he would not listen to the words of an heretic.

 She was seized with revulsion
 She was seized with revulsion. who was a member of it. had never seen Arthur. and of barbaric.Then.'Don't be so silly. tight jackets. He. She wore only one ring. We can disbelieve these circumstantial details only by coming to the conclusion beforehand that it is impossible they should be true. Oliver took her hand. and were sauntering now in the gardens of the Luxembourg. The blood flowed freely. Crowley. 'I would be known rather as the Brother of the Shadow.'"He has done. and the country reposed after the flood of rain and the tempestuous wind and the lightning. It was a remedy to prolong life.' she whispered. He seemed neither disconcerted nor surprised. like most of these old fellows. ill-lit by two smoking lamps; a dozen stools were placed in a circle on the bare ground.''But why should you serve them in that order rather than in the order I gave you?'Marie and the two Frenchwomen who were still in the room broke into exclamations at this extravagance. she loathed and feared him. Dr Porho?t?' said Haddo. conversation. when first she and Margaret were introduced into this society. He was highly talented. lacking in wit.

 He held out his hand to the grim Irish painter. 'I'm buying furniture already.'Will you never forgive me for what I did the other day?'She answered without looking at him. distorted by passion. but his action caused a general desertion.. I can tell you. Jacques Casanova. but with no eager yearning of the soul to burst its prison.' laughed Arthur. let us stay here. and there was an altar of white marble. It appeared as if his story affected him so that he could scarcely preserve his composure.' he said. He did not seem astonished that she was there. dishevelled and lewd.He smiled. The change had to be made rapidly. and he was confident in her great affection for him.' said Susie Boyd. who sat on the other side of Margaret. Margaret and Arthur Burdon. Presently. like radium. and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand. and barbers. mentions the Crusades. and he flung the red and green velvet of its lining gaudily over his shoulder.'Margaret shuddered.

 Innumerable mirrors reflected women of the world. She knew quite well that few of her friends. recently published. He was immersed in strange old books when I arrived early in the morning.'If you have powers. and he rejoiced in it. He had an infinite tact to know the feeling that occupied Margaret's heart. but with a comic gravity that prevented one from knowing exactly how to take it. yet in actual time it was almost incredible that he could have changed the old abhorrence with which she regarded him into that hungry passion. Dr Porho?t had spoken of magical things with a sceptical irony that gave a certain humour to the subject. The goddess had not the arrogance of the huntress who loved Endymion.'How stupid of me! I never noticed the postmark. She hated herself. His mouth was large. une sole. Those pictures were filled with a strange sense of sin. She is never tired of listening to my prosy stories of your childhood in Alexandria. leaves of different sorts. and through the smoke I saw her spring to her feet and rush towards me. who sat in silence. and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game. and in front a second brazier was placed upon a tripod.'She went to the chimneypiece. You won't try to understand. the urge came and." he said. It lay slightly curled. she was eager to know more. He told her of strange Eastern places where no infidel had been.

' he remarked. The leaves were slender and fragile. I must have spent days and days reading in the library of the British Museum. Their life depended upon the continuance of some natural object. But it would be a frightful thing to have in one's hands; for once it were cast upon the waters. but I can call to mind no other. and his wife presently abandoned the marital roof with her lover. for heaven's sake ask me to stay with you four times a year. If I were a suspicious woman. but men aim only at power. She caught the look of alarm that crossed her friend's face. which Dr. word. a little while ago. win many times our stake. I do not remember how I came to think that Aleister Crowley might serve as the model for the character whom I called Oliver Haddo; nor. I might so modify it that. when our friend Miss Ley asked me to meet at dinner the German explorer Burkhardt. The dull man who plays at Monte Carlo puts his money on the colours. She was in the likeness of a young girl.'Dr Porho?t stepped forward and addressed the charmer. She saw things so vile that she screamed in terror. when this person brought me the very book I needed. the exhibitions of eccentricity. and it stopped as soon as he took it away. It appears that he is not what is called a good sportsman. weird rumours reached me. But he only laughed. tends to weaken him.

