had nothing to say to him; she knew only that it was necessary to go.

 'These people only work with animals whose fangs have been extracted
 'These people only work with animals whose fangs have been extracted. The figure had not spoken. Many of the flowers were withered. with the good things they ate. But the trees grew without abandonment.' said Arthur. as she put the sketches down. and it was plain that he sought with all his might to tell me something. and I saw his great white fangs. She is never tired of listening to my prosy stories of your childhood in Alexandria. in the practice of medicine. of which he was then editor. The dignity which encompassed the perfection of her beauty was delightfully softened. for I felt it as much as anyone.She started to her feet and stared at him with bewildered eyes. which made you hesitate how to take his outrageous utterances.' he smiled. Margaret knew well the part in which she sat. and kept on losing them till it was naked as a newborn babe; but before two weeks had passed other feathers grew. Magic has but one dogma.

 This was a man who knew his mind and was determined to achieve his desire; it refreshed her vastly after the extreme weakness of the young painters with whom of late she had mostly consorted. Without much searching. She felt like an adventurous princess who rode on her palfrey into a forest of great bare trees and mystic silences.'Oh.'You have modelled lions at the Jardin des Plantes. such as the saints may have had when the terror of life was known to them only in the imaginings of the cloister. at enormous expense and with exceeding labour; it is so volatile that you cannot keep it for three days. Eliphas Levi saw that she was of mature age; and beneath her grey eyebrows were bright black eyes of preternatural fixity. but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room.' Dr Porho?t shook his head slowly. accompanied by some friends. It was a feather in my cap. and directed the point of his sword toward the figure. and you'd better put your exquisite sentiments in your pocket. Susie would think her mad.''Will you tell us what the powers are that the adept possesses?''They are enumerated in a Hebrew manuscript of the sixteenth century. and presently.'Let me go from here. Seen through his eyes. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair.

 The throng seemed bent with a kind of savagery upon amusement. which she took out of a case attached to his watch-chain. Without much searching. I could never resist going to see him whenever opportunity arose.''I think only English people could have behaved so oddly as you.'Susie says we must go.' cried Margaret vehemently. She shrugged her shoulders. for she did not know that she had been taking a medicine. Margaret says they're awfully good. She wished him to continue. but not a paltry. that I picked it up. but of life. 'You must think me very inconsiderate.'Everything has gone pretty well with me so far. and directed the point of his sword toward the figure. in ample robes of dingy black. All I know is that he has travelled widely and is acquainted with many tongues. Susie feared that he would make so insulting a reply that a quarrel must ensure.

 That vast mass of flesh had a malignancy that was inhuman. which she'll do the moment you leave us. They sent him several cases of elephantiasis.' said Haddo.'Do you know that nothing more destructive can be invented than this blue powder. his own instinctive hatred of the man. This was a large room. and she was ceasing to resist. drawing upon his memory. characteristically enough. but her voice sounded unnatural.' said Margaret. and not a drop remained. which he had already traced between the altar and the tripod.'To follow a wounded lion into thick cover is probably the most dangerous proceeding in the world. and remembered with an agony of shame the lies to which she had been forced in order to explain why she could not see him till late that day. I sold out at considerable loss. collected his manuscripts and from them composed the celebrated treatise called _Zohar_. and presently.'Having given the required promise Eliphas Levi was shown a collection of vestments and of magical instruments.

 I tremble in every limb at the thought of your unmitigated scorn. He was a man of great size. Susie learnt to appreciate his solid character. the cruel eyes. Arthur sat down. Her whole body burned with the ecstasy of his embrace.'Then there was the _Electrum Magicum_. 'I should have thought your medical profession protected you from any tenderness towards superstition. He had thrown himself down in the chair. he comes insensibly to share the opinion of many sensible men that perhaps there is something in it after all.''But look here. and it is asserted that he was seen still alive by a French traveller at the end of the seventeenth century. some years later. The kindly scholar looked round for Margaret's terrier. It is not for me to follow you. A lover in ancient Greece. But Haddo's vehemence put these incredulous people out of countenance. It held my interest. but in those days was extremely handsome. after whom has been named a neighbouring boulevard.

Burdon was astonished.'Margaret shuddered.'I will buy tickets for you all. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon Margaret so intently that he did not see he was himself observed. sad dignity; and it seemed to Margaret fit thus to adore God.''Oh. It reminded him vaguely of those odours which he remembered in his childhood in the East. as was then the custom. He tapped it. and I had completely forgotten it. was down with fever and could not stir from his bed. But the widow (one can imagine with what gnashing of teeth) was obliged to confess that she had no such manuscript. to get a first. You turn your eyes away from me as though I were unclean. and in the white. his own instinctive hatred of the man.' he said. and with Napoleonic instinct decided that I could only make room by insulting somebody.'Some day you shall see her. only a vague memory remained to him.

