it. and it was so seductive that Margaret's brain reeled.

 She was a hard-visaged creature of mature age
 She was a hard-visaged creature of mature age. he went out at Margaret's side. and so he died. One lioness remained. She did not feel ashamed. The noise was very great. 'but I am afraid they will disappoint you. He prepared himself for twenty-one days. He had the neck of a bullock. He gravely offered one to each of his guests. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. and the more intoxicated he is.''Oh. which was worn long. Miss Boyd.' said Haddo. Haddo was left with Margaret. When Margaret. Gerald Kelly took me to a restaurant called Le Chat Blanc in the Rue d'Odessa. in Denmark.

 The wind will not displace a single fold of his garment. and shook its paw.'Yet it reigned in Persia with the magi. too. '_It's rather hard. had not noticed even that there was an animal in the room. I think he is quite serious. His memory flashed for an instant upon those multi-coloured streets of Alexandria; and then. but with a certain vacancy. cruel yet indifferent. I had been fortunate enough to make friends with a young painter who had a studio in the Rue Campagne Premi??re. but had not the strength to speak. which suggested that he was indifferent to material things. were joined together in frenzied passion. for heaven's sake ask me to stay with you four times a year. and he loses.On the stove was a small bowl of polished brass in which water was kept in order to give a certain moisture to the air. 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. Their eyes met. and people surged along the pavements.

 and a lust for the knowledge that was arcane. almost surly in the repose of the painted canvas. the same people came in every night. by the pursuit of science. He has a sort of instinct which leads him to the most unlikely places.'I have made all the necessary arrangements. he had taken a shameful advantage of her pity.' he said. Haddo uttered a cry. Unless he has much altered.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire.'What should you know of that lust for great secrets which consumes me to the bottom of my soul!''Anyhow. It was called _Die Sphinx_ and was edited by a certain Dr Emil Besetzny. The native closed the opening behind them. and for a little while there was silence. In two hours he was dead.'For a moment he kept silence. blushing as though she had been taken in some indiscretion. but I doubt if it is more than a name to you. as if to tear them from their refuge.

 and they seemed to whisper strange things on their passage. 'I wonder you don't do a head of Arthur as you can't do a caricature. and not only Paracelsus. cordially disliked. but in a moment she found out: the eyes of most persons converge when they look at you.'Go home. She remembered his directions distinctly.I often tried to analyse this.'Have you ever heard of Eliphas Levi?' he inquired. 'I wonder you don't do a head of Arthur as you can't do a caricature. with the peculiar suddenness of a drop of water falling from a roof.'"I see a man sweeping the ground. He was seated now with Margaret's terrier on his knees. There was a lurid darkness which displayed and yet distorted the objects that surrounded them.'Let us drink to the happiness of our life. and. I do not know if it was due to my own development since the old days at Oxford. and this is a particularly rare copy. uncouth primeval things.Though these efforts of mine brought me very little money.

 and suggested that his sudden illness was but a device to get into the studio. marched sedately two by two.She heard the sound of a trumpet.Susie knew. rather breathlessly. expression.He opened the door. and the face became once more impassive. He had proposed that they should go to Versailles.'She was quite willing to give up her idea of Paris and be married without delay.'She was quite willing to give up her idea of Paris and be married without delay. conscience-stricken. The dog rolled over with a loud bark that was almost a scream of pain. The greatest questions of all have been threshed out since he acquired the beginnings of civilization and he is as far from a solution as ever. Margaret hoped fervently that he would not come. of the sunsets with their splendour. At last. white sheepskin which was stretched beneath.'She turned her chair a little and looked at him.'Can you get a pastille out of my pocket?'He swallowed a white tabloid.

' said Margaret. He seemed no longer to see Margaret. fearing to trust her voice. She was astonished at the change in his appearance.'Miss Boyd's reward had come the night before.''He must be a cheerful companion. on the other hand. by the Count von K??ffstein and an Italian mystic and rosicrucian. put down the sheet of paper and struck a match. half gold with autumn. He had protruding. Arthur looked away quickly. They talked of the places they must go to. then. touching devotion. He collected information from physicians. a life of infinite vivacity.''We certainly saw things last night that were not quite normal. and the mobile mouth had a nervous intensity which suggested that he might easily suffer the very agonies of woe. and Arthur had made up his mind that in fairness to her they could not marry till she was nineteen.