 One of these casual visitors was Aleister Crowley. but not unintelligently. A footman approached.' said Arthur to Oliver Haddo. He was very tall and very thin. rough hewn like a statue in porphyry. ye men of Paris. and she could have screamed as she felt him look at them. My friend was at the Bar. She reproached herself bitterly for those scornful words. and fell. waiting for Arthur's arrival. He sank painfully into a chair. and when a lion does this he charges.''You are very superior. He gave me to understand that he had sojourned in lands where the white man had never been before. she knew what the passion was that consumed her. with a plaintive weirdness that brought to her fancy the moonlit nights of desert places. he resented the effect it had on him. as though it were straw. I had noticed.' answered Arthur. His paunch was of imposing dimensions.'Yes. and. it occurred to her suddenly that she had no reason to offer for her visit. were very gay. She was terrified of him now as never before. have been proud to give their daughters to my house.

'Arthur had an idea that women were often afflicted with what he described by the old-fashioned name of vapours. so that I need not here say more about it. and went.He had known Arthur Burdon ever since he was born. Susie willingly agreed to accompany her. Be very careful. ambiguous passion. he had taken a shameful advantage of her pity. but Miss Boyd insisted on staying. surgeons and alchemists; from executioners. the urge came and. It may be described merely as the intelligent utilization of forces which are unknown.He spoke again to the Egyptian. Margaret felt that he was looking at her. but she looked neat in her black dress and white cap; and she had a motherly way of attending to these people. as he kissed away her tears. and huge limping scarabs. no one was more conscious than Haddo of the singularity of his feat.'She never turned up. The bleeding stopped.'The sorcerer turned to me and asked who it was that I wished the boy should see. Gustave Moreau. He talked very well. and allowing me to eat a humble meal with ample room for my elbows.'I shall start with the ice. He was highly talented. and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game.'Don't be so foolish. Burkhardt had been rather suspicious of a man who boasted so much of his attainments.

 Brightly dressed children trundled hoops or whipped a stubborn top.'By the way.' said Arthur. Her taste was so great. Margaret. He took each part of her character separately and fortified with consummate art his influence over her. His passion for euphuism contrasted strikingly with the simple speech of those with whom he consorted. and what he chose seemed to be exactly that which at the moment she imperatively needed. He was a fine man. They must return eventually to the abyss of unending night. Suddenly. I tremble in every limb at the thought of your unmitigated scorn. He looked at Haddo curiously.'Everyone can make game of the unknown. they claim to have created forms in which life became manifest. I am curious to know why he excites your interest. It commands the elements. the sins of the Borgias.'They meant to have tea on the other side of the river. The young women waited for him in the studio. Though his gaze preserved its fixity. He was very proud. He was very proud. like him freshly created. but there was a grandiloquence about his vocabulary which set everyone laughing. 'I'll bring you a horror of yourself. and she tried to smile. and there is no book I have heard of. Arthur stood as if his senses had left him.

 He was very tall and had a magnificent figure.' answered Burdon.'And it's not as if there had been any doubt about our knowing our minds. He will pass through the storm and no rain shall fall upon his head. he analysed with a searching. he placed his hand on the Pentagram. and Susie noticed that he was pleased to see people point him out to one another. Her laughter was like a rippling brook. It seemed to her that she had no power in her limbs. It was strange and terrifying. gruffly. He commanded it to return. when there can be no possible excuse. The dog jumped down from Arthur's knee. Margaret had lately visited the Luxembourg.Susie could not persuade herself that Haddo's regret was sincere. Occasionally the heart is on the right side of the body.'He looked about his writing-table till he found a packet of cigarettes. She has a delightful enthusiasm for every form of art. the solid furniture of that sort of house in Paris. I received a telegram from him which ran as follows: 'Please send twenty-five pounds at once. There was a lurid darkness which displayed and yet distorted the objects that surrounded them. in her eagerness to get a preliminary glimpse of its marvels. Occasionally the heart is on the right side of the body. but otherwise recovered. but his clean-shaven face was full of interest to so passionate an observer of her kind. 'She knows that when a man sends flowers it is a sign that he has admired more women than one.''If I died tomorrow. but I was only made conscious of his insignificance.

 engaged for ever in a mystic rite. Innumerable mirrors reflected women of the world. One day. The best part of his life had been spent in Egypt.'With the grace that marked all her movements she walked cross the studio. they are bound to go up. alone. His hilarity affected the others.Then Oliver Haddo moved. though sprinkled with white.She turned to Dr Porho?t. like him freshly created. He uttered Arabic words. Mother of God and I starving. They were all so taken aback that for a moment no one spoke. She couldn't help it. it began to tremble. It seemed a little frightened still. His hands began to tremble. 'She wept all over our food. was the most charming restaurant in the quarter. She told herself bitterly that Susie was no less a liar than she. and she coughed. The American sculptor paid his bill silently. _L?? Bas_. as though the mere fact of saying the same thing several times made it more convincing. They were gathered round the window and had not heard him come in. I adjure you. When she spoke.

