"What kind of a diversion?" asked Villa. His abstracted face showed plainly that he was thinking of his chili stand and what he would say to the idiot relief man about conditions he would doubtless find therein. "If you were a kid with pets, intelligent ones, what would you watch them do for hours? Something unordinary--something you'd never imagine they'd do." He looked at his chronograph. "It's just ten. I never saw the gadget I couldn't figure out in two hours; if I'm not back by noon, you'd better come out, Summersby." "What if it's four-dimensional?" asked Adam. "It's possible I can cook up a way to reverse its action anyway. There are some principles of electricity and mechanics that must be universal." "Shall we run the machines for them?" asked Mrs. Full. "To distract the children?" "They're used to that," said Watkins. "They bore easy. Suppose you're a kid with a normal regard for pets. You've had cats and dogs and rabbits and now you have monkeys. The monkeys are a lot smarter and more versatile, but they have their limits too. You get jaded with 'em. But one day they--" he snapped his fingers--"they start playing soldiers! They drill, stage mock battles, die and come to life, scrimmage--hell, you go nuts! You can't take your eyes off 'em!" "That's it," said Villa promptly. "The children have gorillas, cows, they have never seen anything like war." "Maybe they don't know what war is," said Adam. "It might just look as if we were fighting. None of their toys show a sign of war being ever waged by this race, like our own kids' toys do." "The toys of any people reflect their civilization in an unreliable and distorted way," said Cal Full rather stuffily. "A visitor from Mars in one of our playrooms would conclude that we already have spaceships and ray guns, and that our usual clothing is chaps, sombreros, and spacesuits." "They'll get the idea," Watkins said impatiently. The giant children outside were bawling the word that meant "Come!" He was in a hurry. These fools were always arguing. "Let's go," he said. "The four of you line up over there, catch the kids' eyes, and High-pockets can boost me up to the beam. Then he'll join you." * * * * * Watkins grinned tightly, slapped Adam on the shoulder, poked Villa in the belly, and dived behind the nearest many-colored pile of gear the moment he saw the children weren't watching him. As he went toward the door, he heard Villa saying, "My fourth cousin Pancho was a great man for war, so I will be general. Spread out in the thin line and be ready to march when I command." Summersby followed Watkins, and they came to the door. Watkins managed to get up on the big man's shoulders, and waved a hand above his head. Nothing happened. "Stand on them," said Summersby. He struggled to do so. "_Un_, _dos_, _tres_," roared the Mexican down the hall. "Begin!"