- The next morning, Rikki-tikki skips breakfast and sets out to deal with Nagaina.
- At Darzee's nest, the bird is prematurely singing a song of victory. Rikki-tikki scolds him, saying it's one of those "we've won the battle but not the war" type things.
- Darzee informs the mongoose that Nagaina is over at the rubbish heap mourning her dead husband.
- Rikki-tikki wants to know where Nagaina's nest is. Then he asks the bird to go over and distract Nagaina while he does what needs doing.
- But Darzee's a pretty dumb bird, so he can't quite follow what Rikki-tikki wants. Thankfully, his wife isn't, so she flies over to distract Nagaina by pretending to have a broken wing.
- Nagaina gives chase.
- Meanwhile, Rikki-tikki sets about destroying all the cobra eggs.
- He's down to three when Darzee's wife flies up to tell him that Nagaina has headed for the veranda with killing on her mind.