It did. The men wandered more or less freely about the roof and the corridors of the building below, and occasionally went out to the supply piles for material they wanted. To Magill's surprise, but not to Little's, they were allowed to take even pieces of scientific apparatus without interference. "I don't get it," said the quartermaster when a man reported bringing in a portable atomic melting furnace. "Anyone could see that that was a dangerous tool in the hands of a prisoner. Why do they let us get away with it?" "To me," answered Little, "that is the least puzzling factor. The treatment we are getting shows that there can be only one reason for our capture--to learn from us. Naturally, we must be allowed access to tools and scientific equipment. Then they watch our efforts to escape, and help themselves to the results of our labor. What is so puzzling about that?" Magill was silent for several minutes. "Put that way," he said at last, "it's obvious. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. That, I suppose, is why you said they weren't a conceited race--they go to such lengths to take the knowledge of others. But what happens if they're a little slow in taking a weapon away from us?" "Apparently they are prepared to take that risk. They have succeeded so far with the Vegans, and they have all our standard weapons, you'll note. That ability of theirs to guess the purpose of our actions is our chief bugbear. It's unusual; most of the time it's almost impossible for two races meeting for the first time to understand even each other's standard gestures, let alone natural, unstereotyped face and body motions. But do your best with that in mind." Little did not say that, with the aid of the information given by the Vegans, he had been able to deduce the reason for the almost telepathic guessing ability of the pentapods; and he did not mention the plan that he and the Dennis brothers were trying to put into operation. If Magill went ahead with ideas of his own, it would probably occupy much of the attention of their guards. Not that Little wanted it _all_ occupied. * * * * * The reports of the men who had wandered through the building agreed with the statements of the Vegans--most places were permitted, below ground was not, some rooms were locked, and some were open but the men had been kept out. One room, on the top floor almost directly below the prison quarters, appeared to be a communications office--which was a natural situation, if the roof had originally been used as a landing platform. The purpose of most of the others was not clear. Little did some wandering himself, and personally checked most of the information.