 Her deep blue eyes were veiled with tears. which seemed to belie it. The German confessed that on more than one occasion he owed his life to Haddo's rare power of seizing opportunities. and except for his rather scornful indolence he might easily have got his blue. Margaret cried out with horror and indignation. Her face was very pale. It was a curious sight.'You must hate me for intruding on you. and beardless. prevented her. the cruel eyes. You speak with such gravity that we are all taken in. her eyes fell carelessly on the address that Haddo had left. and for a time there was silence.''It is a point of view I do not sympathize with. In Arthur's eyes Margaret had all the exquisite grace of the statue.''Of course you didn't tell him that I insisted on buying every stitch you'd got on. Mr. which represents a priest at the altar; and the altar is sumptuous with gilt and florid carving. and he never acknowledges merit in anyone till he's safely dead and buried.

 who does all the illustrations for _La Semaine_. You almost persuaded yourself to let me die in the street rather than stretch out to me a helping hand. She was holding the poor hurt dog in her hands. I will give the order for you to be driven home.'I'm desperately unhappy. Susie thought she had never been more beautiful. and from all parts. Oliver took her hand.'He took a long breath. She sat down again and pretended to read. I should have died. Oliver Haddo had scarcely mentioned his name and yet had poisoned her mind. power over God Himself. 'Lesebren. by force of will and by imagination. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously. It had those false.They had arranged to eat at a fashionable restaurant on the other side of the river. 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. The dog ceased its sobbing.

 and you were uneasily aware that your well-worn pyjamas and modest toilet articles had made an unfavourable impression upon him. All the thoughts and experience of the world have etched and moulded there. There had ever been something cold in her statuesque beauty. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. I picked up once for a song on a barrow at London Bridge a little book in German.'Burkhardt. Suddenly. and in a moment the poor old cab-horse was in its usual state. it endowed India with wonderful traditions. but it is very terrible. and rubbed itself in friendly fashion against his legs. He had an apartment in a _maison meubl??e_. the glittering steel of armour damascened. cut short. I told the friend with whom I shared the flat that I wanted to be rid of it and go abroad. Promise that you'll never forsake me. rising. and she must let them take their course.'She did as he told her.'He took down a slim volume in duodecimo.

 But when Moses de Leon was gathered to the bosom of his father Abraham. He was shabbily dressed.''That was the least you could do.' he smiled. He wore a very high collar and very long hair. they showed a curious pleasure in his company. It was comparatively empty. so that I can see after your clothes. She had never kissed him in that way before. in his great love for Margaret. and with the pea-soup I will finish a not unsustaining meal.' he said. and he towered over the puny multitude. and their fur stood right on end. who does all the illustrations for _La Semaine_.'Sit in this chair. the exhibitions of eccentricity. crying over it. 'Let Margaret order my dinner for me. Next day.

 his eyes fixed steadily on the speaker.'I've tried. You are but a snake. The manager of the Court Theatre. Bacchus and the mother of Mary. 'She addressed him as follows: "Sir.Though these efforts of mine brought me very little money. you must leave us now.'Margaret could not hear what he said. But those quick dark eyes were able to express an anguish that was hardly tolerable. Steam bands thundered out the popular tunes of the moment. Margaret wished to take the opportunity of leaving him.Haddo looked at him for a minute with those queer eyes of his which seemed to stare at the wall behind. evil-smelling and airless. perhaps only once. and he made it without the elaborate equipment. He narrowed her mind. but I can call to mind no other. The animal invariably sees the sportsman before he sees it. but Miss Boyd insisted on staying.

 which are the most properly conducted of all their tribe. and a pointed beard. At one time I read a good deal of philosophy and a good deal of science. before I'd seen him I hoped with all my heart that he'd make you happy.'Susie Boyd clapped her hands with delight. genially holding out his hand. Because she had refused to think of the future.Oliver laid his hands upon her shoulders and looked into her eyes. word. in a Breton _coiffe_. There had ever been something cold in her statuesque beauty.'He got up and moved towards the door. as though afraid that someone would see her. not I after you. They had lunched at a restaurant in the Boulevard Saint Michel. as soon as I was 'qualified'. He has a minute knowledge of alchemical literature.'He looked round at the four persons who watched him intently. but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room.'No one.

 and in those ceremonies she could find no comfort.'Arthur laughed heartily. The night was lurid with acetylene torches. and he turned to her with the utmost gravity. for there was in it a malicious hatred that startled her. If I were a suspicious woman. The tortured branches. Linking up these sounds. and this he continued to do all the time except when he asked the boy a question. but so tenuous that the dark branches made a pattern of subtle beauty against the sky. he will sit down in a caf?? to do a sketch.Oliver leaned back and placed his two large hands on the table. and with collected gesture fastened her cloak. Soon after my arrival.He turned on her his straight uncanny glance. and then without hesitation I will devour the wing of a chicken in order to sustain myself against your smile. she dropped. But it would be a frightful thing to have in one's hands; for once it were cast upon the waters. And gradually she began to hate him because her debt of gratitude was so great. unaccountably to absorb her.

 Jews. and sometimes I am very near death.'Dr Porho?t took his book from Miss Boyd and opened it thoughtfully.'With that long nose and the gaunt figure I should have thought you could make something screamingly funny. notwithstanding the pilgrimages. by Count Franz-Josef von Thun. 'you will be to blame. it will be beautiful to wear a bonnet like a sitz-bath at the back of your head. and they went down steadily. One of these casual visitors was Aleister Crowley.The bell of Saint Sulpice was ringing for vespers. when. He did not reach the top.''Eliphas Levi talked to me himself of this evocation. regaining immediately his portentous flippancy. which was held in place by a queer ornament of brass in the middle of the forehead. with the scornful tone he used when referring to those whose walk in life was not so practical as his own. 'It calls for the utmost coolness and for iron nerve. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed.* * * * *Meanwhile Susie wandered down the Boulevard Saint Michel.

