that aroused in her horror and dismay.

 I wish I could drive the fact into this head of yours that rudeness is not synonymous with wit
 I wish I could drive the fact into this head of yours that rudeness is not synonymous with wit. I haven't seen any of his work. The committee accepted _A Man of Honour_. My old friend had by then rooms in Pall Mall. You have heard of the Kabbalah.''You could not please me more. As an acquaintance he is treacherous and insincere; as an enemy. and yet it was divine. They spoke a different tongue. Crowley told fantastic stories of his experiences. intolerable shame.The fair to which they were going was held at the Lion de Belfort.' said Susie. Haddo uttered a cry. as though too much engrossed in his beloved really to notice anyone else; and she wondered how to make conversation with a man who was so manifestly absorbed. He had a handsome face of a deliberately aesthetic type and was very elegantly dressed. but.She braced herself for further questions. There seemed not a moment to lose. In two hours he was dead. searching out the moisture in all growing things. it is but for the power that attends it. Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim. for the trivial incident showed once more how frank the girl was. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there. She stood with her back to the fireplace. He gave Haddo a rapid glance. Margaret walked slowly to the church.

'But it can be made only in trivial quantities. untidy hair. They might see anything that had been written or spoken. O Clayson. It was characteristic of Frank that he should take such pains to reply at length to the inquiry. frightened eye upon Haddo and then hid its head. but she did not think the man was mad.''What are you going to do?' asked Susie.'Dr Porho?t took his book from Miss Boyd and opened it thoughtfully. Arthur opened the door for him. who believed it to be a miracle. but they were white and even.'Have you ever heard of Eliphas Levi?' he inquired. but never after I left Paris to return to London. There was a trace of moisture in them still. There was in her a wealth of passionate affection that none had sought to find. indolent and passionate. A Hungarian band played in a distant corner. exercise.' cried Susie.Susie hesitated for a moment. caught sight of Margaret. The French members got up and left. leaves out of consideration the individual cases that contradict the enormous majority. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me. honest and simple. But Haddo never hesitated on these occasions. and he would not listen to the words of an heretic.

The fair to which they were going was held at the Lion de Belfort. I found that his reading was extraordinarily wide. a few puny errors which must excite a smile on the lips of the gentle priest.They took two straw-bottomed chairs and sat near the octagonal water which completes with its fountain of Cupids the enchanting artificiality of the Luxembourg. He went out alone one night on the trail of three lions and killed them all before morning with one shot each. they showed a curious pleasure in his company.I have heard vaguely that he was travelling over the world. he was extremely handsome. He wore a very high collar and very long hair. and he looked at it gravely.'The answer added a last certainty to Margaret's suspicion.'These ladies are unacquainted with the mysterious beings of whom you speak. It seemed to her that she had got out of Paris all it could give her. The gay little lady who shared his fortunes listened to his wisdom with an admiration that plainly flattered him. Some were quite young. the doom of all that existed would be sealed beyond repeal. Margaret sprang to her feet. by Delancre; he drew his finger down the leather back of Delrio's _Disquisitiones Magicae_ and set upright the _Pseudomonarchia Daemonorum_ of Wierus; his eyes rested for an instant on Hauber's _Acta et Scripta Magica_. she talked and you listened with the delighted attention of a happy lover. "It may be of service to others of my trade.'Miss Boyd. At the entrance.''How do you know. It was dirty and thumbed.''I shall be much pleased. He had thrown himself down in the chair. Margaret discovered by chance that his mother lived. He was very smartly dressed in a horsey way.

 I shall never be surprised to hear anything in connexion with him.''I'm dying to know what you did with all the lions you slaughtered.' he gasped. from her superior standpoint of an unmarried woman no longer young. finding them trivial and indifferent. since there is beauty in every inch of her. wondering if they were tormented by such agony as she.'Everyone can make game of the unknown. When may I come?''Not in the morning. his arm was immediately benumbed as far as the shoulder. his ears small. and the man gave her his drum. win many times our stake. of those who had succeeded in their extraordinary quest. but she did not think the man was mad. There was nothing divine in her save a sweet strange spirit of virginity.'The man has a horned viper. 'Do you think if he'd had anything in him at all he would have let me kick him without trying to defend himself?'Haddo's cowardice increased the disgust with which Arthur regarded him. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens. you've got nothing whatever to live on. and his hair had already grown thin. The names of the streets recalled the monarchy that passed away in bloodshed. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath. It was Pan. but could utter no sound. It would not have been so intolerable if he had suspected her of deceit. When the bottles were removed. intolerable shame.

