CHAPTER XII.
"THE CHARLIE BOY." Dotty heard of Charlie's illness every day; but, like all young children, she thought very little about it.

Some one said he was "as white as his pillow." Dotty was amazed, for she had never seen any one as white as that.

Then she heard her grandmother say she was "afraid Charlie would die." "Die ?" It sounded to Dotty like a word heard in a dream.

She only knew that people must die before they went to heaven, and when they died they were very, very cold.
[Illustration: DOTTY IN THE SWING .-- Page 189.] One night, when she went with the milk, Mrs.Gray was weeping.

She asked Dotty if she would like to see little Charlie "once more." Dotty entered the darkened room with a strange feeling of awe.