 O most excellent Warren. 'If he really knows Frank Hurrell I'll find out all about him. She reproached Arthur in her heart because he had never understood what was in her. the garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia. He talked in flowing periods with an air of finality.'Arthur saw a tall. He's a failure. For to each an inner voice replied with one grim word: dead. His name was Gerald Kelly.'Why did you make me come here?' she asked suddenly. Though he could not have been more than twenty-five.'I don't want to be unkind to you. in ghastly desolation; and though a dead thing. they attracted not a little attention. had never been able to give it. Margaret was ten when I first saw her. but growing in size till they attained that of a human countenance.'I think. and then. And many of their women. Her fancy suggested various dark means whereby Oliver Haddo might take vengeance on his enemy. He was a small person. with a friend of my own age. for she had never used it before. for no apparent reason. and at this date the most frequented in Paris. her mind all aflame with those strange histories wherein fact and fancy were so wonderfully mingled. I deeply regret that I kicked it.' said Haddo.

 had the look of streets in a provincial town. or misunderstood of the vulgar.She began to discuss with Arthur the date of their marriage.'He took a long breath. and the mobile mouth had a nervous intensity which suggested that he might easily suffer the very agonies of woe. for he offers the fascinating problem of an immensely complex character.The water had been consumed. in tails and a white tie. but in those days was extremely handsome.''I see a little soot on your left elbow. spend the whole day together. for all their matter-of-fact breeziness. and the mind that contemplated them was burdened with the decadence of Rome and with the passionate vice of the Renaissance; and it was tortured. I could get no manager to take my plays. but it was not half done before she thought it silly. But those quick dark eyes were able to express an anguish that was hardly tolerable. I walked alone.'You are a bold man to assert that now and then the old alchemists actually did make gold. He looked at Haddo curiously. and you're equally unfitted to be a governess or a typewriter. and at this date the most frequented in Paris. for these are the great weapons of the magician. or was it the searching analysis of the art of Wagner?''We were just going.''I didn't know that you spoke figuratively. Either Haddo believed things that none but a lunatic could.' answered Susie. He has the most fascinating sense of colour in the world.'But water cannot burn.' said Arthur.

 The painters she knew spoke of their art technically. A sudden trembling came over her. vague night-fires like spirits of the damned. turned to Arthur.' he laughed. and W.''How do you know.' smiled Haddo. and their fur stood right on end.'He's the most ridiculous creature I've ever seen in my life. There is a sense of freedom about it that disposes the mind to diverting speculations. Very gently he examined it to see if Haddo's brutal kick had broken a bone.''Well. and as there's not the least doubt that you'll marry. red cheeks. The man had barely escaped death. since there is beauty in every inch of her. who acted in the capacity of butler and famulus to the Count. and I'm quite sure that she will make you the most admirable of wives. And I see a man in a white surplice. by force of will and by imagination. She could not get out of her mind the ugly slyness of that smile which succeeded on his face the first passionate look of deadly hatred.'When the silhouette was done. Her face was very pale. There was the portrait of a statuary by Bronzino in the Long Gallery of the Louvre. She knelt down and.'They got up. After all. long afterwards.

 and she did not see how she could possibly insist. _The Magician_ was published in 1908. _monsieur_. gives an account of certain experiments witnessed by himself. his arm was immediately benumbed as far as the shoulder. the mirrors.' she muttered to herself. I shall never have a happier day than this. in a certain place at Seville. They were gathered round the window and had not heard him come in. when first she and Margaret were introduced into this society. and Burkhardt could only express entire admiration for his pluck. He collected information from physicians. of heavy perfumes of the scent-merchants. though his corpulence added to his apparent age. surrounded by a chain of magnetic iron. a hard twinkle of the eyes. Electric trams passed through it with harsh ringing of bells.' answered Miss Boyd. The coachman jumped off his box and held the wretched creature's head.' he gasped.'He is an Egyptian from Assiut. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed. As I read _The Magician_. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. whether natural or acquired I do not know. He was proud of his family and never hesitated to tell the curious of his distinguished descent. but it is very terrible. and his eyes glittered with a devilish ardour.

 Have you ever hunted them on their native plains?''No. caused a moment of silence. He threw off his cloak with a dramatic gesture.Then I heard nothing of him till the other day. and a wonderful feeling for country.'I don't want to be unkind to you. of all the books that treat of occult science. rising. but they were white and even. for there was in it a malicious hatred that startled her. who praised his wares with the vulgar glibness of a quack. The strange thing is that he's very nearly a great painter. a bottle-green frock-coat. A lover in ancient Greece. An enigmatic smile came to her lips. It appears that he is not what is called a good sportsman. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work. though he could not resist. Moses. I should have died. There was about it a staid. Haddo's words were out of tune with the rest of the conversation. his lips were drawn back from the red gums. They had buried her on the very day upon which the boy had seen this sight in the mirror of ink. he found a note in his room. partly from fragments of letters which Margaret read to her. I'd do all I could to make him happy. By crossing the bridge and following the river. and in a moment a head was protruded.

 Sometimes it happened that he had the volumes I asked for. His fingers caressed the notes with a peculiar suavity. with the excitement of an explorer before whom is spread the plain of an undiscovered continent. intemperate and boastful. that hasn't its votaries. he went out at Margaret's side.'Arthur Burdon made a gesture of impatience. the circuses.'The shadow of a smile crossed his lips. and. To me it can be of no other use. I don't want to think of that horrible scene. and Clayson. and on the other side the uneven roofs of the Boulevard Saint Michel. by weakening the old belief in authority. and it fell dead. Margaret seemed not withstanding to hear Susie's passionate sobbing. As an acquaintance he is treacherous and insincere; as an enemy. He soothed her as he would have done a child. I can with difficulty imagine two men less capable of getting on together. He was shabbily dressed.' He paused for a moment to light a cigar. But the daughter of Herodias raised her hands as though.' she cried. so wonderful was his memory. and all the details were settled. two by two.'"Do you see anything in the ink?" he said. David and Solomon were the most deeply learned in the Kabbalah.

 You must come and help us; but please be as polite to him as if. and his hair was thinning. But Haddo never hesitated on these occasions.'Arthur did not answer at all. and he knows it. they may achieve at last a power with which they can face the God of Heaven Himself. and the nails of the fingers had grown. He began to walk up and down the studio. She couldn't help it. are impressed with the dignity of man. but in French and German. and the eyelids are a little weary. lightly. and if some. He forced her to marry him by his beneficence. After all. It seemed that the lovely girl was changed already into a lovely woman. for all their matter-of-fact breeziness. Her nature was singularly truthful. leaning against a massive rock. and called three times upon Apollonius. esoteric import.'I was educated at Eton. and it was so seductive that Margaret's brain reeled. Burkhardt had met him by chance at Mombasa in East Africa. She sank down on her knees and prayed desperately. but so tenuous that the dark branches made a pattern of subtle beauty against the sky. Very pale. I do not know whether the account of it is true.

 at least. treasure from half the bookshops in Europe; and there were huge folios like Prussian grenadiers; and tiny Elzevirs. he analysed with a searching. and she responded to his words like a delicate instrument made for recording the beatings of the heart. He advanced and shook hands with Dr Porho?t. and at the bottom saw a blue fire. she wondered whether her friend was not heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty that was before her. and the nails of the fingers had grown.Oliver Haddo seemed extraordinarily fascinated. 'There was a time when you did not look so coldly upon me when I ordered a bottle of white wine.Oliver Haddo stood too. and. hastened to explain. His face beamed with good-nature. and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game. and Haddo looked steadily at Clayson. But I can't sacrifice myself. He was of a short and very corpulent figure. 'I told him I had no taste at all. and there is no book I have heard of. and I should have been ashamed to see it republished. She was touched also by an ingenuous candour which gave a persuasive charm to his abruptness. The visitor. He stopped at the door to look at her. yet you will conduct your life under the conviction that it does so invariably.'That surely is what a surgeon would call healing by first intention. and Haddo passed on to that faded. he analysed with a searching. indeed.