 But though he never sought to assume authority over her.' he said. He erred when he described me as his intimate friend. I want all your strength. and the bearded sheikhs who imparted to you secret knowledge?' cried Dr Porho?t.'Marie brought him the bill of fare. another on Monday afternoon.''Of course you didn't tell him that I insisted on buying every stitch you'd got on.''It is a point of view I do not sympathize with. and he watched her in silence.'The other day the Chien Noir was the scene of a tragedy. as though some terrible danger threatened her. He looked at Arthur with a certain ironic gravity. which outraged and at the same time irresistibly amused everyone who heard it. he seemed to know by heart. It was he who first made me acquainted with the Impressionists.'Then the Arab took a reed instrument. Haddo paid no heed. He loved the mysterious pictures in which the painter had sought to express something beyond the limits of painting.'Knowing Susie's love for Arthur. And on a sudden. Gustave Moreau. I was in a rut. There was something terrible in his excessive bulk. but I fear there are few that will interest an English young lady. straight eyes remained upon Arthur without expression. 'I'm buying furniture already. Their thin faces were earthy with want and cavernous from disease.

 Heaven and Hell are in its province; and all forms. Neither of them stirred. She leaned forward and saw that the bowl was empty. and the acrid scents of Eastern perfumes. and there was one statue of an athlete which attracted his prolonged attention. tous. for all their matter-of-fact breeziness. were very gay. the most marvellous were those strange beings. as though evil had entered into it. and if some. 'There was a time when you did not look so coldly upon me when I ordered a bottle of white wine.'The Chien Noir. failed; it produced only a small thing like a leech. And now everyone is kneeling down. When I have corrected the proofs of a book. gives an account of certain experiments witnessed by himself. and her soul fled from her body; but a new soul came in its place. It certainly added authority to what he said. the lust of Rome. and she took the keenest pleasure in Margaret's comeliness. he flung his arms around Margaret. and her heart seemed pressed in an iron vice.' said Arthur. which suggested that he was indifferent to material things. and a pale form arose.Susie knew. Susie's talent for dress was remarkable.

 her tact so sure. I bought. I was told. and her physical attraction was allied with physical abhorrence.'Yet I cannot be sure that it is all folly. When. for these are the great weapons of the magician. To one he was a great master and to the other an impudent charlatan. for the mere pleasure of it; and to Burkhardt's indignation frequently shot beasts whose skins and horns they did not even trouble to take. I found an apartment on the fifth floor of a house near the Lion de Belfort. He has a sort of instinct which leads him to the most unlikely places. In a little while. and would not allow that there was anything strange in the cessation of the flowing blood.' He paused for a moment to light a cigar.''That was the least you could do.' he said. dark but roomy. But he sent for his snakes. in the Tyrol. Nearly fifty years had passed since I had done so. The preparations for the journey were scarcely made when Margaret discovered by chance that her father had died penniless and she had lived ever since at Arthur's entire expense.'Dr Porho?t shrugged his shoulders. I thought I was spending my own money.''I don't know how I can ever repay you. straight eyes remained upon Arthur without expression. He could have knelt down and worshipped as though a goddess of old Greece stood before him. He tapped it. It seemed that he had never seen anything so ravishing as the way in which she bent over the kettle.

 and an imperturbable assurance. Arthur turned to Margaret. and wide-brimmed hats. which suggested that he was indifferent to material things.'Madam. and he rejoiced in it.'I've never seen anyone with such a capacity for wretchedness as that man has. Either Haddo believed things that none but a lunatic could. It was like an overwhelming fragrance and she could hardly bear it. but of life. She remembered on a sudden Arthur's great love and all that he had done for her sake.'No.'He dragged himself with difficulty back to the chair. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed. who had preserved their self-respect notwithstanding a difficult position. They walked on and suddenly came to a canvas booth on which was an Eastern name. he began to talk. It is the chosen home of every kind of eccentricity.'I think it's delicious. with a bold signature. The visitor. as he led her in.I was glad to get back to London. He did not seem to see her. Margaret was right when she said that he was not handsome. ye men of Paris. after more than the usual number of _ap??ritifs_. Her heart was uplifted from the sordidness of earth.

 and her heart seemed pressed in an iron vice. She has a delightful enthusiasm for every form of art. but not a paltry. Her whole body burned with the ecstasy of his embrace. but she did not think the man was mad. he is now a living adept. Power was the subject of all his dreams. I'll drop a note to Hurrell tonight and ask him to tell me anything he can. and with the pea-soup I will finish a not unsustaining meal.' laughed Clayson. but endurance and strength. Susie could have kissed the hard paving stones of the quay. intemperate and boastful. And she seemed hardly ready for marriage.''Do you love me very much?' she asked. dishevelled and lewd.'His voice was stronger. They were gathered round the window and had not heard him come in. and with collected gesture fastened her cloak.'And it's not as if there had been any doubt about our knowing our minds. and the tremulousness of life was in it; the rough bark was changed into brutish flesh and the twisted branches into human arms. he thought it very clever because she said it; but in a man it would have aroused his impatience. Art has nothing to do with a smart frock. though an odious attraction bound her to the man. In mixed company he was content to listen silently to others.' answered Dr Porho?t gravely.'You're simply wonderful tonight. The expression was sombre.

 and if he sees your eyes red.'What on earth's the matter?''I wish you weren't so beautiful. he found a note in his room.' said Arthur ironically. He reminded one of those colossal statues of Apollo in which the god is represented with a feminine roundness and delicacy. and yet your admiration was alloyed with an unreasoning terror. Because she had refused to think of the future. It seems too much to expect that I should enjoy such extraordinarily good luck. The circumstances of the apparition are so similar to those I have just told you that it would only bore you if I repeated them.' smiled Arthur. There is nothing in the world so white as thy body. you may have heard. Suddenly he began to speak. He gave a laugh. but Susie had not the courage to prevent her from looking. It was intolerable.'You give me credit now for very marvellous powers. you will already have heard of his relationship with various noble houses. she knew what the passion was that consumed her. but more especially of a diary kept by a certain James Kammerer. At the entrance.Suddenly he released the enormous tension with which he held her. touching devotion. Haddo spat upon the bleeding place three times. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair. she had been almost flattered. She was aware that his passion for this figure was due.'He handled the delicate pages as a lover of flowers would handle rose-leaves.

 and I was able to take a bedroom in the same building and use his sitting-room to work in. with a little nod of amusement.'How beautifully you're dressed!' he had said.'Arthur protested that on the contrary the passion of hunger occupied at that moment his heart to the exclusion of all others. and he knows it. He placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle formed by the seats and crouched down on his haunches. Then he began to play things she did not know. I feel your goodness and your purity. was the most charming restaurant in the quarter.''You can't be more sure than I am.''I shall not prevent you from going out if you choose to go.'He went there in the spring of 1856 to escape from internal disquietude and to devote himself without distraction to his studies. I took an immediate dislike to him.'I implore your acceptance of the only portrait now in existence of Oliver Haddo. but. he was dismayed that the thought had not occurred to him. The discovery was so astounding that at first it seemed absurd.'How on earth did you get here?' cried Susie lightly. and his face assumed a new. It was remote and strange. stood over him helplessly. The sound of it was overpowering like too sweet a fragrance. The juggler started back. and the flowers. indeed. The champagne went quickly to her head. She was horribly fascinated by the personality that imbued these elaborate sentences.He was too reticent to proceed to any analysis of his feelings; but he knew that he had cared for her first on account of the physical perfection which contrasted so astonishingly with the countless deformities in the study of which his life was spent.

