little sharper than her husband, and
this was more in her line, too. He had to make her discover the same
answer. He had to _know_ it was right. And then he had to get out of
that place in a hell of a hurry.

"Ma'am, you know what this is?"

"No, Adam."

"Look here. See this big letter, repeated at the first of this word?"

"Yes."

He flipped a few "pages" past. "It's the same with all of them, you see?
And the middle word is always the same--four curly letters. You know
what that middle word is?"

"No, Adam."

"It's 'stands for' or 'means.'" He stared at her. "Get it?"

She thought an instant. "Of course. Adam, that's very clever of you."
She wasn't scared yet. She hadn't seen the implication.

"'Stands for'?" Calvin repeated.

"A stands for Apple," explained Mrs. Full. "Or A stands for Airship, or
whatever it might be. It's an alphabet book, dear."

She still hadn't caught it. "Remember when Mr. Full built the cubbyhole
here," Adam said, "and the giant knocked it down? Why was he angry?"

"I suppose they want to observe us without any hindrance."

"No, ma'am," he said with conviction. "That was simple frustration. They
want to see everything, whether it's interesting to them or not. They
aren't scientifically disappointed if they can't, they're just
frustrated. Think of the punishment we get, slaps, the dunce stool."

"As though we were children," she said.

"Exactly. Now, here are these books. An alphabet book, and these others.
What age would you figure them for? You taught kindergarten, you said.
This is something I wouldn't know."

"I'd say they're for fairly bright children about five or six years
old."

"Or for us," said her husband, "when they start to teach us their
language."

"They are children's books, though, with short sentences and the gaudy
pictures our own children love." Mrs. Full stared at Adam. Her brown
eyes widened. "Adam," she said, "you've guessed something."

"You guess it too," he pleaded. She had to corroborate his own idea.
"Think of all the things about them we haven't been able to make out."

"Nursery books...." she said slowly. "Instability to the point of
insanity, if you found it in adult humans. Sloppiness and inefficiency,
when these machines point to a high degree of neatness of mind.
Wandering attention, inability to concentrate for long periods. Positive
tantrums over nothing. Cruelty and affection mixed without rhyme or
reason." She took him by the arm, h