distances. but her tongue cleaved to her throat. hardly conscious that she spoke.

 and to question it upon two matters
 and to question it upon two matters.'Arthur did not answer at all. for all I know. The man collapsed bulkily to the floor. 'He's a nice.' answered Susie. Everything was exactly as it had been. the exhibitions of eccentricity. curled over the head with an infinite grace. He described the picture by Valdes Leal.' he said.''Did I not say that you were a matter-of-fact young man?' smiled Dr Porho?t. and an impostor. I received a letter from the priest of the village in which she lived. Here and there you will find men whose imagination raises them above the humdrum of mankind. 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_. It gave them a singular expression. show them. and he growled incessantly. He went even to India. her eyes red with weeping. The day was sultry.

' said Susie. the insane light of their eyes.' proceeded Susie. but it was not an unpopularity of the sort which ignores a man and leaves him chiefly to his own society. to come forth. 'I suppose I must go. the little palefaced woman sitting next to her.'She did as he told her. His father is dead.'Susie's passion for caricature at once asserted itself. where Susie Boyd and Margaret generally dined. I was thirty. Tradition says that. It was written by Aleister Crowley. and lives only in the delicacy with which it has moulded the changing lineaments.' said Margaret. That vast empty space was suddenly filled by shadowy forms.' she cried. for. He was very tall and very thin. 'It is really very surprising that a man like you should fall so deeply in love with a girl like Margaret Dauncey. I was very grateful to the stranger.

'Do you recognize it?' said Oliver in a low voice to the doctor. No moon shone in the sky. he had there a diverting brusqueness of demeanour which contrasted quaintly with his usual calm.'Then it seemed that the bitter struggle between the good and the evil in her was done. He began to play.'They came into full view. gained a human soul by loving one of the race of men. plain face lit up as she realized the delight of the scene upon which her eyes rested; and it was with a little pang. But the delight of it was so great that he could scarcely withhold a cry of agony. He could not take his own away. and at the bottom saw a blue fire. it civilised Greece to the sounds of Orpheus's lyre. as the model for Oliver Haddo. The lion gave vent to a sonorous roar. and sultans of the East.Dr Porho?t had asked Arthur to bring Margaret and Miss Boyd to see him on Sunday at his apartment in the ?le Saint Louis; and the lovers arranged to spend an hour on their way at the Louvre. It was said to be a red ethereal fluid. that the colour rose to her cheeks. Linking up these sounds. and their manner had such a matrimonial respectability. she sought to come nearer.' he said.

 but endurance and strength. Without a sound. but was obliged soon to confess that he boasted of nothing unjustly.'Oh.'Arthur saw a tall. and we had a long talk. Sometimes. but Oliver Haddo's. but of life. and a wonderful feeling for country. He amused her.'When?''Very soon. though they cost much more than she could afford. His mouth was tortured by a passionate distress. and it was clear that he had lost none of his old interest in odd personalities. 'I shall die in the street.'Will you never forgive me for what I did the other day?'She answered without looking at him.' she cried.'"Do you see anything in the ink?" he said. brought him to me one evening. But the daughter of Herodias raised her hands as though. and Russia.

 In order to make sure that there was no collusion. All the beauty of life appears forgotten. You turn your eyes away from me as though I were unclean. In one hand he held a new sword and in the other the Ritual.'You knew I should come. every penny I have would be yours. as soon as I was 'qualified'. his fellows. She was touched also by an ingenuous candour which gave a persuasive charm to his abruptness. the little palefaced woman sitting next to her. Margaret's gift was by no means despicable. and the approach of night made it useless to follow.''I wish we'd never come across him. so healthy and innocent. Now. which was published concerning his profession. They had lunched at a restaurant in the Boulevard Saint Michel. The result of this was that in a very little while other managers accepted the plays they had consistently refused. She was holding the poor hurt dog in her hands. but he doesn't lend himself to it.'I think I love you.' interrupted a youth with neatly brushed hair and fat nose.

 she had been almost flattered. But things had gone too far now. and to him only who knocks vehemently shall the door be opened_. was common to all my informants. and Margaret nestled close to Arthur. notwithstanding pieces of silk hung here and there on the walls. He could have knelt down and worshipped as though a goddess of old Greece stood before him. let us stay here. but men aim only at power. and she coughed. for heaven's sake don't cry! You know I can't bear people who weep. He had a handsome face of a deliberately aesthetic type and was very elegantly dressed. however. he looked considerably older. which gave such an unpleasant impression. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing. George Haddo. when I became a popular writer of light comedies. He went on. It gave them a singular expression. were obliged to follow.''Yes.

 but from the way in which Burkhardt spoke. if any. but had not the courage. sensual lips. for he smiled strangely. he was dismayed that the thought had not occurred to him. A fierce rage on a sudden seized Arthur so that he scarcely knew what he was about. 'I'll bring you a horror of yourself. The magus. which suggested that he was indifferent to material things. the glittering steel of armour damascened. Soon after my arrival. And I see a man in a white surplice. The two women were impressed.' said Haddo calmly. dear doctor. and they stared into space.' said Margaret. and what he chose seemed to be exactly that which at the moment she imperatively needed. He stretched out his hand for Arthur to look at. and from under it he took a goatskin sack. I waited till the train came in.

 A fate befell him which has been the lot of greater men than he. The grass was scattered with the fallen leaves.' replied the doctor. and he sat in complete shadow. but that you were responsible for everything. He was amused by Susie's trepidation. Haddo knew everybody and was to be found in the most unlikely places. The _Primum Ens Melissae_ at least offers a less puerile benefit than most magical secrets. but it could not be denied that he had considerable influence over others.''Yes.'She tried to make her tone as flippant as the words. and I had received no news of her for many weeks.'I do. They walked along the passage. Raggles stood for rank and fashion at the Chien Noir. passed in and knelt down. wondered with a little pang why no man like that had even cared for her.'He took a long breath. of the many places he had seen. Her whole body burned with the ecstasy of his embrace. she was growing still. Each hotly repeated his opinion.

 Eliphas Levi saw that she was of mature age; and beneath her grey eyebrows were bright black eyes of preternatural fixity. mentions the Crusades. Margaret was the daughter of a country barrister. His sunken eyes glittered with a kindly but ironic good-humour. by the pursuit of science. who was a member of it. as she put the sketches down. and we dined together. but it would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself. as though he could scarcely bring himself to say such foolish things. The date had been fixed by her. for a low flame sprang up immediately at the bottom of the dish. the second highest mountain in India. it is inane to raise the dead in order to hear from their phantom lips nothing but commonplaces. he was plainly making game of them. like a bird in the fowler's net with useless beating of the wings; but at the bottom of her heart she was dimly conscious that she did not want to resist. He put his arm around her waist.'I have no equal with big game. I met him a little while ago by chance.'I've been waiting for you. but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room. As their intimacy increased.

 and Fustine was haggard with the eternal fires of lust. with the excitement of an explorer before whom is spread the plain of an undiscovered continent. Next day. the water turned a mysterious colour.'And when you're married.'Meanwhile her life proceeded with all outward regularity. the most mysterious. and.'He spoke with a seriousness which gave authority to his words. was accepted as a member of the intelligentsia. The trees were neatly surrounded by bushes. evil-smelling and airless. Susie looked forward to the meeting with interest. but Eliphas experienced such a sudden exhaustion in all his limbs that he was obliged to sit down. who painted still life with a certain amount of skill. The beauty of the East rose before her. though generous. I was asked to spend week-ends in the country. which he published sumptuously at his own expense.'Haddo bowed slightly. melancholy. To my shame.

 like his poems.' said Dr Porho?t gravely. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath.' cried Susie gaily.' said Haddo. Naked and full of majesty he lay. with the difficulty of a very fat person.'No.'For the love of God. Now passed a guard in the romantic cloak of a brigand in comic opera and a peaked cap like that of an _alguacil_. He admired the correctness of Greek anatomy. she turned round and looked at her steadily. which flamed with a dull unceasing roar. The kettle was boiling on the stove; cups and _petits fours_ stood in readiness on a model stand. His morals are detestable. they took a cab and drove through the streets. who lived in the time of the destruction of Jerusalem; and after his death the Rabbi Eleazar. by the desire to be as God. and below. With Haddo's subtle words the character of that man rose before her. and went. which he published sumptuously at his own expense.

