The Florence tribune., 1897-08-21
OVER THE TELEPHONE.
The Doctor Relates the Remarkable Story
 of Tragedy.


 of Tragedy.
 ''I heard a strange story to-dav,' said the doctor to me, as we sat in his office late at night, which, on your solemn promise not to divulge, III tell you, for 1 just can't keep it to myself"
 Readily enough, I promised. and violate TO confidence in this telling, 1 for no names are mentioned, correctly, at least, and, in any event, the doctor was not pledged to secrecy after the expiration of year, and it has been two years aince he told me.
 ''Yon remember" he said, ''when | Frank Broter was found in the hall of my oEiee with a bullet through his l brain and pistol by his side?n
 Ineaded in affirmation of my remem- hranae.
 ''You know" he continued, ''that everybody thought it was suicide, for Frank was then under treatment with me fer nervous affection that made him wild at times thought he had taken his own life, as everyone else did, and he was buried under that impress sion. The coroRers verdict was to tEc same effect also. We'll. to-day his sis ter died, and before she crossed the dark river she asked to see me alone. and now I know we were all mistaken abcut poor Frank.
 There was another brother, if you remember, named George, ead he was the black sheep of the flock. 4 bad boy from the beginning, he grew worse i vixen his widowed mother died, and for l five years before Franks death he and ] his sister, who worked, you know, in <! the central office of the telephone com i pany, supported him. They boarded him in t'.a same house with themselves, and as for as appearances went he had i quite as much Of the worlds goods as either of them. He drank end ganbled i and was in trouble all the time, and l often threatened them if they did not i give him more money. This they d:d, but the mora he received of them the more he asked, and finally he made such a demand upon Frank that he refused to do anything for him except to board and clothe him. The sister joined | with Frank in this resolve, and George threatened to kill them both. No one knew of this except the brothers and sister, for the girl was sensitive and shrunlz from telling her troubles to her friends. On the day of his death Frank came to my office to see me, and there was no one about. 1 had been called away suddenly and had taken my as- sistaut and my door-boy with me, as I expected to return shortly. did come back, and when l did I found Frank lying in the hall with the pistol by his side. It was his own pistol, and you know the rest-up to to- l day. To-day the sister told me that George had killed Frank As far as she could determine, George had fol- lowed him there and had qnarreled with him ia the hall. To satisfy him. self that George was telling him the tiTtli, he had gone to my telephone and called up his sister at the central office. Evidently. the two brothers were near She instrument, for as Frank called she heard the voice of George ordering him away from the phone. He refused, and then she heard George curse him and drag him away. She could hear the struggle, as it contin- ned in the hall, and then suddenly came the crack of a pistol, and Frank screamed: sOh, George, George, brother, you have killed mel That was all she 1 could remember, except the slamming of door as George hurried out of the hall. for she tainted When she was restored to consciousness, the sister as- serted itself first, and she felt that be- fore she told her dreadful story she must first know what had happened. She was not strong girl, and the fainting spell excited little CT 10 alarm, so that no one thought of connecting the fainting with the tragedy. Tn fact; had never heard of it until she told me herself. When she learned that Frank had committed suicide and she alone could bear testimony to the con- trary, she closed her lips for the sake of her brother, and she has never spoken of it until to-day, and only now because George is dead, and she told me that she owed it to Franks mem- ory to let some one know he had not taken his own life.''
 1hdes What klIied ner, sald, nor rifed at the story.
 I'm sure of it." replied the doctor. "She has gradually declined since Franks death, and nothing I could do for her appeared to have any effect.
 And yet" he concluded, If George had been living she would have taken her secret to the grave with her."-De- troit Free Press