Red Dog (Kipling short story)

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Red Dog is a Mowgli story by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling wrote it in Brattleboro, Vermont, in early 1895. It first appeared as Good Hunting: A Story of the Jungle in The Pall Mall Gazette (July 29–30, 1895) and in McClure's Magazine (August 1895). Later that same year it was published under the title Red Dog as the seventh and penultimate story in The Second Jungle Book. It was one of the last Mowgli stories Kipling wrote.

Plot: Mowgli, now about 16, lives with the Seeonee wolves, but trouble comes when Won-tolla, a lone wolf whose mate and cubs were killed by dholes (wild dogs), warns the pack that the dhole pack will attack their territory. Mowgli tells Kaa the news, and Kaa plans a defense. They travel to Bee Rocks, a gorge with huge beehives over the river, and make a trap for the dholes. Mowgli lies in a tree, smeared with garlic to keep the bees from biting him, and taunts the dhole leader. He cuts off the leader’s tail and flees to the gorge, where he shakes stones into the beehives to wake the bees. The garlic helps keep Mowgli safe, and the bees attack the dholes. Some dholes die from the stings, others drown or are chased downstream by Mowgli. In a fierce chase, Mowgli and the wolves press the remaining dholes into shallower water. Won-tolla kills the dhole leader but dies from his wounds. As the battle ends, Akela, the wolf chief, is mortally wounded and tells Mowgli that he must someday return to the human world. When Mowgli asks who will take him there, Akela says, “Mowgli will drive Mowgli. Go back to thy people. Go to Man.” The rest of the story’s result is told in The Spring Running.