 'I've never taken such a sudden dislike to anyone. and they rested upon her. He has a minute knowledge of alchemical literature.He turned his eyes slowly.'But if the adept is active. Nothing can save me. She tore it up with impatience. and he felt that she was trembling. and then it turns out that you've been laughing at us.'Ah. They were model housewives. Arthur opened the door for him. If I were a suspicious woman. a large emerald which Arthur had given her on their engagement.. Suddenly it darted at his chin and bit him. A little crowd collected and did not spare their jokes at his singular appearance. I knew he was much older than you.' she said. refused to continue.'It may interest you to know that I'm leaving Paris on Thursday. and Susie gave it an inquisitive glance.''That is an answer which has the advantage of sounding well and meaning nothing. She was determined that if people called her ugly they should be forced in the same breath to confess that she was perfectly gowned. but his action caused a general desertion. and it opened.'The man has a horned viper. une sole.

 was the mother of Helen of Troy. and interested everyone with whom he came in contact. by the pursuit of science. but he had a coarse humour which excited the rather gross sense of the ludicrous possessed by the young. and she was at pains to warn Arthur. when first she and Margaret were introduced into this society. Only her reliance on Arthur's common sense prevented her from giving way to ridiculous terrors.Margaret Dauncey shared a flat near the Boulevard du Montparnasse with Susie Boyd; and it was to meet her that Arthur had arranged to come to tea that afternoon.'Do not pay any attention to that gentleman. which I called _A Man of Honour_. It seemed that he had never seen anything so ravishing as the way in which she bent over the kettle. and ladies in powder and patch. and then he makes a jab at the panel. Margaret had lately visited the Luxembourg. and beg you to bring me a _poule au riz_. with his inhuman savour of fellowship with the earth which is divine. and she began again to lay eggs.'Marie. They talked of the places they must go to. The pose which had seemed amusing in a lad fresh from Eton now was intolerable.'He gave a low weird laugh.'He scribbled the address on a sheet of paper that he found on the table.'You must hate me for intruding on you. undines. and you that come from the islands of the sea.'It occurred to me that he was playing some trick. He uttered Arabic words.'The first time I saw her I felt as though a new world had opened to my ken.

 I aimed at the lioness which stood nearest to me and fired. He threw off his cloak with a dramatic gesture. Electric trams passed through it with harsh ringing of bells. to announce her intention of spending a couple of years in Paris to study art.Margaret's night was disturbed. But we.'In 1897. but something.Haddo looked round at the others. Many were tonsured already. and it is certainly very fine.''What is there to be afraid of?' she cried. He was a man of great size. It seemed hardly by chance that the colours arranged themselves in such agreeable tones. She was alone in an alien land. that she was able to make the most of herself. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there. it seemed to suffer a more than human pain. to make sense of it?_' If you were shown this line and asked what poet had written it. Be very careful.' returned Dr Porho?t. It sounds incredible in this year of grace. He stepped forward to the centre of the tent and fell on his knees. with huge stony boulders and leafless trees. and Haddo passed on to that faded. It was characteristic of Frank that he should take such pains to reply at length to the inquiry. almost authenticated. as he led her in.

He held up the flap that gave access to the booth. She would not let his go. I precipitate myself at your feet. rising. and fell back dead. It was characteristic of Frank that he should take such pains to reply at length to the inquiry. He set more twigs and perfumes on the brazier. and now she lives with the landscape painter who is by her side. with a colossal nose. on a sudden.''I shall never try to make it. stood over him helplessly. for he was become enormously stout. in the course of his researches make any practical discoveries?''I prefer those which were not practical. remember that only he who desires with his whole heart will find. and they stared into space. but could not. remember that only he who desires with his whole heart will find. His mariner was earnest. If he shoots me he'll get his head cut off. 'I assure you that. The magician bowed solemnly as he was in turn made known to Susie Boyd. He was furnished with introductions from London surgeons of repute. It was thus that I first met Arnold Bennett and Clive Bell. It was impossible that anything should arise to disturb the pleasant life which they had planned together. and I know exactly how much sugar to put in. Italy. of them all.

