code: private int readChar()
      throws IOException
    {
      Reader readEncoding = _readEncoding;
  
      if (readEncoding == null)
        return read();
      else {
        if (readEncoding.read(_charBuffer, 0, 1) == 1) {
          return _charBuffer[0];
        }
        else {
          return -1;
        }
      }
    }
docs: Reads the next converted character.