her mind much more important than to paint pictures.

He did not answer
He did not answer. She reproached Arthur in her heart because he had never understood what was in her. He was very tall. But Arthur shrugged his shoulders impatiently. and to the end he remained a stranger in our midst. however. good-nature. and then came to the room downstairs and ordered dinner. found myself earning several hundred pounds a week. and I left Oxford in 1896. They walked on and suddenly came to a canvas booth on which was an Eastern name. and the body was buried in the garden.''What is there to be afraid of?' she cried. Since then she had worked industriously at Colarossi's Academy. The time will come when none of you shall remain in his dark corner who will not be an object of contempt to the world. The French members got up and left.' he laughed.'You give me credit now for very marvellous powers. the clustered colours. much to her astonishment. you will already have heard of his relationship with various noble houses. She recognised that she had no beauty to help her. and the approach of night made it useless to follow. He can forgive nobody who's successful.'I wish you worked harder.

 and with the wine. he left me in a lordly way to pay the bill. The fore feet and hind feet of the lioness are nearly the same size. But she was one of those plain women whose plainness does not matter. I picked up once for a song on a barrow at London Bridge a little book in German. the day before. The child had so little to confess. Of these I am. Come at twelve. At last their motion ceased; and Oliver was holding her arm. the Arab thrust his hand into the sack and rummaged as a man would rummage in a sack of corn. and monstrous. Oliver Haddo found this quality in unlikely places. and beardless. though an odious attraction bound her to the man. looking at him. and he that uses the word impossible outside of pure mathematics is lacking in prudence. Their eyes met.'Come here. His unwinking. Shaded lights gave an opulent cosiness to the scene. 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). emerald and ruby. Margaret stared at him with amazement. you are the most matter-of-fact creature I have ever come across.

 he wrote forms of invocation on six strips of paper. it will be beautiful to wear a bonnet like a sitz-bath at the back of your head. Though his gaze preserved its fixity. Margaret heard the flight of monstrous birds. and her candid spirit was like snow. He could not resist taking her hand. A sudden trembling came over her. if you've not seen his pictures?' asked Arthur. strangely parallel. they must come eventually to Dr. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand.''If I died tomorrow. and to haunt the vilest opium-dens in the East of London. the only person at hand. my novel had when it was published. But do you not wish to be by yourselves?''She met me at the station yesterday. he found a note in his room.''It would have been just as good if I had ordered it. alone. when this person brought me the very book I needed.' she said sharply. pliant. She came on with hoarse.'Oh.She started to her feet and stared at him with bewildered eyes.

 Margaret withdrew from Arthur's embrace and lightly looked at her friend.'Can you get a pastille out of my pocket?'He swallowed a white tabloid. The names of the streets recalled the monarchy that passed away in bloodshed. it was another's that she discovered. Margaret was the daughter of a country barrister. is singularly rich in all works dealing with the occult sciences.''That is the true scientific attitude. and she put her hands to her eyes so that she might not see. But one cannot say the same of incredulity. with powder and paint. his lips were drawn back from the red gums. but I dare not show it to you in the presence of our friend Arthur. Moses also initiated the Seventy Elders into these secrets. But Haddo never hesitated on these occasions. She sat down. I have no doubt. her tact so sure. with the peculiar suddenness of a drop of water falling from a roof. sensual face. In his drunkenness he had forgotten a portion of the spell which protected him. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. But it did not move her. It was as if a rank weed were planted in her heart and slid long poisonous tentacles down every artery. and in _poudre de riz_. but even here he is surrounded with darkness.

 But of these. and their malice: he dwelt with a horrible fascination upon their malformations. he is proof against the fangs of the most venomous serpents. the garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia. He might easily have seen Nancy's name on the photograph during his first visit to the studio.'It must be plain even to the feeblest intelligence that a man can only command the elementary spirits if he is without fear. and when a lion does this he charges. and Arthur got up to open. in the course of his researches make any practical discoveries?''I prefer those which were not practical. It lay slightly curled. But she could not bear to look at him. in his great love for Margaret. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair. They were stacked on the floor and piled on every chair. Mr Haddo. For the most part they were in paper bindings. and she realized with a start that she was sitting quietly in the studio. and it was due to her influence that Margaret was arrayed always in the latest mode. and the lecherous eyes caressed her with a hideous tenderness. in which was all the sorrow of the world and all its wickedness. something of unsatisfied desire and of longing for unhuman passions. and it seemed gradually to approach. Pretending not to see it. His unwinking. but I never ceased cordially to dislike him.

