That night, the family offers Rikki-tikki enough food to stuff himself Goku-style, but he remembers Nag and Nagaina and refrains. He's got to keep himself in fighting trim, so he indulges in the lovings instead.
Teddy carries him off to bed, but once the boy's asleep, Rikki-tikki sneaks away and patrols the house.
He runs into Chuchundra, a cowardly muskrat. Chuchundra pleads for the mongoose not to kill him, but he needn't have bothered. That's not Rikki-tikki's thing. He kills snakes not muskrats.
But Chuchundra is worried about Nag as well. Rikki-tikki assures the muskrat that Nag is in the garden, but Chuchundra tells him to listen.
Rikki-tikki hears the faint scratching sound of scales on brickwork.
The gist is that Nag will go into the house and kill the family. Without the humans, the mongoose will leave, freeing up more space for their up-and-coming family. Ready…break!
Nag slithers into the bathroom. Rikki-tikki doesn't attack, partly out of fear but mostly because he knows the noise of the scuffle would alert Nagaina.
On the other side of the wall, Nag tells Nagaina that he'll wait there until morning. If he goes for the big man now, he might still have a stick with him.
But when he comes into the bathroom tomorrow, he'll be stickless (one presumes anyway).
When Rikki-tikki hears no response, he knows Nagaina is no longer there.
The mongoose sizes up his opponent. It takes a while, because Nag is pretty big.
Then he pounces, sinks his teeth into the hooded dome, and holds on for dear life (literally). Nag shakes to and fro, battering Rikki-tikki against the floor.
The father rushes in wielding a double-barreled boomstick. He takes the shot, and Rikki-tikki shuts his eyes thinking his time is done.
Luckily, the father's a crack shot. He picks up Rikki-tikki and praises the critter for having saved them twice in one day.
They take Rikki-tikki to Teddy's room, and the mongoose spends the rest of the night tenderly checking his wounds.