>That being so, shouldn't we be told the guard's country (or will that mess up the riddle)?
Oh, sorry. The way I understand it, it seems the guard is from the country where the man was held a POW. His instructions are, precisely, to avoid the POWs from escaping.
Hilmar.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)