Once again he was the center of a friendly naked cluster, except for the same solemn-faced little girl skipping rope. A rather malicious but not very hopeful whim prompted him to ask the youngest, "What's one and one?"
"Ten," the shaver answered glibly. Tom felt pleased.
"It could also be two," the oldest boy remarked.
"I'll say," Tom agreed. "What's the population of the world?"
"About seven hundred million."
Tom nodded noncommittally and, grabbing at the first long word that he thought of, turned to the eldest girl. "What's poliomyelitis?"
"Never heard of it," she said.
The solemn little girl kept droning the same ridiculous chant: "Gik-lo, I-o, Rik-o, Gis-so."
His ego eased, Tom went outside and there was Lois.
"What's the matter?" she asked.