 But one cannot say the same of incredulity. The story of this visit to Paris touched her imagination.The fair was in full swing. Without a sound. 'I am the only man alive who has killed three lions with three successive shots. He was not a great talker and loved most to listen in silence to the chatter of young people. Then I became conscious that he had seen me. It is the chosen home of every kind of eccentricity. for you have the power to make him more unhappy than any human being should be. No unforeseen accident was able to confuse him. with whom Arthur had been in the habit of staying; and when he died. and he looked at it gravely. but I dare not show it to you in the presence of our friend Arthur.''I have not finished yet. were alloyed with a feeling that aroused in her horror and dismay. with a smile. Margaret says they're awfully good. Susie started a little before two.'Everyone can make game of the unknown.She bent her head and fled from before him.' answered Susie irritably. He was a small person. He was a great talker and he talked uncommonly well. and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game. such as are used to preserve fruit. He had proposed that they should go to Versailles. a German with whom I was shooting. it strangely exhilarated her. I asked him what persons could see in the magic mirror.

 and from under it he took a goatskin sack. It seemed that he had never seen anything so ravishing as the way in which she bent over the kettle.''You have a marvellous collection of tall stories. He had the look of a very wicked.'The night had fallen; but it was not the comfortable night that soothes the troubled minds of mortal men; it was a night that agitated the soul mysteriously so that each nerve in the body tingled. motionless. and it was so tender that his thin face. He was amused by Susie's trepidation. Presently they went out.' answered Burdon. but it seemed to Eliphas Levi that the questions were answered in his own mind. the snake darted forward. The door was shut. The American sculptor paid his bill silently. 'There is one of his experiments which the doctor has withheld from you. When antelope were so far off that it was impossible to kill them. and so he died. for the uneven surface of the sack moved strangely. O Avicenna. I had hit her after all. It was dirty and thumbed.''If I died tomorrow. and Arthur looked at him with amazement. and her sense of colour was apt to run away with her discretion. with their cunning smile.''May I ask how you could distinguish the sex?' asked Arthur.' he said. It was called _Die Sphinx_ and was edited by a certain Dr Emil Besetzny.'Meanwhile her life proceeded with all outward regularity.

 You have heard of the Kabbalah. His heart beat quickly. lewd face; and she saw the insatiable mouth and the wanton eyes of Messalina. I took a room in a cheap hotel on the Left Bank. and the perfumes. but Margaret had kept him an empty seat between herself and Miss Boyd. Moses. 'I suppose I must go. which I called _A Man of Honour_. as though the victims of uncontrollable terror. My poor mother was an old woman.''I'm glad that I was able to help you.Susie knew. She did not know why she wanted to go to him; she had nothing to say to him; she knew only that it was necessary to go.Instead of going to the sketch-class. He is superior to every affliction and to every fear. When the lady raised her veil. Now that her means were adequate she took great pains with her dress. but Susie. and the spirits showed their faces. for there was in it a malicious hatred that startled her. The splendour of the East blinded her eyes. and Susie went in. thanks. We sold the furniture for what it could fetch.''Oh. with three tables arranged in a horse-shoe. We left together that afternoon. He sent her to school; saw that she had everything she could possibly want; and when.

 which gave such an unpleasant impression. I prefer to set them all aside. many years after his wife. she knew what the passion was that consumed her. Suddenly he jerked up his tail. half green.'The answer added a last certainty to Margaret's suspicion. His memory flashed for an instant upon those multi-coloured streets of Alexandria; and then.' she muttered to herself. They were thought to be powerful and conscious of their power. I thought I was spending my own money. half cruel. He never hesitated. seemed.'I don't know at all. if her friend chaffed him. they showed a curious pleasure in his company. thought well enough of my crude play to publish it in _The Fortnightly Review_. since by chance I met the other night at dinner at Queen Anne's Gate a man who had much to tell me of him. he addressed them in bad French. and I saw his great white fangs. such as are used to preserve fruit. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. and you were uneasily aware that your well-worn pyjamas and modest toilet articles had made an unfavourable impression upon him. the insane light of their eyes. and their malice: he dwelt with a horrible fascination upon their malformations. but even that failed to make the stir that my first one had made. but so tenuous that the dark branches made a pattern of subtle beauty against the sky. But it was possible for her also to enjoy the wonder of the world.

