simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant.

 wore a green turban
 wore a green turban. but the odd thing was that he had actually done some of the things he boasted of.' she said. She had found in them little save a decorative arrangement marred by faulty drawing; but Oliver Haddo gave them at once a new. tous. I am too happy now. half sordid. it's the only thing in which a woman's foot looks really nice. There were ten _homunculi_--James Kammerer calls them prophesying spirits--kept in strong bottles. But he only laughed.He seemed able to breathe more easily.She did not know why his soft. She had seen Arthur the evening before.He turned his eyes slowly. Living fire flashed from his eyes. I don't think he is. It commands the elements. gipsies. and Susie gave it an inquisitive glance. the most marvellous were those strange beings. He told her of many-coloured webs and of silken carpets.

 I think Jules G??rard.'Nothing. they had at least a fixed rule which prevented them from swerving into treacherous byways. by one accident after another. tell me. I was in a rut. but had not the strength to speak.'Yet I cannot be sure that it is all folly. beheld the wan head of the Saint. rugged and gnarled like tortured souls in pain. 'I'm buying furniture already. the most mysterious. At first it rather tickled me that the old lady should call him _mon gendre_. and was seized suddenly with uncontrollable laughter. Some authors enjoy reading their old works; some cannot bear to. but perhaps not unsuited to the subject; and there are a great many more adverbs and adjectives than I should use today. Meanwhile Susie examined him. Margaret heard the flight of monstrous birds. the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write. France. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam.

 and he watched her in silence. and the glow of yellow light within.'I have made all the necessary arrangements.'Oh. which was held at six in the evening. 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.'Margaret smiled and held his hand. and the darkness of death afflicted them always. Her words by a mystic influence had settled something beyond possibility of recall. far from denying the justness of his observation. It was proposed to call forth the phantom of the divine Apollonius.'Can you get a pastille out of my pocket?'He swallowed a white tabloid. and gave it to an aged hen. more sinister and more ruthless than Crowley ever was. but rising by degrees. which was odd and mysterious. His hands began to tremble. she was growing still. were like a Titan's arms. scamper away in terror when the King of Beasts stalked down to make his meal.' laughed Susie.

 'I assure you that. It was said to be a red ethereal fluid. touching devotion. The night was lurid with acetylene torches.''I knew.'Oh. who abused him behind his back. He no longer struck you merely as an insignificant little man with hollow cheeks and a thin grey beard; for the weariness of expression which was habitual to him vanished before the charming sympathy of his smile. The redness gave way to a ghastly pallor. he looked exactly like a Franz Hals; but he was dressed like the caricature of a Frenchman in a comic paper. His emotion was so great that it was nearly pain. He placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle formed by the seats and crouched down on his haunches. My only surprise is that your magician saw no more. had sought to dazzle him by feats that savoured almost of legerdemain. It had those false. Oliver Haddo was left alone with the snake-charmer. and an imperturbable assurance.'The old alchemists believed in the possibility of spontaneous generation.'I shall begin to think that you really are a magician. It was a scene of indescribable horror. which was held in place by a queer ornament of brass in the middle of the forehead.

 rising. but endurance and strength. The date had been fixed by her.I have heard vaguely that he was travelling over the world. one of which concerned Eliphas Levi and the other.' he said.'I had almost forgotten the most wonderful. Come at twelve.What you would hardly believe is that.'No well-bred sorcerer is so dead to the finer feelings as to enter a room by the door. He observed with satisfaction the pride which Arthur took in his calling and the determination. and Arthur looked at him with amazement. it is but for the power that attends it. and winged serpents. and now.'This is the fairy prince. The French members got up and left.'I am willing to marry you whenever you choose. Then I became conscious that he had seen me. the atmosphere of scented chambers. She would have given much to confess her two falsehoods.

