Red Kangaroo frowned. This twisted law of the old men, how cunning it was! How deep it went! It made the young men slaves to the older warriors. Always, from far back in the Dream Time, that very beginning of things, the wise old men had been trusted and revered, the wise laws they had made were unquestioned.

But today several vital laws of the Gunn-e-darr tribe had been gradually twisted to benefit the elders and older warriors—even to the danger of the tribe! This fact worried Red Kangaroo, had set him thinking while still a mere boy—the danger to his beloved tribe.

For if the old men held the right over all the young girls, while the young warriors had to wait years perhaps for a much older wife, then there could not be enough children to keep the tribe strong and powerful; it would grow slowly weaker until at last a stronger tribe must overwhelm it. This once powerful tribe had now only fifty first-class spearmen with which to hold their rich, envied lands. Eighty warriors in all! But thirty were well beyond their prime, in time of stress only capable of a last-stand fight, or as guards for the women and children.

Red Kangaroo’s thoughts flew south to the fierce tribe dwelling by the Cassilis River, who boasted that they could go to war with one hundred and fifty fighting warriors—three times the strength of the Gunn-e-darr Tribe. More so, for to start away on a long and dangerous raid with one hundred and fifty spearmen meant that a strong body of warriors must remain behind to protect their women and children lest enemies seize the chance to attack their home camps. Yet again Red Kangaroo was glad no enemy knew how weak the Gunn-e-darr Tribe now really was.

All the middle-aged warriors had two wives, some had three. The elders had three and four, even more. The young warriors had none. That was how the chief and council of the elders kept the older warriors with them, thought Red Kangaroo angrily. As soon as a warrior reached a certain age a wife was given him. Presently he would have two and could take things easily, sell a wife if he wanted to and buy good weapons with her, or fish-traps, or skin rugs already sewn, and other things—or sell on condition that the buyer should do his hunting for him when he was feeling too lazy to hunt for himself. That was often the price for a wife with the lazy ones. The hunter must work twice as hard, for he had then to hunt for two families, and if he had a poor day then it was his family who would go hungry, for he must hand over whatever game had fallen to his skill and patience to the grizzled tyrant from whom he had bought his wife.

Red Kangaroo frowned disgustedly and swore to himself that he would win power in the tribe and stop all this.