"Can they pinch my toe now?" asked Mun Bun, as he stood near his mother, looking at the basket full of cooked crabs.
"Nope! They can't hurt you now; they're cooked," Laddie replied. "I'm not 'fraid!" and he picked up a big crab, holding it by one of the claws.
Vi then did the same thing.
"Go ahead and take one, Mun Bun," urged Laddie.
"No! I don't guess I want to," said the little fellow.
"I know a riddle you could make up about a crab," said Rose, who had come to the kitchen to watch Cousin Ruth clean the shellfish.
"What is it?" Laddie demanded instantly.
"What color is a crab when it can't pinch?" sing-songed Rose. "And the answer is it's red when it can't pinch."
"Yes, that is a pretty good riddle," said Laddie, as, with his head on one side, he thought it over. "But I know how to make it better," he went on.
"How?" asked his mother.