There was a lurid darkness which displayed and yet distorted the objects that surrounded them.

 and laughed heartily at her burlesque account of their fellow-students at Colarossi's
 and laughed heartily at her burlesque account of their fellow-students at Colarossi's. She feared that Haddo had returned.''It would have been just as good if I had ordered it.Margaret sprang up with a cry.Yours ever. Magic has but one dogma. I should have no hesitation in saying so. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. and the shuffle of their myriad feet. by the pictures that represented the hideousness of man or that reminded you of his mortality.'Arthur was prevented from answering by their arrival at the Lion de Belfort. however. I bought. All the thoughts and experience of the world have etched and moulded there. it was because she completely approved of him. a charlatan. unsuitable for the commercial theatre. as though the mere fact of saying the same thing several times made it more convincing. she watched listlessly the people go to and fro. to whom he would pay a handsome dowry.In the few days of their acquaintance Arthur and Susie had arrived at terms of pleasant familiarity. it is inane to raise the dead in order to hear from their phantom lips nothing but commonplaces. His voice was different now and curiously seductive. and W. We told him what we wanted. who believed it to be a miracle. such as the saints may have had when the terror of life was known to them only in the imaginings of the cloister.

 She would not let his go. disembarrass me of this coat of frieze. who clings to a rock; and the waves dash against him. the day before. must have the greatest effect on the imagination. The door is open. He opened his eyes. You won't try to understand.''What are you going to do?' he asked. whose face was concealed by a thick veil.Their brave simplicity moved him as no rhetoric could have done. sometimes journeying to a petty court at the invitation of a prince.'He was trying to reassure himself against an instinctive suspicion of the malice of circumstances. 'And what is he by profession?'Dr Porho?t gave a deprecating smile. Instinctively she knelt down by his side and loosened his collar. but I never ceased cordially to dislike him. Without much searching. In one hand he held a new sword and in the other the Ritual. distorted by passion. ill-lit by two smoking lamps; a dozen stools were placed in a circle on the bare ground. He was very smartly dressed in a horsey way. if it is needed. prevented her. He was vain and ostentatious. She desired with all her might not to go. I think you would be inclined to say.''It can make no difference to you how I regard you.

 and though her own stock of enthusiasms was run low. for he had been to Eton and to Cambridge. which was then twenty-eight pounds. Though I have not seen Haddo now for years. picking the leg of a chicken with a dignified gesture. but now and then others came.The fair to which they were going was held at the Lion de Belfort. But her common sense was sound.'Dr Porho?t took his book from Miss Boyd and opened it thoughtfully. longer and more ample than the surplice of a priest. in his great love for Margaret. She was touched also by an ingenuous candour which gave a persuasive charm to his abruptness.''What did he say?' asked Susie. and they were very restful.'He took every morning at sunrise a glass of white wine tinctured with this preparation; and after using it for fourteen days his nails began to fall out. She thought she had reason to be grateful to me and would have married me there and then. caught up by a curious excitement.'If you have powers. He seemed to have a positive instinct for operating. It seemed a little frightened still. and indeed had missed being present at his birth only because the Khedive Isma?l had summoned him unexpectedly to Cairo. and she needed time to get her clothes. fearing that his words might offend. an extraordinary man. To Susie it seemed that he was overwhelmed with gratitude by Margaret's condescension. religious rites. and its large simplicity was soothing.

' said Susie. the mysticism of the Middle Ages. The tavern to which they went was on the Boulevard des Italiens. but her voice was cut by a pang of agony. which made you hesitate how to take his outrageous utterances. She poured out a glass of water. She lifted it up by the ears. and on the strength of that I rashly decided to abandon doctoring and earn my living as a writer; so. and he lived on for many disgraceful years. He worked very hard. not of the lips only but of the soul. and you will forget your tears. wondering if they were tormented by such agony as she. she knew that her effort was only a pretence: she did not want anything to prevent her. He narrowed her mind. and God is greater than all snakes. who brightened on hearing the language of his own country. in ample robes of dingy black. marched sedately two by two. Margaret withdrew from Arthur's embrace and lightly looked at her friend.'You have scent on. She turned the drawings carelessly and presently came to a sheet upon which. and the shuffle of their myriad feet. He accepted with a simple courtesy they hardly expected from him the young woman's thanks for his flowers. The doctor smiled and returned the salute. and the bushes by trim beds of flowers. and she seemed still to see that vast bulk and the savage.

 He was very tall and very thin. like him freshly created.''What have I done to you that you should make me so unhappy? I want you to leave me alone. of strange thoughts and fantastic reveries and exquisite passions. He kept the greatest surprise for the last. and within a month I was on my way to Paris. There were books everywhere.'I am willing to marry you whenever you choose. 'I'm enchanted with the mysterious meeting at Westminster Abbey in the Mid-Victorian era. Margaret withdrew from Arthur's embrace and lightly looked at her friend. cordially disliked. and to this presently he insisted on going.' she cried.'"I see a man sweeping the ground.'Do you recognize it?' said Oliver in a low voice to the doctor. Its preparation was extremely difficult.'Clayson slammed the door behind him. but Eliphas experienced such a sudden exhaustion in all his limbs that he was obliged to sit down. remember that only he who desires with his whole heart will find. I set out for Spain and spent the best part of a year in Seville.' he said.'How often have I explained to you.She did not know why his soft. are curiously alive to the romantic.'By the way. which are the most properly conducted of all their tribe. but otherwise recovered.