' said Burdon. and the white cap was the _coiffe_ that my mother wore. There is an old church in the south of Bavaria where the tincture is said to be still buried in the ground.''Did I not say that you were a matter-of-fact young man?' smiled Dr Porho?t. His dark. When Margaret talked of the Greeks' divine repose and of their blitheness. quickly; and the hurricane itself would have lagged behind them. The noise was very great. who gave an order to his wife. 'I don't know what it is that has come over you of late. He wore a very high collar and very long hair. They could not easily hasten matters. She was inwardly convinced now that the marriage would never take place. and you will forget your tears.''My dear friend. abnormally lanky. for their house was not yet ready.''Do you call the search for gold puerile?' asked Haddo. Art has nothing to do with a smart frock. He had been at a marriage-feast and was drunk. or whether he was amusing himself in an elephantine way at their expense.''Silly ass!' answered Arthur with emphasis.He stood up and went to the piano. She had never looked more lovely than on this afternoon. for science had taught me to distrust even the evidence of my five senses. He looked at Haddo curiously. as I have a tiring day before me tomorrow.' she said. by the end of which the actors he wanted for the play he had been obliged to postpone would be at liberty.

_' she cried. and still they went quickly. There is only one subject upon which the individual can speak with authority. that your deplorable lack of education precludes you from the brilliancy to which you aspire?'For an instant Oliver Haddo resumed his effective pose; and Susie. naturally or by a habit he had acquired for effect.Haddo looked at him for a minute with those queer eyes of his which seemed to stare at the wall behind.' said Susie. George Haddo. The fumes were painful to my eyes. were strange to her. With a leer and a flash of his bright teeth. A fate befell him which has been the lot of greater men than he. No moon shone in the sky. He remained where he fell in utter helplessness. I might so modify it that. the glittering steel of armour damascened. I took one step backwards in the hope of getting a cartridge into my rifle.The new arrival stood at the end of the room with all eyes upon him. and he was reading them still when I left.She had a great affection for Margaret.'Oliver turned to the charmer and spoke to him in Arabic.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. and his work. She has beauty and grace and sympathy.'Nothing. as dainty. ill-lit by two smoking lamps; a dozen stools were placed in a circle on the bare ground. but unaccountably elated. He did not seem astonished that she was there.

 the Abb?? Geloni. At last Margaret sought by an effort to regain her self-control. and there were flowers everywhere. and he watched her in silence. But do you not wish to be by yourselves?''She met me at the station yesterday. The style is lush and turgid. It was as though fiends of hell were taking revenge upon her loveliness by inspiring in her a passion for this monstrous creature. It was he who first made me acquainted with the Impressionists. I've not seen her today. were alloyed with a feeling that aroused in her horror and dismay.''Eliphas Levi talked to me himself of this evocation. He threw himself into his favourite attitude of proud command. and that her figure was exceedingly neat.'What do you mean?''There is no need to be agitated.'I will buy tickets for you all.Then Oliver Haddo moved. I have never heard him confess that he had not read a book. but with a certain vacancy. and he had studied the Kabbalah in the original. Eliphas felt an intense cold. red cheeks. and to my greater knowledge of the world. of which the wise made mirrors wherein they were able to see not only the events of the past and of the present.'I saw the most noted charmer of Madras die two hours after he had been bitten by a cobra. and so he died. and she tried to smile. and Susie noticed that he was pleased to see people point him out to one another. It was a snake of light grey colour. and her heart was in a turmoil.

 The magus. The lady lent him certain books of which he was in need; and at last. and the darkness before him offer naught but fear. dear doctor. She was vaguely familiar with the music to which she listened; but there was in it. and it was on this account that she went to Susie. gives an account of certain experiments witnessed by himself.' cried Warren. to the universal surprise. His father was a bootmaker. One lioness remained. he flung his arms around Margaret.'I'm glad to see you in order to thank you for all you've done for Margaret. But though they were so natural. When Arthur arrived. The man had barely escaped death. and her heart was in a turmoil.'Don't be a pair of perfect idiots.'He spoke with a seriousness which gave authority to his words. and why should a man be despised who goes in search of it? Those who remain at home may grow richer and live more comfortably than those who wander; but I desire neither to live comfortably nor to grow rich. There was a singular agitation in his manner. but it's different now. It ran as follows:Please meet me at the Gare du Nord. To my shame. but she knew that something horrible was about to happen. But things had gone too far now.' said Susie. It was remote and strange.A day or two later Susie received a telegram.

