he went over to stand beside him. "What do you know, Pete," he said.

Pete turned to face him. "Hi, Tom. You look puzzled tonight. Not your usual fatherly self. What's up?"

Tom shrugged. "It's this Marcia business that's bothering me," he said. "Ricky's going to caucus it tonight, and I been trying to figure it out."

"What's his rush?" Pete asked. "Or is Ricky just being impetuous?"

"No," Tom said. "There's a reason for it. Graves has got to make his arrangements soon, so he's been putting the pressure on for us to decide quick. If we don't decide tonight, we are apt to be left out."

"Oh?" Pete's voice was noncommittal.

"What do you think of it?" Tom asked. "Should we take her in or not?"

"Well, I don't know," Pete stalled. "The reasons why we should are pretty obvious. It will solve some of our worries if we do. What are the reasons why we shouldn't?"

"I don't know," Tom said. "It just seems wrong to me. Seems like we'd be giving up too much of our ... well, our ideals. Maybe I'm being old fashioned, but it just seems immoral to me, somehow."

Pete leaned against the window frame. "You mean it's like marrying a woman for her money? Sort of gigolo-like?"

Tom nodded. "Yes, I guess that's it," he said. "I suppose what's bothering me is that the idea of the clan is to make the family the same thing as the economic unit; but this seems like it's being too damn economic about it, too mercenary. It just doesn't seem right."

Pete said nothing for a long moment while he meditated. "Well, that's one way of looking at it," he said, finally. "But on the other hand, maybe you got to stop and think this thing through. Why is it bad to marry a woman for her money? It occurs to me that a monogamistic marriage of that sort is bad—and I think it probably is bad—because it inevitably leads to living a lie. You got to fool the woman, because otherwise she doesn't get anything out of the marriage. If the marriage is to mean anything, both the man and the woman have got to get out of it some sense of belonging; that's what the marriage is for. Now the man may get the belonging, the security, from the money. But the wife—she can't get anything out of it unless he can fool her. She's already got the money, so that doesn't mean anything to her; and she's got what the money can buy.

"Unless he can fool her into thinking that he really loves her for herself alone, she doesn't get anything at all out of it. So, he's got to fool her. And the worst of it is that, if he doesn't succeed, she'll walk out on him with her money; then he'll lose what he's after, too—so he's got good reason for being afraid. The situation is necessarily unstable; it's almost bound to lead to grief of one kind or another. So, that kind of a marriage is bad."

"Why's this any different?" Tom asked.

"For one thing, because we can't live a lie," Pete said. "Living a lie of that sort requires great concentration and continuous effort. With the clan, no one person can concentrate on any one other. The lie, if it ever got started, would be a very short-lived one; and I don't think it would ever get started. Not only is it pretty obvious when a new girl is added to a clan, that we can't all be so desperately in love with her; it isn't necessary. A person joins the clan. She's getting a new way of life, and a whole new group of friends. Until she's been in the clan a while, these are not more than friends; it takes time really to integrate a person into a clan. But, at least they are friends—people who will help you to stand against the world.

"So she does get something out of the clan. She gets a sense of belonging, and it doesn't depend on any one person but on the group-structure of the clan. The clan is there to belong to, regardless of any one individual. But with a monogamistic marriage, the structure is lost when either person pulls out. So this thing means that, in the first place, the clan can't live a lie, and, in the second, that there is no need for the lie, anyway. Finally, this means that the situation is quite different from a monogamistic marriage for money. Even if, by chance, the thing is unstable, there is still no reason for fear."

"You think this thing's all right, then?" Tom asked.

"Didn't say that," Pete smiled. "I don't think it's particularly immoral, but that doesn't say it's all right; I don't know. I haven't really thought it out. But what I am saying is that you can't just take over the old ethics into the clan. We got to create a new code and we got to start from the bottom."

"I guess you're right," Tom said. He stared thoughtfully out the window for a moment. Then he shrugged and turned away. "But it doesn't help much," he added to himself as he wandered toward the dining room.

5

IT WAS after supper, when the dishes had all been washed and the children packed off to bed, that the clan gathered in the livingroom. They had chatted for a short time, but all fell silent when Ricky got up. He went to the mantlepiece and, turning, announced: "I find that there are problems before the clan that require the mature consideration of the clan. I therefore request a caucus." The words were the ritual of the process, established through long custom, and the clan's by-laws.

Tom stood up and, with some ostentation, counted the people present. He then announced: "I find that there is present the full membership of the clan that is adult, and that has been accepted into responsibility for the clan. Also, there are no strangers present. I believe you may call a caucus." He sat down.

"We have the word of Tom," Ricky said. "Does anyone doubt that I may now call a caucus?" He looked around carefully. "Since no one seems to have a doubt, I do now declare that the clan is assembled in caucus, and ask Sandy to operate the recorder." Sandy reached over to a box sitting on a table and flipped a switch. She spoke into a microphone, giving the date and time, and then announced that the recorder was on.

Paul bounced up out of his chair. "What is the purpose of this caucus?" This, too, was ritual.

"I have called this caucus," Ricky said, "to ask the clan to consider the application for membership of Marcia Graves. It is my opinion that this question must be decided now, since various collateral problems of some urgency will be determined by our decision on this matter. Does anyone question this, or feel that the matter should not be considered at this time for any reason?" Although this was part of the established pattern of a caucus, he looked at Tom since the latter could, if he wished, protest the matter. Tom, however, smiled and barely shook his head.

"Since there is no objection," Ricky continued, looking slightly relieved, "I will summarize the situation as I see it.

"Marcia has requested admission to the clan. She has been instructed in what this means both legally, and—in so far as it can be described or codified—socially. I do not think it can be said that she does not know what she is doing. As regards the girl herself, all of you have met her, I think, several times. This, of course, is not sufficient to determine her fitness or compatibility. However, it is as much as can reasonably be done before decision.

"In accordance with the custom and the law, then, it is proposed that she be admitted on a conditional basis for a period of one year. During this time the clan may, by a majority vote in caucus, refuse her further membership. At the end of one year, in the absence of such a vote, she will be admitted to full membership and reciprocal obligations with the clan established. Subsequent severance of this relation can be accomplished only through the courts for due cause, and with due consideration of the equity of both parties." His voice was