Page:Arthur Stringer-The Loom of Destiny.djvu/63



IT was certainly the wonder of the neighbourhood. Its first appearance had been the one event of the year, and a flutter of excitement ran through the Street as its glories were dilated on from doorway to doorway down the little colony. Never, since the police had raided Ching Lung's laundry, had such excitement been known.

It was nothing but a shop sign, made up of white, or almost white, lettering, on a sky-blue background, and announced in characters of fitting size that Mrs. Doyle was a dealer in candies, home-made taffies, confectionery, tobacco, cigarettes, and sundries. The "sundries" was a mystery to most of the admirers of the sign, but they assumed it stood for something no less delicious than caramels. 51