THE APPLE TREE GIRL
together, Neil was a bashful boy who easily blushed, especially if you met him on his paper route, or if he thought you were looking at the patches on his clothes. Charlotte met him that afternoon near the red bridge with a bundle of papers and magazines under his arm—met him so unexpectedly as he was turning out of a gate that she ran right into him and not only sent his papers and magazines flying, but nearly sent him flying after them. Of course, she helped him gather his papers together, and, of course, they couldn't help speaking.
Next day, when she saw him at school, she smiled at him and he not only smiled back, but (not being accustomed to have girls notice him that way) he blushed like a beet.
"Mother," said Margaret that afternoon, throwing her books down as soon as she reached home, "you'll have to
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