The mad neighbor, who had been eyeing this answer with suspicion, broke in again:
"Why don't you answer my question, you rascal?"
But still Reubens maintained his equanimity, and went on with the test.
"Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen——"
The mad neighbor stared harder than ever.
"Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one——"
"You're a mean thief!" said the mad neighbor, backing toward the fence.
Reubens' face flushed at this charge, but he only said:
"Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six——"
At this figure the neighbor got up on the fence in some haste, but suddenly thinking of his peas, he said: