he paid for his fare with a ticket of dreams. What do you think? Well,
anyway, one day he went to China.

And this is the way it all came about:

First he went to town--with the Toyman, of course, and Old Methusaleh.
That old white horse was tied to the hitching-post in front of
Trennery's Grocery Store, with his nose deep in a feed-bag. While the
Toyman was talking to Mr. Trennery--Mr. Will Trennery, and his brother
Lish--Marmaduke sat on the seat of the buggy and watched the people.
There were a lot of them, more than he ever saw on the farm, all at
one time. There must have been almost fifty on the street. Some of
them were lounging around the soldier who stood on the big stone with
a gun that never went off; some were hitching up their horses, or
"giddyapping" to them; while a crowd was going in the side door of the
"City Hotel," and another stood in front of Trennery's Grocery Store,
telling who'd be the next president. They were very wise, they
thought, but Marmaduke was sure the Toyman could tell them a thing or
two--and that was just what the Toyman was doing.

After a while Marmaduke tired of listening to all their talk about
presidents and the new Justice of the Peace, and he looked at the
other stores and all their signs. He noticed a new one that had just
come to town. It stood between Trennery's and Candlemas' Emporium, and
it was even more interesting than the candy store. It had a red sign
above the door with white letters which read:--

"Hop Sing
Laundry."