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.