New Britain herald., 1926-12-21
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WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE


 Elwell in Camdenville. Ind. one night in October of 1898. comes Martha Dalton. nurse, bearing with her a woman who had tainted on the train on which Martha had been travelling.
 Elwell is an artist. He has son, Jim. aged 5. Late that night twin girls are born to the woman, who dies without revealing her identity. The Elwells adopt the girls.
 The story then moves forward IS years. The twins, now growing to beautiful womanhood. have been named Margaret and Elizabeth and nicknamed Rusty and Betty.
 America enters the World War and Jim Elwell enlists. Two nights before he leaves he discovers that one of the twins loves him and that he loves her He tells bis mother this but he does not tell her which twin it is, as he wants her to love both of the twins equal ! ly while he is away. The day before he leaves Jim takes the girls to Chicago for a
 good time. While in the dining room of a hotel with them, Jim is violently surprised when a waiter drops a note on the table written by a woman only a short distance away. The woman leaves, NOW BEGIN THE STORY l CHAPTEP. X Rusty and Betty repeated their i question. What is it, Jim?' and
 Betty said, why don't you finish reading it?" She wanted to know , whether Jim suddenly had gone blind.
 I Jim picked up the paper, drew deep breath and read aloud: Dear Mr Elwell I have some thing very important to tell you and your girl friends. It pertains to the diamond ring one of the girls is wearing. In all my life l have only seen one ring like that. l recognize
 it as the one last saw worn by a very dear friend of mine nearly twenty years ago. If the three of you will come to the reception par To-. on the third floor I shall explain l further
 Yours sincerely, ..- NINA KINGSLEY. Well, I'll be damned said Jim. For heavens sake, Jim," Rusty burst forth, unable to control her ! voice, what is it-can't you tell us?"
 You know as much as I do." he | tol her quietly.
 He held the paper out and the two girls hitched their chairs together with one accord as the fingers of both clutched the mysterious note and their lips moved as they read the words. Their fingers rested at length on the signature. Who is Nina Kingsley Jim?' Again they spoke in concert and there was acusation in the voices of both. Evidently their Jim had lady friends of whom they never had l heard.
 Jim Elwell shrugged. "Damfino,' was the brief and definite response of that perturbed young man. "l never saw her before. She sat at that table over there." and he jerked his thumb toward the place just vacated by the woman, adding, She got up and went right out after the waiter left the note here.' Betty then picked he note up a. in and once more read it through. in a low tone just audible to the other two.
 She must have known our mother!" Rusty exclaimed, and the eyes of both girls grew big as the wonderful possibilities underlying this prospect began to grip them. "Oh, Jim, is it--do you think it could be--be true?" faltcred Betty in voice grown suddenly small and wocful Both girls were looking at him, a world of agoniZed entreaty in their eyes as if they felt he could tell them whether this strange wo- man held the key to that mystery of their birth that had lain dormant for more than eighteen years. "She says she recognized the ring" Jim replied rather helplessly. Immediately, though. he got to the point of the matter. Your mother was wearing the ring the night she you know, the night you two were born. Reckon the best thing we can do is to go up to the parlor and have Q talk with her. What do you say?' Naturally, what they said was a quick and unanimous consent to his proposal. Whereupon Jim Elwell l beckoned to the waiter. And in the excitement of the moment he had ! forgotten all his tremors about the size of the check. He scarcely mo- ticed it as the waiter laid it in front of him. The bill was SG.20, and whether Jim regarded this as "spegashious' or otherwise, he failed to say. He had presence of mind, however, to leave the eighty cents for the waiter
 The girls preceded Jim out of the big dining room, and when they passed the table occupied by Messrs. Waters and Cohen, the aforemen- toned gentleman, his eyes never having left the girls for more than moment at time during their stay in the big palm room, was moved to comment again.
 "Somethin's got 'em excited" he said. Notice the way their eyes are poppin'? And notice their cheeks? Brother. that ain't paint"
 In passing. one of the girls mo- mentarily let her gaze focus on MT. Waters. Perhaps ittwas the bizarre checks of his screaming suit that compellingly drew her attention. Perhaps it was mere abstraction. At any rate, the gentleman, almost overcome, flushed and smiled at her