d." _Opp. Page_
_from a painting by Merle Johnson_

"All their ways lead to death."
_from a painting by Maynard Dixon_

"Dawn was flooding the east, and still the boy lurched and
floundered on and on."
_from a painting by Gordon Ross_

WHEREFORE?

_Wherefore this book of fiction by Californian writers? And why its
appeal otherwise than that of obvious esthetic and literary qualities?
They who read what follows will know._

_The fund, which the sale of this book is purposed to aid, was planned
by The Spinners soon after the eighteenth of April, 1906, and was
started with two hundred dollars from their treasury. To this, Mrs.
Gertrude Atherton added another two hundred dollars. Several women's
clubs and private individuals also generously responded, so that now
there is a thousand dollars to the credit of the fund. A bond has been
bought and the interest from it will be paid to Ina D. Coolbrith, the
poet, and first chosen beneficiary of the fund. The Spinners feel
assured that this book will meet with such a ready sale as to make
possible the purchase of several bonds, and so render the accruing
interest a steady source of aid to Miss. Coolbrith._

_All who have read and fallen under the charm of her "Songs from the
Golden Gate," or felt the beauty and tenderness of the verses "When the
Grass Shall Cover Me," will, without question, unite in making
"assurance doubly sure" to such end._

_From the days of the old_ Overland Monthly, _when she worked side by
side with Bret Harte and Charles Warren Stoddard, to the present moment,
Miss. Coolbrith's name has formed a part of the literary history of San
Francisco._

_The eighteenth of April, 1906, and the night which followed it, left
her bereft of all literary, and other, treasures; but her poem bearing
the refrain, "Lost city of my love and my desire," rings with the old
genius, and expresses the feeling of many made desolate by the
destruction of the city which held their most cherished memories._

_When Miss. Coolbrith shall no longer need to be a beneficiary of the
fund, it is intended that it shall serve to aid some other writer,
artist or musician whose fortunes are at the ebb._

_To the writers, artists and publishers who have so heartily and
generously made this book possible, The Spinners return unmeasured
thanks._

_San Francisco, June 22, 1907._

CONCHA ARGUeELLO, SISTER DOMINICA

BY

GERTRUDE ATHERTON

DEDICATED TO CAROLINA