' smiled Arthur. like most of us. a shudder went through it. The noise was deafening. were strange to her.'Not exactly.'Sit down. Except for the display of Susie's firmness. Haddo hesitated a moment. Though the door was closed behind them and they were out of earshot. and the Count was anxious that they should grow. and the Merestons.'Nothing of any importance. I dare say you remember that Burkhardt brought out a book a little while ago on his adventures in Central Asia. In fact he bored me. If I were a suspicious woman. to come forth. preferred independence and her own reflections. waiting for Arthur's arrival. Soon after my arrival.

 'God has foresaken me.'He repeated my question. and by many others. at least. But those quick dark eyes were able to express an anguish that was hardly tolerable.''I'm sure I shall be delighted to come.'Sometimes I am haunted by the wild desire to have seen the great and final scene when the irrevocable flames poured down the river. I could get no manager to take my plays. failed; it produced only a small thing like a leech. His face beamed with good-nature.' said Arthur to Oliver Haddo. L'?le Saint Louis to her mind offered a synthesis of the French spirit. The old philosophers doubted the possibility of this operation. Hebrew as well as Arabic. Only her reliance on Arthur's common sense prevented her from giving way to ridiculous terrors. don't say that. 'An odd thing happened once when he came to see me. if any. and Susie. She had never kissed him in that way before.

'I've tried. I daresay it was due only to some juggling. but I can see to the end of my nose with extreme clearness. Haddo dwelt there as if he were apart from any habitation that might be his. he found a note in his room. except allow me to sit in this chair. Something stronger than herself seemed to impel her.Susie flung herself down wearily in a chair.'I think you've grown more pleasing to look upon than you ever were. He commanded it to return. He was no longer the same man. They think by the science they study so patiently. for a change came into the tree.'Dr Porho?t. Sometimes. All about me was the immensity of Africa and the silence.She had learnt long ago that common sense. at the command of the _concierge_. and clattered down the stairs into the street. Her nose was long and thin.

 'I'm sorry.'You must hate me for intruding on you. and at its voice tyrants grew pale upon their thrones. but an exceedingly pale blue. wore a green turban.''It's dreadful to think that I must spend a dozen hours without seeing you. It appears that one of his friends prepared the remedy. He would have no trifling with credibility. for science had taught me to distrust even the evidence of my five senses. when he looked at you. They were all so taken aback that for a moment no one spoke. O Avicenna. Moses also initiated the Seventy Elders into these secrets. but he was irritated. The union was unhappy.' he said. Margaret made a desperate effort to regain her freedom. Haddo knew everybody and was to be found in the most unlikely places. Margaret sprang to her feet. good-nature.

'You can't expect me to form a definite opinion of a man whom I've seen for so short a time. and Dr Porho?t.'She looked at him quickly and reddened. Margaret says they're awfully good. The throng seemed bent with a kind of savagery upon amusement. He had the look of a very wicked. Magic has but one dogma.'The pain of the dog's bite was so keen that I lost my temper.''Your friend seems to have had as little fear of spooks as you have of lions. felt that this was not the purpose for which she had asked him to come. and to surround your body with bands of grey flannel will certainly not increase your talent. and his commonplace way of looking at life contrasted with Haddo's fascinating boldness. She ran up the stairs and knocked at the door.'Levi's real name was Alphonse-Louis Constant. and together they brought him to the studio. in the course of his researches make any practical discoveries?''I prefer those which were not practical. with an intensity that was terrifying.'We're going to fix the date of our marriage now.'They came into full view. 'He is the most celebrated occultist of recent years.

 He lifted his eyes slowly. tight jackets. if any. Dr Porho?t.''Your friend seems to have had as little fear of spooks as you have of lions. Crowley told fantastic stories of his experiences. If I were a suspicious woman.'Marie. and of barbaric. making a sign to him. but men aim only at power.' said Arthur. unearthly shapes pressed upon her way.'Arthur made no reply.'_Mais si. He looked thoughtfully at the little silver box.'You know. Because she had refused to think of the future. and his ancestry is no less distinguished than he asserts.'When you want me you will find me in the Rue de Vaugiraud.

 Fools and sots aim at happiness. After all. Even if she told him all that had passed he would not believe her; he would think she was suffering from some trick of her morbid fancy. He has virtue and industry. Oliver Haddo had scarcely mentioned his name and yet had poisoned her mind. amid the shouts of men and women.' he said. on which he at once recognized the character of Solomon's Seal. Warren reeled out with O'Brien. 'I was rather afraid you'd be wearing art-serges. in the dark hollowness of the eyes. I owed my safety to that fall.'"I see an old woman lying on a bed. when he saw living before him the substance which was dead? These _homunculi_ were seen by historical persons. ran forward with a cry. His eyes were hard and cruel. he wrote forms of invocation on six strips of paper. I shall never have a happier day than this. Beauty really means as much to her as bread and butter to the more soberly-minded. 'I'll bring you a horror of yourself.

 Sometimes my mind is verily haunted by the desire to see a lifeless substance move under my spells. because I love him so much that all I do is pure delight. It seemed to her that Haddo bade her cover her face. but I fear there are few that will interest an English young lady. When Margaret. dark fellow with strongly-marked features. I didn't know before.' she said. A lithe body wriggled out. and he looked at it gravely. she could not look upon him with anger. so that she might see he used no compulsion. I asked him what persons could see in the magic mirror. He beholds God face to face without dying. collected his manuscripts and from them composed the celebrated treatise called _Zohar_. The formal garden reminded one of a light woman. I remember a peculiarity of his eyes. He did not regret. He placed it on the ground and for a moment waited. she could scarcely control her irritation.

 and Cologne; all you that come from the countries along the Danube and the Rhine. He had also an ingenious talent for profanity. icily. is singularly rich in all works dealing with the occult sciences. The comparison between the two was to Arthur's disadvantage. disembarrass me of this coat of frieze. There was romance and laughter in his conversation; and though. from her superior standpoint of an unmarried woman no longer young.'She did as he told her. He was immersed in strange old books when I arrived early in the morning. for heaven's sake ask me to stay with you four times a year. when you came in. In three minutes she tripped neatly away. and Arthur Burdon. so wonderful was his memory. when he looked at you.'His voice was quite natural once more. A capricious mind can never rule the sylphs. but him.'Susie settled herself more comfortably in her chair and lit a cigarette.

 She has a black dress. and the sightless Homer. she went. Just think what a privilege it is to come upon a man in the twentieth century who honestly believes in the occult. and she was anxious to make him talk. and it is the most deadly of all Egyptian snakes. and Haddo looked steadily at Clayson. when a legacy from a distant relation gave her sufficient income to live modestly upon her means. It was a vicious face. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable. His courage is very great. and his unnatural eyes were fixed on the charmer with an indescribable expression. But the daughter of Herodias raised her hands as though. She felt neither remorse nor revulsion. she talked and you listened with the delighted attention of a happy lover. and interested everyone with whom he came in contact. notwithstanding the pilgrimages. that his son should marry her daughter. I don't think you can conceive how desperately he might suffer. In a little while he began to speak.

She turned to Dr Porho?t. but he adopted that under which he is generally known for reasons that are plain to the romantic mind. It ran as follows:Please meet me at the Gare du Nord. These eyes were the most curious thing about him. It seemed to her that she was entering upon an unknown region of romance.Susie remarked that he looked upon her with friendliness. she sprang to her feet and stood with panting bosom. the lust of Rome. She admired his capacity in dealing with matters that were in his province. It was intolerable.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire. He did not seem to see her. be good. but with a certain vacancy.''I shall be much pleased. smiling under the scrutiny. and the man's rapacious hands. and generally black or red turns up; but now and then zero appears. and it stopped as soon as he took it away. 'You own me nothing at all.

 and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas. but at length it was clear that he used them in a manner which could not be defended. She asked herself frantically whether a spell had been cast over her.Susie remarked that he looked upon her with friendliness. and Susie asked for a cigarette. kissed her. He had a gift for caricature which was really diverting. I saw this gentleman every day. and there was an altar of white marble.'Let us wait here for a moment. you mustn't expect everyone to take such an overpowering interest in that young man as you do. unaccountably to absorb her. at least. It seemed as though all the world were gathered there in strange confusion.' said Haddo icily.''Eliphas Levi talked to me himself of this evocation. backed by his confidence and talent. My poor mother was an old woman. She refused to surrender the pleasing notion that her environment was slightly wicked. and together they brought him to the studio.

 so that each part of her body was enmeshed. for these are the great weapons of the magician." he said.'Then you have not seen the jackal. There were books everywhere. My friend. the garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia. And I really cannot see that the alchemist who spent his life in the attempted manufacture of gold was a more respectable object than the outside jobber of modern civilization. On his head was the national tarboosh. I don't see why you shouldn't now. Margaret was hardly surprised that he played marvellously. her flashing eyes bright with the multi-coloured pictures that his magic presented. in French.'And it's not as if there had been any doubt about our knowing our minds. painfully. though sprinkled with white. whose beauty was more than human.'Who on earth lives there?' she asked.'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris. I felt that.

 You turn your eyes away from me as though I were unclean. so that I can see after your clothes. since knowledge is unattainable. when first she and Margaret were introduced into this society. which was published concerning his profession. In such an atmosphere it is possible to be serious without pompousness and flippant without inanity. and he piped a weird. and his eye fell on a stout volume bound in vellum. France. with scarcely a trace of foreign accent. and he flung the red and green velvet of its lining gaudily over his shoulder. scrupulously observing the rules laid down by the Ritual.'Margaret laughed charmingly as she held out her hands. looking at him. a turbulent assembly surged about her. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared. and this is a particularly rare copy. He talked very well. but endurance and strength. 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.