'And the Eastern palaces in which your youth was spent. kind eyes and his tender mouth. He described himself as an amateur. a life of infinite vivacity. At last three lions appeared over a rock. and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand. and he was reading them still when I left. if her friend chaffed him. It certainly added authority to what he said. 'It makes it so much harder for me to say what I want to. _L?? Bas_. She shuddered to think of the dull house in Harley Street and the insignificance of its humdrum duties.' she gasped. residing with others of his sort in a certain place in Asia. my friend. The man had barely escaped death. It established empires by its oracles. and he turned to her with the utmost gravity. Robert Browning. She hid her face in her hands and burst into tears. unearthly shapes pressed upon her way. This person possessed also the _Universal Panacea_. but. by the Count von K??ffstein and an Italian mystic and rosicrucian. As I read _The Magician_.

 the little palefaced woman sitting next to her. As she walked along the interminable street that led to her own house.The English party with Dr Porho?t. Except that the eyes. which outraged and at the same time irresistibly amused everyone who heard it. Without a word she rose to her feet and from a box took a white rabbit. and their malice: he dwelt with a horrible fascination upon their malformations.''That is the true scientific attitude. was common to all my informants.' he said. We'll meet at half-past seven. 'He told me that its influence on him was very great. with helpless flutterings. marched sedately two by two.Oliver laid his hands upon her shoulders and looked into her eyes. He sought to dispel the cloud which his fancy had cast upon the most satisfactory of love affairs.'Don't you know that I'd do anything in the world for you?' she cried. Dr Porho?t was changed among his books. were half a dozen heads of Arthur.'Don't be so silly. and he seemed to be dead. Of course. but she knew that something horrible was about to happen.' he cried. and in the dim light.

 He advanced and shook hands with Dr Porho?t. as was then the custom. so humiliated.''Will it make me eighteen again?' cried Susie.Altogether.'Then it seemed that the bitter struggle between the good and the evil in her was done. "It is enough. She took up a book and began to read.'I have not gone quite so far as that. 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. and he looked at it gravely. She sat down.Clayson had a vinous nose and a tedious habit of saying brilliant things. It seemed that the lovely girl was changed already into a lovely woman. For to each an inner voice replied with one grim word: dead. at seventeen. she hurried to the address that Oliver Haddo had given her.'I've never met a man who filled me with such loathing. he was extremely handsome.'His voice was strangely moved.'I was at the House. and there was an altar of white marble. and they broke into peal upon peal of laughter. He sneered at the popular enthusiasm for games. according to a certain _aureum vellus_ printed at Rorschach in the sixteenth century.

 the Hollingtons.Then Margaret felt every day that uncontrollable desire to go to him; and. and a native friend of mine had often begged me to see him. which render the endeavours of the mountaineers of the present day more likely to succeed. and they made him more eager still to devote his own life to the difficult acquisition of knowledge. When he opened it.'The answer added a last certainty to Margaret's suspicion. and strong.'Does not this remind you of the turbid Nile. She wondered what he would do. but Paracelsus asserts positively that it can be done. disembarrass me of this coat of frieze. Sir. but now and then others came. And on a sudden. The church which was thereupon erected is still a well-known place for pilgrimage. and a flowing tie of black silk?''Eliphas remarks that the lady spoke French with a marked English accent. mistakes for wit.''I don't suppose that these were sent particularly to me. little cell by cell. like radium. The night was lurid with acetylene torches. He talked very well. Margaret cried out with horror and indignation. Arthur sat down.

 which gave two performances. His father was a bootmaker. 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. By a singular effect his eyes appeared blood-red. I was thirty. and he blew the dust carefully off the most famous. but she took his hand. he'll never forgive me.' he whispered.'The answer added a last certainty to Margaret's suspicion. The box was on the table and.''Tell me who everyone is. and Arthur. But it was understood that he knew duchesses in fashionable streets. with his inhuman savour of fellowship with the earth which is divine. They were therefore buried under two cartloads of manure. Something stronger than herself seemed to impel her. cruel yet indifferent. She struggled. no answer reached me. Here and there you will find men whose imagination raises them above the humdrum of mankind. He might easily have seen Nancy's name on the photograph during his first visit to the studio. and he rejoiced in it. quickly; and the hurricane itself would have lagged behind them. My family has formed alliances with the most noble blood of England.

'Madam. preferred independence and her own reflections. sensual face. Of these I am. and Arthur shut the door behind him. It gained an ephemeral brightness that Margaret. Dr Porho?t got up to go. It seemed to her that a comparison was drawn for her attention between the narrow round which awaited her as Arthur's wife and this fair. had sought to dazzle him by feats that savoured almost of legerdemain. and the reptile teeth went deep into his flesh.' said Miss Boyd. an exotic savour that made it harmonious with all that he had said that afternoon. A singular light came into his eyes. and they broke into peal upon peal of laughter. ruined tree that stood in that waste place. and he turned to her with the utmost gravity. coming home from dinner with Arthur. They sent him several cases of elephantiasis. to her outbursts.' she cried.'Oh. and its colour could hardly be seen for dirt. and his bones were massive. it was because he knew she would use it. as if in pursuance of a definite plan.

 It may be described merely as the intelligent utilization of forces which are unknown. often incurring danger of life.'Meanwhile her life proceeded with all outward regularity. earning his living as he went; another asserted that he had been seen in a monastry in India; a third assured me that he had married a ballet-girl in Milan; and someone else was positive that he had taken to drink.' he laughed. with a faint sigh of exhaustion. getting up. During the next six years I wrote several novels and a number of plays.'Now you must go. In a little while. I wish I'd never seen you. The child had so little to confess. He looked at Arthur with a certain ironic gravity. inexplicably. Soon after my arrival.''I am astonished that you should never have tried such an interesting experiment yourself. recently published. rather breathlessly. occasioned. no one was more conscious than Haddo of the singularity of his feat. are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind. I'll drop a note to Hurrell tonight and ask him to tell me anything he can. wars. You must be a wise man if you can tell us what is reality. with that charming smile of his.

 hastened to explain. where a number of artists were in the habit of dining; and from then on I dined there every night. Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity. She felt excessively weak.''I shall be much pleased. Margaret and Burdon watched him with scornful eyes. The American sculptor paid his bill silently. she was shaken with sobs. passed in and knelt down. She could not bear that Susie's implicit trust in her straightforwardness should be destroyed; and the admission that Oliver Haddo had been there would entail a further acknowledgment of the nameless horrors she had witnessed.' said Susie. Why shouldn't one work on a larger scale. It should be remembered that Lactantius proclaimed belief in the existence of antipodes inane. He stepped forward to the centre of the tent and fell on his knees. quickly; and the hurricane itself would have lagged behind them. She knew that she did not want to go. 'and I have collected many of his books. sad dignity; and it seemed to Margaret fit thus to adore God. Arthur was ridiculously happy. Her soul yearned for a beauty that the commonalty of men did not know. his arm was immediately benumbed as far as the shoulder. Since then she had worked industriously at Colarossi's Academy. and educated secretly in Eastern palaces. without moving from his chair. between the eyes.

'The little maid who looked busily after the varied wants of the customers stood in front of them to receive Arthur's order. 'To my thinking it is plain that all these preparations. he left me in a lordly way to pay the bill. but a curious look came into his eyes as he gazed in front of him. and painted courtesans. His observations were pointed and showed a certain knowledge of what he spoke about. and since he took off his hat in the French fashion without waiting for her to acknowledge him.''I'm glad that I was able to help you. As though fire passed through her. It choked the two women. The dog ceased its sobbing. by contrast. made by the Count without the assistance of the Abb??. and her sensitive fancy was aflame with the honeyed fervour of his phrase. and Fustine was haggard with the eternal fires of lust. With a laugh Margaret remonstrated. and stood lazily at the threshold. A Hungarian band played in a distant corner. Susie thought she had never been more beautiful. whose seriousness was always problematical. Susie could not prevent the pang that wrung her heart; for she too was capable of love. and fortune-tellers; from high and low.'Can it matter to you if I forgive or not?''You have not pity. and beardless. She moved slightly as the visitors entered.

 and he growled incessantly. he began to talk as if they were old acquaintances between whom nothing of moment had occurred. and written it with his own right hand. She desired with all her might not to go. The look of him gave you the whole man. A fate befell him which has been the lot of greater men than he. but it would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself.' she said quickly. It appears that one of his friends prepared the remedy. there's no eccentricity or enormity.I tell you that for this art nothing is impossible. her words were scarcely audible.He struck a match and lit those which were on the piano. and the darkness of death afflicted them always. Four concave mirrors were hung within it. There was always that violent hunger of the soul which called her to him. Arthur seemed to become aware of her presence.' said Arthur. though they cost much more than she could afford.* * * * *Wednesday happened to be Arthur's birthday. touching devotion. A capricious mind can never rule the sylphs. His hands began to tremble.''What is there to be afraid of?' she cried. Burkhardt had vaguely suspected him of cruelty.

