 At Din's funeral pyre, the colonel formally inducts Gunga Din as a British corporal—then he asks visiting journalist Rudyard Kipling to hand him the draft of the poem Kipling has just completed, so that he might read the final words himself over Din's body.Ballantine announces his intention to remain in the army, and instead of tearing up his re-enlistment papers, gives them to the colonel, much to the approval of MacChesney and Cutter.The film ends with a final image of Gunga Din's spirit, standing proudly and saluting at attention, now in British uniform.