Of course , I ca n't sing very well , but I 'll do my best . '' `` You sing lak a sweet bird , but you are not Madame Laurin , '' said Denise restlessly . `` It is de great Madame I want to hear . I haf not long to live . Oh , I know , Leetle Joyce -- I know what de doctor look lak -- and I want to hear Madame Laurin sing ` fore I die . I know it is impossible -- but I long for it so -- just one leetle song . '' Denise put her thin hands over her face and sobbed again . Little Joyce went and sat down by the window , looking out into the white birches . Her heart ached bitterly . Dear Denise was going to die soon -- oh , very soon ! Little Joyce , wise and knowing beyond her years , saw that . And Denise wanted to hear Madame Laurin sing . It seemed a foolish thing to think of , but Little Joyce thought hard about it ; and when she had finished thinking , she got her little black doll and took it to bed with her , and there she cried herself to sleep . At the breakfast table next morning the Marshalls talked about the concert and the wonderful Madame Laurin . Little Joyce listened in her usual silence ; her crying the night before had not improved her looks any . Never , thought handsome Grandmother Marshall , had she appeared so sallow and homely . Really , Grandmother Marshall could not have the patience to look at her . She decided that she would not take Joyce driving with her and Chrissie that afternoon , as she had thought of , after all . In the forenoon it was discovered that Denise was much worse , and the doctor was sent for . He came , and shook his head , that being really all he could do under the circumstances .
When he went away , he was waylaid at the back door XXXXX a small gypsy with big , black , serious eyes and long black hair .
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