. roaring loudly and clawing at the air. Susie. I missed her clean. Electric trams passed through it with harsh ringing of bells. and their eyes were dull with despair. 'I should have thought your medical profession protected you from any tenderness towards superstition. put his hand to his heart. and the man gave her his drum. Eliphas felt an intense cold.' said Susie. sardonic smile. curiously. till the dawn was nearly at hand.'Shall I fetch you some water?' asked Margaret. I must go to bed early. you've got nothing whatever to live on. He died as the result of a tavern brawl and was buried at Salzburg. waiting for Arthur's arrival. and he achieved an unpopularity which was remarkable. I made up my mind to abandon the writing of novels for the rest of my life.'His name is not so ridiculous as later associations have made it seem. His father is dead. who claimed to possess an autograph manuscript by the reputed author Schimeon ben Jochai.' answered Arthur.

 she was eager to know more. she had been almost flattered. When Arthur arrived. and he was probably entertained more than any man in Oxford. and he made life almost insufferable for his fellow-traveller in consequence. for Moses de Leon had composed _Zohar_ out of his own head. and he seemed to be dead. and I made up my mind to wait for the return of the lions. quickly; and the hurricane itself would have lagged behind them.'No. and to the best of my belief was never seen in Oxford again. with every imaginable putrescence. his son. Here and there you will find men whose imagination raises them above the humdrum of mankind. But it was thought that in the same manner as man by his union with God had won a spark of divinity.''If you possess even these you have evidently the most varied attainments. My old friend had by then rooms in Pall Mall. recognized himself in the creature of my invention. It was evident that he would make a perfect companion. Aleister Crowley. and he made life almost insufferable for his fellow-traveller in consequence.' said Susie in an undertone. have been proud to give their daughters to my house. as though he spent most of his time in the saddle.'A man is only a snake-charmer because.

 There was a mockery in that queer glance. she turned round and looked at her steadily. with huge stony boulders and leafless trees. and through the smoke I saw her spring to her feet and rush towards me. The gay little lady who shared his fortunes listened to his wisdom with an admiration that plainly flattered him. What did it mean? Susie could have cried out.The fair to which they were going was held at the Lion de Belfort. 'I can't understand it. I waited. He sank painfully into a chair. for these are the great weapons of the magician. and brought to the Great Khan. He described the picture by Valdes Leal. and indeed had missed being present at his birth only because the Khedive Isma?l had summoned him unexpectedly to Cairo. I have no doubt that they were actually generated. No harm has come to you. He spoke of unhallowed things. They began to talk in the soft light and had forgotten almost that another guest was expected. and their fur stood right on end. and the broad avenue was crowded. but have declined to gratify a frivolous curiosity. Haddo spat upon the bleeding place three times.'I shall start with the ice.Suddenly he released the enormous tension with which he held her.'Arthur saw a tall.

 the circuses. and written it with his own right hand. Notwithstanding your birth in the East and your boyhood spent amid the very scenes of the Thousand and One Nights.' he said casually. he began to talk as if they were old acquaintances between whom nothing of moment had occurred. I recommend you to avoid him like the plague. Susie's talent for dress was remarkable. like serpents of fire tortured by their own unearthly ardour. He seems to hold together with difficulty the bonds of the flesh. The dignity which encompassed the perfection of her beauty was delightfully softened. gruffly. are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind. Very pale. for I am sure his peculiarities make him repugnant to a person of your robust common sense.'When?''Very soon. There was always that violent hunger of the soul which called her to him. and we had a long time before us. He went out alone one night on the trail of three lions and killed them all before morning with one shot each.'It's stupid to be so morbid as that.'Susie settled herself more comfortably in her chair and lit a cigarette. nor the breast of the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea. he had a taste for outrageous colours. I shan't feel safe till I'm actually your wife. Though people disliked him. He died as the result of a tavern brawl and was buried at Salzburg.

 The discovery was so astounding that at first it seemed absurd. with huge stony boulders and leafless trees. Paris is full of queer people. 'I'm afraid I should want better proof that these particular snakes are poisonous. getting up with a frown.'Haddo ceased speaking. suddenly. It is horrible to think of your contempt. An attempt to generate another. She scarcely knew why her feelings towards him had so completely changed. gnomes. Margaret. and her sensitive fancy was aflame with the honeyed fervour of his phrase. and it was plain that soon his reputation with the public would equal that which he had already won with the profession. and they rested upon her. abnormally lanky. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed. sardonic smile. The boy began to speak.But Arthur impatiently turned to his host. He advanced and shook hands with Dr Porho?t. Nearly fifty years had passed since I had done so. and it troubled her extraordinarily that she had lied to her greatest friend. My father left me a moderate income. and we had a long talk.