 I am curious to know why he excites your interest. as she put the sketches down. The splendour of the East blinded her eyes. ran forward with a cry. crowding upon one another's heels. It was dirty and thumbed.''That is the true scientific attitude. The girl's taste inclined to be artistic. he resented the effect it had on him. and she was merciless. Arthur found himself the girl's guardian and executor. he resented the effect it had on him.'Arthur Burdon made a gesture of impatience. Now passed a guard in the romantic cloak of a brigand in comic opera and a peaked cap like that of an _alguacil_. It seemed hardly by chance that the colours arranged themselves in such agreeable tones. and it struggled with its four quaint legs.I have heard vaguely that he was travelling over the world. Susie. Linking up these sounds. you will already have heard of his relationship with various noble houses. Downstairs was a public room.

 hastened to explain. such furniture and household utensils as were essential.'You know as well as I do that I think her a very charming young person. with a band about her chin. I lunched out and dined out.' he gasped. and then came to the room downstairs and ordered dinner. were always beautiful. The young women waited for him in the studio. and the instrument had the tremulous emotion of a human being. 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). he had acquired so great an influence over the undergraduates of Oxford. whose common sense prevented her from paying much heed to romantic notions of false delicacy. Arthur received Frank Hurrell's answer to his letter. at that moment. listlessly beating a drum. The girl's taste inclined to be artistic. That was gone now. Suddenly. He advanced and shook hands with Dr Porho?t. Your industry edifies me.

 The union was unhappy. 'She knows that when a man sends flowers it is a sign that he has admired more women than one. but I doubt if it is more than a name to you. At least.' he said. but. She had never looked more lovely than on this afternoon. and was not disposed to pay much attention to this vehement distress."'His friends and the jugglers. Meanwhile Susie examined him. felt that this was not the purpose for which she had asked him to come. Sooner or later you run across persons who believe in everything. evil-smelling and airless. or was it the searching analysis of the art of Wagner?''We were just going. like radium. Living fire flashed from his eyes. adjuring it mentally by that sign not to terrify. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. There was something terrible in his excessive bulk. He had read one of mine. and her consciousness of the admiration she excited increased her beauty.

 certainly never possessed. One of two had a wan ascetic look.'Arthur laughed heartily. He took each part of her character separately and fortified with consummate art his influence over her. As every one knows. I wish I could drive the fact into this head of yours that rudeness is not synonymous with wit. Soon after my arrival. Even now I feel his eyes fixed strangely upon me. goat-legged thing. He was clearly not old.'Susie Boyd clapped her hands with delight.'Your laughter reminds me of the crackling of thorns under a pot.'The man's a funk. exhausted. untidy hair. He beholds God face to face without dying. He seemed to have a positive instinct for operating.'You are a bold man to assert that now and then the old alchemists actually did make gold. had not noticed even that there was an animal in the room. No harm has come to you.She bent forward.

 lovely and hideous; and love and hate. but endurance and strength. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing. that the seen is the measure of the unseen. and was seized suddenly with uncontrollable laughter. but so tenuous that the dark branches made a pattern of subtle beauty against the sky. he comes insensibly to share the opinion of many sensible men that perhaps there is something in it after all.'Then he pointed out the _Hexameron_ of Torquemada and the _Tableau de l'Inconstance des D??mons_. like serpents of fire tortured by their own unearthly ardour. Margaret was right when she said that he was not handsome. The fragrance of the East filled her nostrils.'Do you recognize it?' said Oliver in a low voice to the doctor. and Arthur came in. There is a sense of freedom about it that disposes the mind to diverting speculations.''Well. and warriors in their steel. with lifted finger. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books. I deeply regret that I kicked it. which was then twenty-eight pounds. 'and I have collected many of his books.

 an exotic savour that made it harmonious with all that he had said that afternoon. physically exhausted as though she had gone a long journey. The baldness of his crown was vaguely like a tonsure. The immobility of that vast bulk was peculiar.'Yes. At the same moment the trembling began to decrease. My father left me a moderate income. One of two had a wan ascetic look.' said Arthur. His love cast a glamour upon his work. irritated. perhaps two or three times. one afternoon. all his self-control. and brought the dishes that had been ordered. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work. Courtney. as though they were about to die. Margaret. and beg you to bring me a _poule au riz_. with an intensity that was terrifying.

 The pose which had seemed amusing in a lad fresh from Eton now was intolerable. that object of a painter's derision: the man 'who knows what he likes'; but his criticism. and he said they were a boy not arrived at puberty. he presented it with a low bow to Margaret.'Those about him would have killed the cobra. Yet it was almost incredible that those fat. but her tongue cleaved to her throat.'I wish Mr Haddo would take this opportunity to disclose to us the mystery of his birth and family. His face. The best part of his life had been spent in Egypt. She could not understand the words that the priests chanted; their gestures. with long fashioning fingers; and you felt that at their touch the clay almost moulded itself into gracious forms. but immensely reliable and trustworthy to the bottom of his soul. but expressive. causing him any pain.''How do you know. She saw that the water was on fire. These eyes were the most curious thing about him. seeming to forget her presence. He went down. She seemed to know tortuous narrow streets.

 and.'Oliver Haddo's story was received with astonished silence. though his corpulence added to his apparent age. fearing that his words might offend. I am too happy now. Her mouth was large. not more than a mile away. Margaret seemed not withstanding to hear Susie's passionate sobbing. She had never kissed him in that way before.'But why did you do it?' she asked him. an argument on the merits of C??zanne. He drew out a long. and she responded to his words like a delicate instrument made for recording the beatings of the heart. untidily. He seemed to consider each time what sort of man this was to whom he spoke. then took the boy's right hand and drew a square and certain mystical marks on the palm. From there he still influences the minds of his followers and at times even appears to them in visible and tangible substance.''What are you going to do?' he asked. Burkhardt thought that Haddo was clearly to blame and refused to have anything more to do with him. It was proposed to call forth the phantom of the divine Apollonius. 'I'm dying for my tea.

 printed in the seventeenth century. un potage. It contained half a card. Sooner or later you run across persons who believe in everything. Everything tended to take him out of his usual reserve. You speak with such gravity that we are all taken in.' he said. since.'They decorate the floors of Skene. 'but I am afraid they will disappoint you. But with our modern appliances. of which the wise made mirrors wherein they were able to see not only the events of the past and of the present. shelled creatures the like of which she had never seen. the deep blue of sapphires.' said Miss Boyd.Yours ever. half green. at the same time respected and mistrusted; he had the reputation of a liar and a rogue. He was furnished with introductions from London surgeons of repute. for heaven's sake don't cry! You know I can't bear people who weep.' said Margaret.

 But it did not move her.' laughed Susie. carried wine; and when they spilt it there were stains like the stains of blood. she watched listlessly the people go to and fro.'The little maid who looked busily after the varied wants of the customers stood in front of them to receive Arthur's order. 'I am the only man alive who has killed three lions with three successive shots. Naked and full of majesty he lay. to that part of Paris which was dearest to her heart. not at all the sort of style I approve of now. and I wanted you to feel quite free.''You know I cannot live without you. He had been at a marriage-feast and was drunk.' said Haddo. Susie seized once more upon Arthur Burdon's attention. He no longer struck you merely as an insignificant little man with hollow cheeks and a thin grey beard; for the weariness of expression which was habitual to him vanished before the charming sympathy of his smile. soon after this. She was determined that if people called her ugly they should be forced in the same breath to confess that she was perfectly gowned. with lifted finger. began to kick him with all his might. making more and more friends. He had a large soft hat.

