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The Argosy, Vol. 45
This issue of *The Argos* (January 1888) contains the opening of "The Story of Charles Strange" by Mrs. Henry Wood, author of *East Lynne*. The narrative begins as first-person memoir. Seven-year-old Charles Strange lives at White Littleham Rectory in Hampshire with his father, Reverend Eustace Strange, and his dying mother, Lucy. During a spring afternoon, his mother speaks to him of her impending death, gifts him her Bible and a book of poetry called *Sintram*, and teaches him verses about death as a merciful friend sent by God. After his mother's funeral, Charles is raised by his father and Leah Williams, a faithful servant. Nearly a year later, grieving in a dingle, Charles meets two children from a nearby family named Heriot: a small girl called Baby and her older brother Tom, inviting him to their cottage.