 He worked very hard. by Delancre; he drew his finger down the leather back of Delrio's _Disquisitiones Magicae_ and set upright the _Pseudomonarchia Daemonorum_ of Wierus; his eyes rested for an instant on Hauber's _Acta et Scripta Magica_. and occasionally uttered a barbaric cry. he suggested that she should not live alone. They were not large. which Raggles. It gave her a horrible delight. She had read the book with delight and. Here he not only devoted the leisure hours of forty years to this mysterious science. who had been her pupil.'I venture to think that no private library contains so complete a collection. of plays which. Everything tended to take him out of his usual reserve. She watched Susie and Arthur cunningly. as though the mere fact of saying the same thing several times made it more convincing. The tavern to which they went was on the Boulevard des Italiens.'No one. I have seen photographs of it. but I never ceased cordially to dislike him. 'I should get an answer very soon. Here and there.'And how is Miss Dauncey?' he asked. the twin towers of Notre Dame. driven almost to distraction. Susie learnt to appreciate his solid character. he caught her in his arms. He placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle formed by the seats and crouched down on his haunches. One day.

 Of all who formed the unbroken line of tradition. intolerably verbose.'Why on earth didn't you come to tea?' she asked. a retired horse-dealer who had taken to victualling in order to build up a business for his son. and he rejoiced in it. It was remote and strange. was down with fever and could not stir from his bed.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire. even to Arthur. but merely to amuse herself.'But water cannot burn. I judge it must be a unique occurrence. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work.'Not a word. It was sent from the Rue Littr??. His features were good. and a tiny slip of paper on which was written in pencil: _The other half of this card will be given you at three o'clock tomorrow in front of Westminster Abbey_. Your industry edifies me. it pleased him to see it in others. but at last a time came when I was greatly troubled in my mind. but his clean-shaven face was full of interest to so passionate an observer of her kind. but I want him to be happy.' said Susie. but he has absolutely _no_ talent.Miss Boyd was beginning to tear him gaily limb from limb. Day after day she felt that complete ecstasy when he took her in his huge arms. no one was more conscious than Haddo of the singularity of his feat. and his eye fell on a stout volume bound in vellum.

' answered Arthur.. I think that our lives are quite irrevocably united. The French members got up and left. with helpless flutterings. with a laugh.'I saw the most noted charmer of Madras die two hours after he had been bitten by a cobra. Hang my sombrero upon a convenient peg. I shall not have lived in vain if I teach you in time to realize that the rapier of irony is more effective an instrument than the bludgeon of insolence. She chattered without pause and had the satisfaction presently of capturing their attention. he at once consented. for he had been to Eton and to Cambridge. a life of supernatural knowledge. which flamed with a dull unceasing roar. only with despair; it is as if the Lord Almighty had forsaken him and the high heavens were empty of their solace. and set it down within the circle. The throng seemed bent with a kind of savagery upon amusement. There was always that violent hunger of the soul which called her to him. her mind aglow with characters and events from history and from fiction. She found it easy to deceive her friends. Oliver watched them gravely. recently published. her eyes red with weeping. and she was curiously alarmed.. It was autumn. and others it ruled by fear. sensual lips.

 and allowing me to eat a humble meal with ample room for my elbows. In Arthur's eyes Margaret had all the exquisite grace of the statue. He. but Margaret said he did not photograph well. 'She addressed him as follows: "Sir.'He said solemnly: "_Buy Ashantis. The only difference was that my father actually spoke. with faded finery. The door was shut.'I shall begin to think that you really are a magician.His presence cast an unusual chill upon the party. I lunched out and dined out. The man had barely escaped death. the most infamous. He uttered Arabic words. It was remote and strange. It appears that one of his friends prepared the remedy. I do not know if it was due to my own development since the old days at Oxford. I have described the place elsewhere. and did as she bade him. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously. The splendour of the East blinded her eyes.He did not answer. and the approach of night made it useless to follow.' she said. I'd do all I could to make him happy. She had awakened more than once from a nightmare in which he assumed fantastic and ghastly shapes.Miss Boyd was thirty.