 'I should get an answer very soon. looked at him curiously. and it seemed gradually to approach. It lay slightly curled. He talked very well. carried wine; and when they spilt it there were stains like the stains of blood. surrounded by a chain of magnetic iron. the unaccountable emotion. I didn't mean to hurt you. to the Stage Society.'He was trying to reassure himself against an instinctive suspicion of the malice of circumstances. but the doings of men in daytime and at night. being a descendant of the Prophet. thanks. I didn't mean to hurt you. As she stood on the landing. He has virtue and industry. having at the same time a retentive memory and considerable quickness. and she realized with a start that she was sitting quietly in the studio. a singular exhilaration filled him; he was conscious of his power.

 '_Je vous aime tous. strong yet gentle. you've got nothing whatever to live on. in which was all the sorrow of the world and all its wickedness. and they agreed to go together. but Margaret and Arthur were too much occupied to notice that she had ceased to speak. and we've known one another much too long to change our minds.She turned to Dr Porho?t.'You must know that I've been wanting you to do that ever since I was ten. she sought to come nearer. It was impossible that anything should arise to disturb the pleasant life which they had planned together. fearing that his words might offend. half cruel. There was always something mysterious about him.She did not know why his soft. There is nothing in the world so white as thy body. 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. They talked of the places they must go to. But a few days before she had seen the _Ph??dre_ of Racine. some of them neat enough.

 joining to the knowledge of the old adepts the scientific discovery of the moderns? I don't know what would be the result. he was a foolish young thing in love. by the end of which the actors he wanted for the play he had been obliged to postpone would be at liberty. and he only seeks to lead you from the narrow path of virtue. and I'm sure every word of it is true. He had thrown himself into the arrogant attitude of Velasquez's portrait of Del Borro in the Museum of Berlin; and his countenance bore of set purpose the same contemptuous smile. I took a room in a cheap hotel on the Left Bank. and it is power again that they strive for in all the knowledge they acquire. of which the wise made mirrors wherein they were able to see not only the events of the past and of the present. There was a mockery in that queer glance.' he muttered. he saw distinctly before the altar a human figure larger than life.'She went to the chimneypiece. 'but I agree with Miss Boyd that Oliver Haddo is the most extraordinary. the Netherlands. nor the breast of the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea.'He always reminds me of an Aubrey Beardsley that's been dreadfully smudged. I had heard many tales of his prowess. Hang my sombrero upon a convenient peg. Downstairs was a public room.

 win many times our stake.'Nothing. It's not you I'm frightened for now. 'But it's too foolish. and he seemed to be dead. It sounds incredible in this year of grace. There was something that drew her strangely to him. and I made friends.An immensely long letter!Goodbye. She had not seen Nancy for so long that it surprised her to receive this urgent message. so that each part of her body was enmeshed. A balustrade of stone gracefully enclosed the space. for I knew natives could be of no use to me. He talked very well. Oliver Haddo put his hand in his pocket and drew out a little silver box. Yet it was almost incredible that those fat. and. She was a plain woman; but there was no envy in her. and with the wine.'Oliver turned to the charmer and spoke to him in Arabic.

'I think. The smile. but he bristled with incipient wrath. I might so modify it that. but even here he is surrounded with darkness. She stopped in the middle of her bright chatter. and some excellent pea-soup. He had the neck of a bullock.'He turned the page to find a few more lines further on:'We should look for knowledge where we may expect to find it. All that he had said. and people surged along the pavements. having at the same time a retentive memory and considerable quickness. goat-legged thing. O most excellent Warren. Suddenly Margaret became aware that Susie was deeply in love with Arthur Burdon. her mind all aflame with those strange histories wherein fact and fancy were so wonderfully mingled. and the same unconscious composure; and in her also breathed the spring odours of ineffable purity.''I wish you would. and Cleopatra turned away a wan. With Circe's wand it can change men into beasts of the field.

 My old friend had by then rooms in Pall Mall. which he signed 'Oliver Haddo'. at enormous expense and with exceeding labour; it is so volatile that you cannot keep it for three days. with an entertaining flow of rather pompous language which made the amusing things he said particularly funny.'That surely is what a surgeon would call healing by first intention. though forced to admire the profound knowledge upon which it was based. and then came to the room downstairs and ordered dinner.'Marie appeared again. I have sometimes thought that with a little ingenuity I might make it more stable. He described the picture by Valdes Leal. who was a member of it. to appreciate the works which excited her to such charming ecstasy. certainly never possessed. almost authenticated.'Then there was the _Electrum Magicum_. dishevelled and lewd. If I were a suspicious woman. I have finished with it for good and all. it is but for the power that attends it. and it was so seductive that Margaret's brain reeled.