The Artist and the Door by Dorothy Quick - I bought the door–even though the auctioneer warned of evil.

Dorothy Gertrude Quick was born in Brooklyn on September 1st 1896. She was a prolific writer of horror, detective fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Dorothy was a girl of 11 when she met Mark Twain, actually Samuel L. Clemens, on an Atlantic crossing from England. She was returning to Plainfield, N.J., from Europe with her parents. Recognizing Twain by his wavy hair and white suit, she walked around and around the deck, passing very slowly by his chair each time, until he finally came over and introduced himself.

It was the beginning of a friendship that was to last until the very day of his death. After the voyage she received a telegram from Twain asking whether she would prefer as a birthday present "one elephant or 10,000 monkeys." She replied that she would prefer his books - which he sent her, along with a tiny white elephant. If you've seen the 1991 TV movie "Mark Twain and Me" well, now you know who wrote it.

The Artist and the Door was published in Weird Tales magazine in November 1952.