 for I knew natives could be of no use to me. and be very good to him. his appearance.She stood in the middle of the lofty studio. The gay little lady who shared his fortunes listened to his wisdom with an admiration that plainly flattered him. refused to continue. When Margaret talked of the Greeks' divine repose and of their blitheness. after whom has been named a neighbouring boulevard.'He was trying to reassure himself against an instinctive suspicion of the malice of circumstances. Will.Dr Porho?t had been making listless patterns with his stick upon the gravel.The water had been consumed. Count von K??ffstein. As every one knows. his heavy face in shadow. He seemed no longer to see Margaret. The surroundings were so commonplace that they seemed to emphasise his singularity.' she said. A lithe body wriggled out. and she did not know if they walked amid rocks or tombs.The new arrival stood at the end of the room with all eyes upon him. and heavy hangings. and there was the peculiar air of romance which is always in a studio. She feared that Haddo had returned. "It may be of service to others of my trade. and W. till the dawn was nearly at hand. the audacious sureness of his hand had excited his enthusiasm.

 and they swept along like the waves of the sea. the lust of Rome. and Haddo told her not to look round. nor a fickle disposition the undines. he addressed them in bad French. but his action caused a general desertion. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing. He sank painfully into a chair. He wore a very high collar and very long hair.' answered Dr Porho?t gravely. wondering if they were tormented by such agony as she. strangely parallel.'Dr Porho?t interposed with introductions. but do not much care if they don't. but I am bound to confess it would not surprise me to learn that he possessed powers by which he was able to do things seemingly miraculous. Margaret tried to join calmly in the conversation. Thereupon. Neither the roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia. She couldn't help it. but it could not be denied that he had considerable influence over others. mingling with his own fantasies the perfect words of that essay which. were obliged to follow. as the model for Oliver Haddo.'Susie went to the shelves to which he vaguely waved. Susie was too much annoyed to observe this agitation.'Is there nothing I can do for you at all?' she exclaimed. I started upon the longest of all my novels. but withheld them from Deuteronomy.

 tous. I started upon the longest of all my novels. and his curiosity would not let him rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effect of it. partly from her conversation.' said Margaret. but in those days was extremely handsome. to give her orders. my publisher expressed a wish to reissue it. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable. as though he were scrutinising the inmost thought of the person with whom he talked.Miss Boyd was thirty.'Why did you make me come here?' she asked suddenly. and her consciousness of the admiration she excited increased her beauty. Rolls of fat descended from his chin and concealed his neck. I was looking up some point upon which it seemed impossible to find authorities. the atmosphere of scented chambers.'Dr Porho?t passed his hand across his eyes.'Now you mustn't talk to me.She bent her head and fled from before him. There was in that beautiful countenance more than beauty. He summoned before Margaret the whole array of Ribera's ghoulish dwarfs. and with a voice that was cold with the coldness of death she murmured the words of the poet:'I am amorous of thy body.'What on earth's the matter with you?' she asked. who sat on the other side of Margaret. You must be a wise man if you can tell us what is reality. Miss Margaret admires you as much as you adore her. musty odour. Some were quite young.

 a turbulent assembly surged about her.'Arthur stared at him with amazement. so I suppose it was written during the first six months of 1907. with a laugh. Come at twelve. and only seventeen when I asked her to marry me. intent upon his greetings. and all that lived fled from before them till they came to the sea; and the sea itself was consumed in vehement fire. but of life. The fore feet and hind feet of the lioness are nearly the same size. the face rather broad. It choked the two women. and how would they be troubled by this beauty. He had the advantage over me that he could apparently read. He was shabbily dressed. becoming frightened. she began to draw the caricature which every new face suggested to her. But your characters are more different than chalk and cheese. 'If he really knows Frank Hurrell I'll find out all about him. and to their din merry-go-rounds were turning. for in the enthusiastic days that seemed so long gone by she was accustomed to come there for the sake of a certain tree upon which her eyes now rested. indeed. He summoned before Margaret the whole array of Ribera's ghoulish dwarfs.'The unlucky creature. her hands behind her. gnawing at a dead antelope. and Arthur shut the door behind him.' she repeated.

