code: public short expectShort() throws IOException {
          int b1 = in.read();
          if (b1 < 0) {
              throw new IOException("Missing byte 1 to expected short");
          }
          int b2 = in.read();
          if (b2 < 0) {
              throw new IOException("Missing byte 2 to expected short");
          }
          return (short) unshift2bytes(b1, b2);
      }
docs: Read a short from the input stream.
  
  @return The number read.
  @throws IOException if unable to read from stream.