Brother John

Suspense is next over WROW music, row 59 on your Albany dial, 635. A tale well calculated to keep you in. In a moment, Act 1 of Brother John, starring William Redfield, and written especially for suspense by Elspeth Eric, was so simple, it was ridiculous.

I was lying there in the Veterans Hospital with a brain embolism, stroke they call it, for short. You think that only happens to old people? Both of us in that room are under 30. You see, you get a stroke on the left side of your brain.

It paralyzes the right side of your body. And it makes you so you can't talk. I mean, you've got all the words in your head and you understand what everybody says, but you can't talk.

So I just laid there and listened to Brother John talking to the Army doctor. Is your brother? A.S. he has 20 years younger. I've taken care of him since he was a kid. Well, we'll hope for spontaneous recovery.

What's that? The damage to the brain clears up by itself. Speech returns and the paralysis disappear. What do I do? Now. Well, can you remember what books he read as a child? Little poems or songs?

Hey, little, little, humpty-dumpty. Often these things come back first. Charlie was born in France. Our parents both died there when Charlie was ten. By that time I was in okay shape, financially, and they sent him back to me.

But he only spoke French. I remember he used to sing that, that, that, Frérez Jacques thing. Yes, singing often helps. The rhythm carries them along. I hardly know any French. Well now, you do your best.