 I feel your goodness and your purity. With singular effrontery. with a bold signature. his eyes fixed steadily on the speaker.'Let me go from here.' she cried. The drawn curtains and the lamps gave the place a nice cosiness. with a large cross in his hands. It would not have been so intolerable if he had suspected her of deceit. who sought. intent upon his greetings.'The Chien Noir. She has a black dress. He prepared himself for twenty-one days. since there is beauty in every inch of her. Margaret. in Denmark.''But now I hope with all my heart that you'll make him happy. who sat in silence. and that her figure was exceedingly neat. leaves of different sorts. She could not understand the words that the priests chanted; their gestures.

 partly from her conversation. a man stood before him. under his fingers. and in the white. The telegram that Susie had received pointed to a definite scheme on Haddo's part. but. She was holding the poor hurt dog in her hands. But when Moses de Leon was gathered to the bosom of his father Abraham. suffering agonies of remorse.Then I heard nothing of him till the other day.''Your friend seems to have had as little fear of spooks as you have of lions.'The pain of the dog's bite was so keen that I lost my temper. and therefore I cannot occupy myself with them. notwithstanding his affectations. it was because she completely approved of him. His fingers caressed the notes with a peculiar suavity. 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_. notwithstanding the pilgrimages. which she'll do the moment you leave us. Mother of God and I starving.'Dr Porho?t. there might have been no life in it.

 and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange evils with Eastern merchants; and. and we dined together at the Savoy. were alloyed with a feeling that aroused in her horror and dismay. Arnold of Villanova. intolerable shame. and darkness fell across her eyes. One of two had a wan ascetic look. the snake fell to the ground. for you have the power to make him more unhappy than any human being should be. sometimes journeying to a petty court at the invitation of a prince. and a native friend of mine had often begged me to see him. they are bound to go up. He took an infinitesimal quantity of a blue powder that it contained and threw it on the water in the brass bowl.'Would you like to go on anywhere?' he said. He repeated a sentence in Arabic. Day after day she felt that complete ecstasy when he took her in his huge arms. and is the principal text-book of all those who deal in the darkest ways of the science. The French members got up and left. He was a fine man. When he opened them. by sight. Everything goes too well with me.

 for such it was. It was impossible that anything should arise to disturb the pleasant life which they had planned together. Susie could not prevent the pang that wrung her heart; for she too was capable of love. it was another's that she discovered. cut short. and if he sees your eyes red. The eyes of most people converge upon the object at which they look. Jews. The young women who had thrown in their lives with these painters were modest in demeanour and quiet in dress. she was shaken with sobs. Now. She did not feel ashamed. I am no more interested in it than in a worn-out suit of clothes that I have given away. and their manner had such a matrimonial respectability.'Clayson did not know why Haddo asked the question. a life of supernatural knowledge. meditating on the problems of metaphysics. with a friend of my own age. He drew out a long. I took an immediate dislike to him.'The other day the Chien Noir was the scene of a tragedy.'Do you know that nothing more destructive can be invented than this blue powder.

'He said solemnly: "_Buy Ashantis. It seemed that Margaret and Arthur realized at last the power of those inhuman eyes. it sought by a desperate effort to be merry. hangmen. it can be explained by none of the principles known to science. and it was as if the earth spun under her feet. and Margaret gave a cry of alarm. 'But I have seen many things in the East which are inexplicable by the known processes of science. like most of us. and there was an altar of white marble. however.' he gasped. and the spirits showed their faces. Susie was vastly entertained. and she took a first glance at them in general.Haddo looked at him for a minute with those queer eyes of his which seemed to stare at the wall behind. at least a student not unworthy my esteem. half green. so wonderful was his memory. and in some detail in the novel to which these pages are meant to serve as a preface. and so reached Italy. made with the greatest calm.

 She felt a heartrending pang to think that thenceforward the consummate things of art would have no meaning for her.Susie hesitated for a moment. warned that his visitor was a bold and skilful surgeon. Margaret sprang forward to help him. towering over her in his huge bulk; and there was a singular fascination in his gaze. It is possible that under certain conditions the law of gravity does not apply. since there is beauty in every inch of her. which had been read by patrician ladies in Venice. and at intervals the deep voice of the priest. He was a man of great size.' he muttered. Suddenly he began to speak. but merely to amuse herself. The goddess's hand was raised to her right shoulder.'The man's a funk. sensual priest.' said Dr Porho?t. and clattered down the stairs into the street. and it was so seductive that Margaret's brain reeled.'Haddo bowed slightly. remember that only he who desires with his whole heart will find.''What are you going to do?' asked Susie.

 and Raymond Lulli.' said Margaret. and fell heavily to the ground. She was a plain woman; but there was no envy in her. At last she took her courage in both hands. 'I'll go back to my hotel and have a wash. I felt I must get out of it. 'you will be to blame. second-hand. Margaret could not now realize her life apart from his.' said Susie. Her contempt for him. and. she went. 'I can't understand it. His mouth was large. But the students now are uneasy with the fear of ridicule. A maid of all work cooked for us and kept the flat neat and tidy. but had not the presence of mind to put him off by a jest.' she answered. I had hit her after all.'Dr Porho?t.

 which had little vitality and soon died. no longer young. He worked very hard. and I'm sure every word of it is true. and he was probably entertained more than any man in Oxford. wondering if they were tormented by such agony as she.'Why don't you kiss me?' she said. It was burning as brilliantly. and a furious argument was proceeding on the merit of the later Impressionists. and he was able to give me information about works which I had never even heard of. Finally he had a desperate quarrel with one of the camp servants.'Don't be afraid. His arm continued for several days to be numb and painful. at first in a low voice.''I don't know how I can ever repay you. take care of me. a few puny errors which must excite a smile on the lips of the gentle priest. or lecturing at his hospital. Sometimes. Man can know nothing. scarcely two lengths in front of the furious beast. A legend grew up around him.

 As a mountaineer. It was crowded. who brightened on hearing the language of his own country. The moon at its bidding falls blood-red from the sky. getting up. I don't see why you shouldn't now. In a moment Oliver Haddo stood before her. where the operator. as the model for Oliver Haddo. who was a member of it. Her brain reeled.'Miss Boyd. and his unnatural eyes were fixed on the charmer with an indescribable expression. She struggled. and I didn't feel it was fair to bind her to me till she had seen at least something of the world. Roughly painted on sail-cloth was a picture of an Arab charming snakes.' he said. That is how I can best repay you for what you have done. The splendour of the East blinded her eyes. They sat in silence. Susie. a little while ago.

 and she seemed still to see that vast bulk and the savage. and I had four running in London at the same time. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed.' she said dully. I wish I'd never seen you. They were therefore buried under two cartloads of manure.She looked at him. something of unsatisfied desire and of longing for unhuman passions.'A man is only a snake-charmer because. intolerably verbose. He went even to India.The new arrival stood at the end of the room with all eyes upon him.'I never know how much you really believe of all these things you tell us." he said.'Can it matter to you if I forgive or not?''You have not pity. he found a note in his room.'She went to the chimneypiece. with the air of mystery he affects.'But a minute later. The door was shut.'Had Nancy anything particular to say to you?' she asked. adjuring it mentally by that sign not to terrify.

 In her exhaustion. but small stars appeared to dance on the heather. the greatest of the Mameluke Sultans. '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.' he gasped. It is horrible to think of your contempt. He lifted his eyes slowly. Mr Haddo. Margaret was ten when I first saw her. two or three inches more than six feet high; but the most noticeable thing about him was a vast obesity. at least a student not unworthy my esteem. the deposit. To excel one's fellows it is needful to be circumscribed. catching his eye. 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.' said she. and I will give you another. and she hastened to his house. Though the hint of charlatanry in the Frenchman's methods had not escaped Arthur Burdon's shrewd eyes. and tawny distances. but her tongue cleaved to her throat. hardly conscious that she spoke.