diff --git a/MString.cpp b/MString.cpp
index 31610b2..73fa121 100644
--- a/MString.cpp
+++ b/MString.cpp
@@ -278,6 +278,13 @@ namespace coreutils {
 	write(ch);
       return *this;
    }
+
+   MString &MString::read(int fd, int count) {
+      char ch;
+      while(count-- && ::read(fd, &ch, 1)) 	 
+	write(ch);
+      return *this;
+   }
    
    int MString::offset() {
       return cursor - data;
diff --git a/MString.h b/MString.h
index c0fde6d..46f90df 100644
--- a/MString.h
+++ b/MString.h
@@ -231,7 +231,8 @@ namespace coreutils {
       ///
 
       MString &read(int fd);
-
+      MString &read(int fd, int len);
+      
       ///
       ///
       ///