Produced by Al Haines [Illustration: Cover art] [Frontispiece: Looking up at her I felt she had won.] THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR BY LUCIA CHAMBERLAIN Author of THE COAST OF CHANCE WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY HERMAN PFEIFER New York GROSSET & DUNLAP Publishers COPYRIGHT 1909 THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY MAY CONTENTS CHAPTER PROLOGUE--THE CITY I THE BASKET OF MUSHROOMS II THE EVIDENCE III THE RUMORS IV THE FIRST DAY IN COURT V THE SECOND DAY IN COURT VI THE SPANISH WOMAN'S HOUSE VII THE REFUGE VIII THE LAST DAY OF THE TRIAL IX THE CONCEALMENT X A LIGHT IN THE DARK XI THE LUGGER EPILOGUE--TWO YEARS ILLUSTRATIONS Looking up at her I felt she had won. . . . . . _Frontispiece_ "What's the matter, child?" father said. I tried to make myself look as pretty as possible. [Transcriber's note: A fourth illustration was missing from the book.] THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR PROLOGUE THE CITY The city is always gray. Even in March, the greenest month of all, when the Presidio, and the Mission Hills, and the islands in the bay are beautiful with spring, there's only such a little bit of green gets into the city! It lies in the lap of five hills, climbing upward toward their crests where the trees are all doubled and bent by the trade-wind. It seems to give its own color to 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 if it had been the same grass always, and never came up new in the spring. But for the most part there are no trees, and only the finest places have gardens. There are only rows and rows of houses painted gray, with here and there a white one, or a glass conservatory front. But the fog and dust all summer gray these, too, and when the trade-winds blow hard it takes the smoke out over the east bay, and makes that as gray as the city.