I've seen her coming home from school." "I live right over there," he confided, pointing to his own home as he drew near to it, as if she didn't know.

"I'll see you around here now, I guess." "Do you know Ruth Merriam ?" she asked, when he was about ready to turn off into the cobblestone road to reach his own door.
"No, why ?" "She's giving a party next Tuesday," she volunteered, seemingly pointlessly, but only seemingly.
"Where does she live ?" "There in twenty-eight." "I'd like to go," he affirmed, warmly, as he swung away from her.
"Maybe she'll ask you," she called back, growing more courageous as the distance between them widened.

"I'll ask her." "Thanks," he smiled.
And she began to run gayly onward.
He looked after her with a smiling face.

She was very pretty.

He felt a keen desire to kiss her, and what might transpire at Ruth Merriam's party rose vividly before his eyes.
This was just one of the early love affairs, or puppy loves, that held his mind from time to time in the mixture of after events.