problem with xsl:number

hey I was just hoping someone knew why a problem I ran into today occurred.
I had a variable in a template matching a tag image as follows:

<xsl:template match="image">
<xsl:variable name="imgCount"><xsl:number/></xsl:variable>
<xsl:variable name="class"><xsl:choose><xsl:when test="$imgCount mod
2">odd</xsl:when><xsl:otherwise>even</xsl:otherwise></xsl:choose></xsl:varia
ble>
<img src="{concat($floc,@scr)}" class="{concat('img',$class)}"
id="{concat('img', $class, $imgCount)}"/>
</xsl:template>

the $floc is a global parameter, not pertinent in this case.

this matches a relatively flat file; I had the following fragment
<p><image scr="some.jpg"/></p>
<p><image scr="other.jpg"/></p>

xsl:number returned 1 both times, is this a problem with my not having given
a specific level for the number generated? I ended up fixing it another way
but it bugged me(don't want to try testing for explanation cause the xslt is
included in someone elses project on another computer.)
Hope someone can explain this rather strange result. processor is msxml 4


 XSL-List info and archive:  http://www.mulberrytech.com/xsl/xsl-list