said.
"The boy has never slept on a bed before.
If he is indeed our son, he won't run away."
Mowgli stretched out in some long grass at the edge of the field.
Before he could close his eyes, a soft gray nose poked him.
"Gray Brother!" Mowgli cried in delight.
The wolf sniffed Mowgli.
"Yuck!" he said.
"This is a terrible reward for following you.
You smell like wood smoke and cattle—human smells!"
Mowgli laughed. "Is everything okay?"
"Not exactly," Gray Brother replied.
"I have news about Shere Khan.
He's gone off to hunt for a while.
But the red flower burned him badly.
He promises to hunt you down when he returns.
He wants to lay your bones in the river!"
"He doesn't scare me," Mowgli said.
"I'm going to hunt him down one day! Even Mother Wolf says that's true."
Gray Brother looked worried.
"Shere Khan is very dangerous, Mowgli. Be careful."
"I'll be careful." Mowgli yawned.
"I'm so tired tonight. I learned many new things today.
Please bring me more news soon."
His eyes closed for a moment.
"You won't forget that you're a wolf, will you?" Gray Brother asked anxiously.
"Never," Mowgli promised.
"I will always remember that I love you and our cave.
But you must remember something, Gray Brother.
The wolf pack cast me out."
"The man pack could cast you out too," Gray Brother said.
"People are only people, Mowgli.
Their talk is like the talk of frogs in a pond. It doesn't mean much."
Mowgli shrugged. His eyes closed again.
"I will let you sleep," Gray Brother said finally.
"I'll come again in a few weeks.
Look for me in the bamboo.
It's at the edge of the people's fields."
"Okay," Mowgli whispered. "Good night."