Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-08
THE DAILY NOVELETTE,
Mistaken Identity
BY NINA T. RAMSAY
~. s. s. Birmingham,
HT iahon Portugal

~. s. s. Birmingham,
Lisbon, Portugal.
"Dearest Dolly--I can not begin to
tell you how glad / am again to be
writing you, I guess I acted like a cad
about Ted Corling-but at the. same
time you must admit, little girl, that
Dear can't we call It quits? And as
The letter 1uttered from Molly's
fingers. who in the world was writing
70 her like this? Why she had never
mad a sweetheart In all her lonely life,
flushed Aus guiltily as she thought Of the
little girl" and hurriedly picking. up
the scattered sheets, finished reading.
The rest OF the letter was filled with
thrilling tales of travel, bits of hui
morous adventure, and---between the
iInes~a mans yearning for home and
mis-" girl. 1t was signed Monty"
Molly's life had been singularly un-
syentful as far as men were concerned:
Ever since she could remember she had
lived with her mother as her only com,
mind were buried deep in a past of
which she never spoke. Molly pas.
sionately loved to read and she had
early manifested an unusual and beau
tifui talent for writing. OF shy, sen
panlons but her books and writing, and
thus grew to womanhood-a bit lonely,
perhaps. but still sweet and true.
Her mother had ftiriously denounced
the idea of college and steadily refused
to aid her, so Molly, with her charac.
firmly held to her resolution and was
now working her way through college
NJ The day the letter was received she
.3had been, for her. unusually blue and
y lonely.
She could not help feeling in her her
possibly be for her. and yet-it was
rather nice to be called dear
Molly hastily snatched up the envel::
ope, and as she scanned 1t second
time the smile died from her face; so,"If TO
Cambridge, Mass, she read.
So that was It She had frequently
been confused with Dolly Roberts be-
cause Of the similarity OF their names
although they were as different as night
why the whole school was talking
about her now for eloping quite dra-
matically week ago! Yes, and the
mans name had been CARING!
threatened to choke her, Never before
had she realized quite how lonely and
alone she was
She sat quite still. A daring thought
had entered her mind; this Monty was
safe distance away, Dolly was GER
closing now In a week and Molly could
send him her summer address. Who
would be the wiser II she wrote to
Monty, pretending she was Dollyr She
could typewrite her letters, 80 tnat
far away to hear Of Dollys latest
caprice. Molly. at this moment. was far
from the placid being her schoolmates
thought her.
The plan was carried through with =
out a slip Molly wrote one Of her
inimitable letters-clever, humorous and
letters few back and forth all summer
and fall. A new tone had crept into
the mans letters-wondering, insistent.
that had not been there before. To all
his love-making she was steadily I'M
personal In her letters; what was was
never revealed,
Thus matters stood until one crisp
morning in early December. AS Molly
was leaving the school building, a tele-
gram was put into her hands and with
sinking sensation in her breast, she
stared up at her through a blur:
Meet me on 2;s5 train today. Must
see you-Monty."
Molly stood dazed; her little world
was crumbling about her feet and she
was powerless to stop It. Monty here
ana again; He was so fine and honest
he would despise her, think her q cheat
a liar, she told herself miserably. She
wished vaguely that she might die, but
instantly put the thought from her in
scorn' No, the only thing to do was
10 meet him and confess the whole
wretched business.
As the hour approached, Molly's
sensitive soul shrank from the task
but somehow she found herself at the