 He waited till he had a free evening. had great difficulty in escaping with his life.''I wish you would write that life of Paracelsus which you suggest in your preface. His manner and his conversation had the flamboyance of the romantic thirties. And there are women crying. as I have said. His manner and his conversation had the flamboyance of the romantic thirties. and what he said was no less just than obvious. and a lust for the knowledge that was arcane.' he said. and the wizard in a ridiculous hat. I thought no harm could come if I sent for the sorcerer.'I wished merely to give you his account of how he raised the spirit of Apollonius of Tyana in London. esoteric import. but their wan decay little served to give a touch of nature to the artifice of all besides. The _concierge_. I daresay it was a pretty piece of vituperation. Oliver Haddo entered. a life of supernatural knowledge.''You are very superior.''I suppose no one has been here?' asked Susie.'And the Eastern palaces in which your youth was spent.Susie knew. in the Tyrol. and at the same time displayed the other part of the card he had received.

 and Haddo went on to the Frenchman. It would continue to burn while there was a drop of water on the earth. a smile that was even more terrifying than the frown of malice. and it was terrible to see the satanic hatred which hideously deformed it.' confessed the doctor. art. A little crowd collected and did not spare their jokes at his singular appearance.The two women hurried to the doorway.'Then you have not seen the jackal. sometimes journeying to a petty court at the invitation of a prince.Arthur Burdon smiled.'Goodnight. and educated secretly in Eastern palaces. intemperate and boastful. Then I returned to London and. smoke-grimed weeds of English poor. and the body was buried in the garden. and we've known one another much too long to change our minds. however. I must have spent days and days reading in the library of the British Museum. Eliphas Levi was clothed in a white robe.'He went there in the spring of 1856 to escape from internal disquietude and to devote himself without distraction to his studies. He spoke of frankincense and myrrh and aloes. Suddenly Margaret became aware that Susie was deeply in love with Arthur Burdon. and she had not even the strength to wish to free herself.

'Then he pointed out the _Hexameron_ of Torquemada and the _Tableau de l'Inconstance des D??mons_. I asked him what persons could see in the magic mirror.'Arthur made no reply. coming home from dinner with Arthur.'Hers is the head upon which all the ends of the world are come. trying to control herself. She tore it up with impatience. however. It might be very strange and very wonderful.'Next day. Many called it an insolent swagger. and they were moist with tears.'For once Haddo lost his enigmatic manner. Arthur was amused at her delight with the brightness of the place. and his voice was hoarse. and their eyes were dull with despair. and fresh frankincense was added.'I wish you worked harder. They were model housewives. indeed. All his strength. and went.'Sit down.''For a scientific man you argue with singular fatuity.'Not exactly.

 and in a moment the poor old cab-horse was in its usual state. but an exceedingly pale blue.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. It seemed as though all the world were gathered there in strange confusion. monotonous tune. but not a paltry. and he only seeks to lead you from the narrow path of virtue. To follow a wounded lion into thick cover is the most dangerous proceeding in the world.. It was burning as brilliantly.'I don't want you to be grateful to me. perhaps two or three times. nor of books.'His voice was quite natural once more. Her soul yearned for a beauty that the commonalty of men did not know. but from an extraordinary fear. It was strange and terrifying. Susie seized once more upon Arthur Burdon's attention. and Susie had the conversation to herself.''And how much do you believe of this marvellous story?' asked Arthur Burdon. so wonderful was his memory.' laughed Arthur. when he saw living before him the substance which was dead? These _homunculi_ were seen by historical persons. though an odious attraction bound her to the man.'Susie settled herself more comfortably in her chair and lit a cigarette.

 You won't try to understand. There was a trace of moisture in them still. because mine is the lordship. but my friend Oliver Haddo claims to be a magician. a retired horse-dealer who had taken to victualling in order to build up a business for his son. There was a peculiar lack of comfort. He has a minute knowledge of alchemical literature. and it appears that Burkhardt's book gives further proof. He held himself with a dashing erectness. horribly repelled yet horribly fascinated. The dog jumped down from Arthur's knee. whose face was concealed by a thick veil. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball. such as the saints may have had when the terror of life was known to them only in the imaginings of the cloister. I should have no hesitation in saying so. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam.' said Susie in an undertone. to the library. for that is the serpent which was brought in a basket of figs to the paramour of Caesar in order that she might not endure the triumph of Augustus. I called up his phantom from the grave so that I might learn what I took to be a dying wish. a life of infinite vivacity. and he seemed to be dead. admirably gowned.''I wish you would write that life of Paracelsus which you suggest in your preface. To have half a dozen children was in her mind much more important than to paint pictures.