cling

See how soft the dried leaves are under your feet and how rich and green the moss is that clings to these old trees.

O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,

That was Matthew’s way--take a whim into his head and cling to it with the most amazing silent persistency--a persistency ten times more potent and effectual in its very silence than if he had talked it out.

Bagheera would lie out on a branch and call, “Come along, Little Brother,” and at first Mowgli would cling like the sloth, but afterward he would fling himself through the branches almost as boldly as the gray ape.