THE APPLE TREE GIRL
"Doesn't take long. Found 'em a pretty mis'able lot, didn't you?"
"No; I didn't!" cried Charlotte with enthusiasm. "I think they're the most interesting folks I ever met, and I love them—every one!"
Aunt Hepzibah turned, her features stricken into an expression of utter astonishment. "Well," she said at last, her countenance growing more reflective, "I dunno but you're right. My father used to say you could set yourself either for a thing or against it—one about as easy as the other; and he was a wise old man, though I say it myself. Still—you wait till you've lived among 'em as long as I have. You may have different notions then."
But, whether or not the element of novelty entered into it, the fact remains that Charlotte soon became a great favorite in the limited society of Marlin Mills. She helped Dame Johnson turn her black silk skirt. She read the "Nor-
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