 and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game. bringing out a novel once a year (which seldom earned more than the small advance the publisher had given me but which was on the whole respectably reviewed). refusing to write any more plays for the time.'Then the Arab took a reed instrument. and he achieved an unpopularity which was remarkable.'Fiddlesticks! The fashion is always beautiful.''My dear. two by two. meditating on the problems of metaphysics. and I thought it would startle you if I chose that mode of ingress. very thin. L'?le Saint Louis to her mind offered a synthesis of the French spirit.But Arthur impatiently turned to his host. and gave it to an aged hen. for science had taught me to distrust even the evidence of my five senses. Like a bird at its last gasp beating frantically against the bars of a cage. wore a green turban. as Saint Anne. The fragrance of the East filled her nostrils. may have been fit to compare with me. He could not go into the poky den. and Clayson. and he cured them: testimonials to that effect may still be found in the archives of Nuremberg.'What a fool I am!' thought Susie. One of two had a wan ascetic look. The mind must be dull indeed that is not thrilled by the thought of this wandering genius traversing the lands of the earth at the most eventful date of the world's history. venez vite!_' she cried. of all the books that treat of occult science.

 How can you be so cruel?''Then the only alternative is that you should accompany me.' she said. An unattached and fairly presentable young man is always in demand. and to their din merry-go-rounds were turning.'My dear fellow. I tremble in every limb at the thought of your unmitigated scorn. He had a gift for caricature which was really diverting. Suddenly he began to speak. Evil was all about her. And there are women crying. He put his arm around her waist. dear doctor. Her whole body burned with the ecstasy of his embrace. But the older woman expressed herself with decision. wholly enveloped in a winding sheet. Margaret watched their faces. a life of freedom. operating. They talked of the places they must go to. yet existed mysteriously.'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris. She went along the crowded street stealthily. At length everything was ready. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. He was out when we arrived. The least wonderful of its many properties was its power to transmute all inferior metals into gold. She sprang up. when.

 The two women were impressed.' he answered. as usual on Sundays.'But water cannot burn. and she took a first glance at them in general. had repeated an observation of his. Then the depth of the mirror which was in front of him grew brighter by degrees.. At length. tall and stout. It crossed his mind that at this moment he would willingly die. I hope I shall never see him again. pliant. half-consumed. intelligence.'I'm afraid my entrance interrupted you in a discourse. no longer young. but he had a coarse humour which excited the rather gross sense of the ludicrous possessed by the young. It was crowded. He's a failure. But the trees grew without abandonment. and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt. like a man suddenly awaked from deep sleep. always to lose their fortunes. and darkness fell across her eyes. He looked at Arthur with a certain ironic gravity. But on the first floor was a narrow room. but what was to prevent it she did not know.

'Why don't you kiss me?' she said. and stood lazily at the threshold. with a colossal nose. and read it again.'His name is not so ridiculous as later associations have made it seem. I'm pretty well-to-do. You won't try to understand. For one thing.'Margaret did not answer; she could not understand what Susie meant. and the troublous sea of life whereon there is no refuge for the weary and the sick at heart. Susie. the filled cup in one hand and the plate of cakes in the other. and the freedom to go into the world had come too late; yet her instinct told her that she was made to be a decent man's wife and the mother of children. It was comparatively empty. The roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia are not so white as thy body. Just think what a privilege it is to come upon a man in the twentieth century who honestly believes in the occult. I tremble in every limb at the thought of your unmitigated scorn.She did not see Susie. seeming to forget her presence. There is only one subject upon which the individual can speak with authority.Haddo looked at him for a minute with those queer eyes of his which seemed to stare at the wall behind. It is not for me to follow you. she had been almost flattered. and mysterious crimes. by the pictures that represented the hideousness of man or that reminded you of his mortality. prevented her. making more and more friends. and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt.

 what do you think?' she asked. that she was able to make the most of herself. In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water. and an overwhelming remorse seized her. There was something terrible in his excessive bulk. had the look of streets in a provincial town. And if you hadn't been merciful then.''Go by all means if you choose. Everything tended to take him out of his usual reserve. the lady of the crinoline. He was no longer the awkward man of social intercourse. 'because he interests me enormously. but received lessons in it from an obliging angel. The noise was very great. By a singular effect his eyes appeared blood-red. He was a small person. The goddess had not the arrogance of the huntress who loved Endymion. some years later.He looked upon himself as a happy man. Escape was impossible. I expect she's all right. she turned round and looked at her steadily. you had better go away. were very gay.'No. The wind will not displace a single fold of his garment. to the library. were alloyed with a feeling that aroused in her horror and dismay.