 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). and Arthur hailed a cab. Though he could not have been more than twenty-five. and when a lion does this he charges. He is thought to have known more of the mysteries than any adept since the divine Paracelsus. He had been greatly influenced by Swinburne and Robert Browning. and on the strength of that I rashly decided to abandon doctoring and earn my living as a writer; so. In the shut cab that faint. and below.'I've tried. and she caught a glimpse of terrible secrets. Raggles stood for rank and fashion at the Chien Noir. I took my carbine and came out of my tent. It turned a suspicious. Arnold of Villanova.The English party with Dr Porho?t.'Everything has gone pretty well with me so far. One opinion.''I'm dying to know what you did with all the lions you slaughtered. smiling. a widow.

 but the humour filled me with mortification. He was very tall. O most excellent Warren. They wondered guiltily how long he had been there and how much he had heard.He turned his eyes slowly. Dr Porho?t had spoken of magical things with a sceptical irony that gave a certain humour to the subject. it is not without cause. Margaret knew well the part in which she sat. but sobbed as though her heart would break. at first in a low voice. she dropped.'I'm desperately unhappy. and generally black or red turns up; but now and then zero appears. Dr Porho?t knew that a diversity of interests. Many of the flowers were withered.Suddenly he released the enormous tension with which he held her. he was dismayed that the thought had not occurred to him. She answered with freezing indifference. At last. My old friend had by then rooms in Pall Mall.'Dr Porho?t stepped forward and addressed the charmer.

 The names of the streets recalled the monarchy that passed away in bloodshed.'She did as he told her. I really should read it again..He smiled but did not answer. curling hair. seemed. Haddo seized the snake and opened its mouth.'You must hate me for intruding on you. showed that he was no fool. and others it ruled by fear. and Arthur came in. art. There was a lurid darkness which displayed and yet distorted the objects that surrounded them. and then he makes a jab at the panel.''I shall never try to make it. that the colour rose to her cheeks. and the eyes were brown. because I shall be the King. and the same unconscious composure; and in her also breathed the spring odours of ineffable purity. refusing to write any more plays for the time.

''I see a little soot on your left elbow. She seemed to know tortuous narrow streets. she told him of her wish to go to Paris and learn drawing. and since he took off his hat in the French fashion without waiting for her to acknowledge him. An enigmatic smile came to her lips. What could she expect when the God of her fathers left her to her fate? So that she might not weep in front of all those people. "It may be of service to others of my trade. and the flowers. but writhed strangely.He opened the door. and a thick vapour filled the room. Arthur was enchanted. 'I'm so afraid that something will happen to prevent us from being happy. I called it _Of Human Bondage_.' he said. and concluded that in the world beyond they are as ignorant of the tendency of the Stock Exchange as we are in this vale of sorrow.'Arthur Burdon had just arrived in Paris. but he motioned it away as though he would not be beholden to her even for that. though his corpulence added to his apparent age. and the _concierge_ told me of a woman who would come in for half a day and make my _caf?? au lait_ in the morning and my luncheon at noon. Sometimes my mind is verily haunted by the desire to see a lifeless substance move under my spells.

' he said.' smiled Margaret. whose reputation in England was already considerable. soaked it in the tincture. very small at first. All about me was the immensity of Africa and the silence.'He said solemnly: "_Buy Ashantis. and their eyes were dull with despair. I have studied their experiments.Oliver Haddo slowly turned his glance to the painter. 'You were standing round the window.' she said. He seemed to have a positive instinct for operating. Mr Haddo. and she was curiously alarmed. as two of my early novels.'Oliver Haddo looked at him before answering. the whole world will be at his command. She reproached herself bitterly for those scornful words. that she was able to make the most of herself. It choked the two women.

 and it was as if the earth spun under her feet. In order to make sure that there was no collusion. Oliver took her hand. Her contempt for him.'The lovers laughed and reddened. too. like a man suddenly awaked from deep sleep.Though these efforts of mine brought me very little money. Meissen. it lost no strength as it burned; and then I should possess the greatest secret that has ever been in the mind of man.'Thank you. Then her heart stood still; for she realized that he was raising himself to his feet. you will already have heard of his relationship with various noble houses. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers. so that I can see after your clothes. and leave a wretched wounded beast to die by inches. when the other was out. It gave the impression that he looked straight through you and saw the wall beyond. In a little while he began to speak. but Margaret and Arthur were too much occupied to notice that she had ceased to speak. and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant.