The girls dallied in the river, laughing and shouting, splashing in the shallows until the older women took charge and scolded them on to work, to netting the pot-holes and spearing fish in the shallows. Slowly they came on, wading up river, gradually drawing closer. Now Red Kangaroo’s heart began to beat fast indeed.

Bringing up the rear of the merry party were two girls barely developed into young womanhood, and these two gradually seemed to be falling just a little bit behind. Then his heart began to thump; he grew certain those two impish girls were deliberately edging across towards the reedy side of the river bank, his side, just a little way down the river bank towards where the reeds of his creek spilled out on to the river!

Breathing deeply, with an unholy gleam in his eyes, he crouched there watching, as many and many a primitive man has waited and watched and hoped since the dawn of time. Yes! Their swiftly disguised glances towards their friends wading ever farther ahead, their chuckling asides to one another while they pretended to be so busily seeking mussels—yes, stealthily now they were edging aside towards the reeds! Each carried a bark-plaited bag slung across her shoulders and into this now and then she would throw a mussel dug from the river. They were deliberately dawdling behind the party, which was now spread out across the shallows barely fifty yards below the mouth of the reedy creek. “Will the old women take the party straight on up the river,” wondered Red Kangaroo anxiously, “or will they shepherd them into the mouth of this creek? More likely they will divide the party—some may turn off and come egg-gathering up this creek while the others will carry on hunting up river.”

Then his heart bounded as the two girls, with one quick glance upstream leapt aside towards the reeds and vanished. They were hiding now, blissfully unaware of the menace lurking in the reeds.

They were within yards of him—his muscles grew taut—ah, what hard luck! It seemed that the old women were about to turn the party aside into the reedy creek. Then, at an excited shout, they all glanced upstream where a boy with a well-aimed spear had transfixed a big fish in a rock-hole. The yelling boys and girls began to jump in splashing leaps up to him to view the catch; other boys eager to spear an even bigger fish splashed on farther ahead; the women followed shouting encouragement with the old lubras hurrying behind, shrilly shouting to all to keep place in the line and not let so many fish escape back past them. And thus they all passed by the creek mouth and continued toiling on up river. And Red Kangaroo was crouching there with the light of the hunter glaring from his eyes, teeth gleaming in a hungry grin, his big body crouching like a panther tensely eager to spring.