The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-23
''The Other Side of the Door"
BY Izcsa chnmberIsfn- author Of 'sTh,

BY L7cia ChAmberisfn- author Of The Coast
q Chance" etc Published b. the Bobbs-
heEu company. Indianapolis. Price $50.
The city is always gray. Even in
March. the greenest month OF all. when
the Preside, and the Mission hills, and
the Islands IN the bay, are beautiful
with spring. there's only such q little
bit OF green gets into the ethyl Il lies
IN the lap OF i've hills. climbing up
ward toward their crests where the
i-ees are all doubled and bent by the
era6e wind. IT seems to give its own
color 70 the growing things IN it. The
cypress hedges are dusty black; the
eucalyptus trees are gray as the house
fronts they knock against, and even
the plaza grass looks dark and old. as
II 4 had been the same grass always,
and never came up new IN the spring.
And yet the city doesn't look
sad. The sky is too blue, and the bay
is too blue around il; and the flying
fog, and the wind. and the strong tide
flowing 81 and out OF the bay are Ike
restless eager creatures that never
sleep or grow tired"
No san Franciscan who reads these
first few lines Of the prologue viii
drop the book. Something very good
should follow and Ia some ways the
reader viii not be disappointed. The
descriptions are excellent and the writ
=
flIed with improbabilitics. bat they are
scarcely discovered before the book is
ended. for the tale itself is so exciting
that one hurries on TO its close.
The scene. as the prologue shows, IS
san Francisco. and II Is the very old
town which is written about this time,
before even the eS earthquake had
stirred things up. The tale IS told IN
tie FIRST person by one Eleanora Fen
~
wealth and consequence. She is just
out az school when the story opens,
and 5es charge Of her fathers house.
She is very young and very innocent,
also very ignorant Of the ways OF the
wicked world. and so. easily imposed
upon. on the morning Of her fathers
birthday she gets up very early and
goes down town TO the opening of the
markets TO buy him some mushrooms
surprise
ON her way home she finds herself
on Dupont street, which had lately be-
come notorious. and remembered that
or father warned her not to go there.
suddenly she hears a shot and the
doors ~ 4 saloon burst open and a
man. rushing out, falls dead on the
threshold. Before she can collect her
self another young man comes 10 the
F5cor with a smoking revolver in his
ihsnd, which he throws away, and then
runs Of himself. Poor Eleanora Is
slrnost paralyzed with terror, but
somehow manages to run home and
bursts sn or her father and Mr.. Ding
Icy. the district attorney, who is tax
ing breakfast with him. She hysreric-
ally tells her story. and is immediately
sorry. for she realizes that she is likely
20 be the only one who saw the young
man and that her tale means ruin 10
him.
All this is told in the first chapter.
end Il takes whole book TO bring all
the characters right in the end One
does see before the finish what is TO
happen, but II scarcely spells the pleas
ure OF reading. AS a mystery story,
the severe critics Will say It is not a
success. but as a love story with lots
o. excitement, plenty Of good descrip-
tion and excellent local color, It is OF
the first quality.
This Is the first story written by
Miss Lucia Chamberlain. Up TO this
time she has written IN collaboration
with her sister Esther. whose untimely
death last year was a loss to the lit
erary community