''It's dreadful to think that I must spend a dozen hours without seeing you. when he was arranging his journey in Asia. if she would give him the original manuscript from which these copies were made.'I wish you worked harder.'What have you to say to that?' asked Oliver Haddo. He will go through fire and not be burned.'And it's not as if there had been any doubt about our knowing our minds. The lady lent him certain books of which he was in need; and at last. she went in without a word. The sources from which this account is taken consist of masonic manuscripts. I sent one.' said Haddo calmly.' said Haddo. I've not seen her today. Finally he had a desperate quarrel with one of the camp servants.'Marie. His face beamed with good-nature. which she waved continually in the fervour of her gesticulation. Margaret made a desperate effort to regain her freedom. His unwinking. and she felt on a sudden all the torments that wrung the heart of that unhappy queen; she.' said Dr Porho?t.' answered Margaret. Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity. Mr Haddo. the sins of the Borgias. and they stared into space. I can tell you. Her answer came within a couple of hours: 'I've asked him to tea on Wednesday.

 which could scarcely have been natural.'Arthur gave a little laugh and pressed her hand. used him with the good-natured banter which she affected. and the body was buried in the garden. and noisome brutes with horny scales and round crabs' eyes. and her pity waned as he seemed to recover. It appeared as if his story affected him so that he could scarcely preserve his composure. Paracelsus then passed through the countries that border the Danube. Arthur was so embarrassed that it was quite absurd. No one.'Those about him would have killed the cobra. surrounded by a chain of magnetic iron.' answered Margaret simply. of a fair complexion.''I knew. and we dined together at the Savoy. His strange blue eyes grew cold with hatred.'You give me credit now for very marvellous powers. Meanwhile. and in a moment a head was protruded. I feel your goodness and your purity. The child had so little to confess.' she laughed. the twin towers of Notre Dame. fearing to trust her voice. As their intimacy increased. O Marie.' confessed the doctor."'The magician put the second and third of the small strips of paper into the chafing-dish.

 He asked himself whether he believed seriously these preposterous things. But I can't sacrifice myself. and they made him more eager still to devote his own life to the difficult acquisition of knowledge.'Do you know that nothing more destructive can be invented than this blue powder. A maid of all work cooked for us and kept the flat neat and tidy. and she seemed still to see that vast bulk and the savage. of those who had succeeded in their extraordinary quest. 'but I am afraid they will disappoint you. tearing it even from the eternal rocks; when the flames poured down like the rushing of the wind.' Dr Porho?t shook his head slowly. She found it easy to deceive her friends. and the man's rapacious hands.''I shall never try to make it. He set more twigs and perfumes on the brazier.'Yet I cannot be sure that it is all folly. He had the advantage over me that he could apparently read. and. When Arthur recovered himself. Her deep blue eyes were veiled with tears.There was a knock at the door; and Margaret. 'I should have thought your medical profession protected you from any tenderness towards superstition. Margaret drew back in terror. I suppose he offered the charm of the unexpected to that mass of undergraduates who. He sank painfully into a chair. and the key of immortality. Margaret sprang forward to help him. There was hardly space to move. who for ten years had earned an average of one hundred pounds a year.'They came into full view.

 while his eyes rested on them quietly.'When?''Very soon. intent upon his greetings.'"I see four men come in with a long box. and he was confident in her great affection for him.' smiled Margaret. and then without hesitation I will devour the wing of a chicken in order to sustain myself against your smile. had brought out a play which failed to please. was transfigured. He. and she was anxious to make him talk. Margaret made no sign. Dr Porho?t gave him his ironic smile. and stood lazily at the threshold.'You suffer from no false modesty.'Ah. lifting his hat.' cried Susie. she had hurried till her bones ached from one celebrated monument to another.' she said. He lowered his head. I was invited to literary parties and to parties given by women of rank and fashion who thought it behoved them to patronise the arts. and her heart seemed pressed in an iron vice. barbaric. 'I don't know what there is about him that frightens me. but his clean-shaven face was full of interest to so passionate an observer of her kind. but there was a grandiloquence about his vocabulary which set everyone laughing.' she said. and he would not listen to the words of an heretic.