The next day Hathi lifted his trunk.
"Let's go!" he called, and then he and his three sons set out.
The elephants marched in different directions.
They reached the villagers' fields and marched around for days.
They stomped on grass, crops, tools, and anything else they found.
At first the other jungle creatures watched the elephants' march from a distance.
Then birds flew over the jungle, spreading the news.
"Food! Food for everyone!"
Soon herds of deer, pigs, and porcupines joined the elephants.
They all began eating what was left of the crops.
Baloo came and found some tasty roots. "Delicious!"
Other animals knocked down barley and drank from the tank of water.
Birds flew down for seeds and grain.
Monkeys scattered as the python Kaa slithered into the valley. He was hungry too.
On and on, round and round the fields, the elephants marched.
Soon the people in the village grew desperate from hunger.
"There are no more crops," a villager said.
"We must look for food in the jungle."
A group of people entered the jungle to look for nuts.
But shadows with glaring eyes spooked them, and they ran out.
By the time the rainy season came, the four elephants had finished their work in the fields.
They began marching toward the villagers' huts.
"What are they doing now?" Bagheera asked Mowgli.
"They're going to rip off the huts' roofs," Mowgli said.
Most of the villagers had already left to find new homes.
Now it was time for the rest to go.
A month later Mowgli and Bagheera returned to the village.
The place was covered with mounds of grass and thick weeds.
Six months later the two of them came back again.
By now the jungle had roared back.
"It's just as I imagined, Bagheera," Mowgli whispered.
The wild jungle had swallowed up every trace of the people's village.
After the elephants' march, Mowgli returned to the wolves' cave.
He had found a way to punish the villagers for their cruelty.
According to the law of the jungle, this punishment settled things.
Yet Mowgli was restless and unhappy.
He didn't feel hungry and he rarely slept.
"What's wrong with me?" he wondered.
One hot day Mowgli was splashing in the river.
Suddenly eager to escape, he took off through the jungle, leaping from tree to tree.
He ran all afternoon—singing, swimming, and hunting.
At last he found himself in a strange part of the jungle.
Near a marsh at the outskirts of a village, he heard several dogs barking.
"A man pack!" Mowgli thought.
Curious, he crept toward the sound of the barking dogs.
They were pacing around in front of a hut.
Mowgli growled like a wolf, and they instantly stopped barking.
Then a woman came to the door.
She wore copper bracelets, and her hair was slightly gray.
"Who's there?" she called. Her voice shook with fear.
"Is it another jackal?" she asked the dogs.
As he gazed at her, Mowgli felt himself begin to shake too.
The woman looked a bit older, but he knew her voice.
In fact, he knew it well!
"Messua?" he called. He stepped out of the tall grass that had been hiding him.
The woman gasped and put a hand on her heart.
"Nathoo? Is that you—my son?"