 Haddo dwelt there as if he were apart from any habitation that might be his.''I don't know how I can ever repay you.'Don't be so foolish. She couldn't help it. They should know that during the Middle Ages imagination peopled the four elements with intelligences. the urge came and. and she coughed.' she whispered. no one was more conscious than Haddo of the singularity of his feat.''My dear. She was a plain woman; but there was no envy in her. In a little while he began to speak. which was a castle near Stuttgart in W??rtemberg.'And the Eastern palaces in which your youth was spent. The features were rather large. so I descended with incredible skill down the chimney. soaked it in the tincture. It was plain. 'But taking for granted that the thing is possible. and. the lust of Rome. and presently. and they agreed to go together. I never know myself how much I believe.'My dear. All the thoughts and experience of the world have etched and moulded there. he was born of unknown but noble parents.

Then. and with a little wave of the hand she disappeared.'_C'est tellement intime ici_. Her whole body burned with the ecstasy of his embrace. almost surly in the repose of the painted canvas. resentful of the weary round of daily labour. and suddenly she knew all that was obscene. unearthly shapes pressed upon her way. But the older woman expressed herself with decision. He went out alone one night on the trail of three lions and killed them all before morning with one shot each.'Dr Porho?t stepped forward and addressed the charmer. let us stay here. She would have given much to confess her two falsehoods.''That was the least you could do.'I think he has an extraordinarily good face. it pleased him to see it in others. He began to walk up and down the studio. and only something very definite to say could tempt him to join in the general conversation. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath. I met him a little while ago by chance. but her legs failed her. she talked and you listened with the delighted attention of a happy lover.''But now I hope with all my heart that you'll make him happy. Though the door was closed behind them and they were out of earshot. for she knew it was impossible to bear the undying pain that darkened it with ruthless shadows. you would accept without question as the work of the master. I never saw him but he was surrounded by a little crowd.

'Can it matter to you if I forgive or not?''You have not pity. for all I know.She did not know why his soft. and creeping animals begotten of the slime.She started to her feet and stared at him with bewildered eyes.' answered Arthur. but it was hard to say whether he was telling the truth or merely pulling your leg. A peculiar arrogance flashed in his shining eyes. wondered with a little pang why no man like that had even cared for her. Susie looked at the message with perplexity. but his words saved her from any need for explanation. He was very tall.'Breathe very deeply. for he was become enormously stout. I recommend you to avoid him like the plague. and the perfumes.'He said solemnly: "_Buy Ashantis. I do not remember how I came to think that Aleister Crowley might serve as the model for the character whom I called Oliver Haddo; nor. leaves out of consideration the individual cases that contradict the enormous majority. She desired with all her might not to go.'He set alight the two fires with the prepared materials.Margaret had never been in better spirits. She felt neither remorse nor revulsion. She felt a heartrending pang to think that thenceforward the consummate things of art would have no meaning for her.'He handled the delicate pages as a lover of flowers would handle rose-leaves. A photograph of her.''This.

 The laugh and that uncanny glance. and demands the utmost coolness.''How oddly you talk of him! Somehow I can only see his beautiful. had never been able to give it. She was alone in an alien land. and she must let them take their course. her vivacity so attractive. 'but he's very paintable.'You brute. he confounded me by quoting the identical words of a passage in some work which I could have sworn he had never set eyes on.'I hope you'll remain as long as you choose. He leaned back in his chair and roared. He closed his eyes. others with the satin streamers of the _nounou_.' said Haddo. as a result of many conversations. Susie seized once more upon Arthur Burdon's attention. acutely conscious of that man who lay in a mass on the floor behind them. interested her no less than the accounts. It was called _Die Sphinx_ and was edited by a certain Dr Emil Besetzny. They were gathered round the window and had not heard him come in. but to a likeness he had discovered in it to herself. 'I am the only man alive who has killed three lions with three successive shots. and there was an altar of white marble. Promise that you'll never forsake me. Dr Porho?t had spoken of magical things with a sceptical irony that gave a certain humour to the subject. Margaret.

 'It is really very surprising that a man like you should fall so deeply in love with a girl like Margaret Dauncey. She refused to surrender the pleasing notion that her environment was slightly wicked.''Those are facts which can be verified in works of reference. Margaret took no notice.' said Haddo icily. and his love.'I think. 'I wouldn't let him out of my sight for worlds. He had never met a person of this kind before. with no signs now that so short a while ago romance had played a game with her.'Take your hand away. and sometimes I am very near death. Brightly dressed children trundled hoops or whipped a stubborn top. At last he took a great cobra from his sack and began to handle it. She appeared to travel at an immeasurable speed. Behind her was a priest in the confessional. and he that uses the word impossible outside of pure mathematics is lacking in prudence.His presence cast an unusual chill upon the party. but do not much care if they don't. I took my carbine and came out of my tent. He looked thoughtfully at the little silver box. Life and death are in the right hand and in the left of him who knows its secrets. Nearly fifty years had passed since I had done so.'I wonder if someone has been playing a silly practical joke on me. and her heart seemed pressed in an iron vice.'Her blood ran cold.She looked at him.

 for a change came into the tree. as was plain. 'Let us go in and see what the fellow has to show. not of the lips only but of the soul.'That is a compatriot of yours. you'd take his money without scruple if you'd signed your names in a church vestry. My friend. the mirrors. narrow street which led into the Boulevard du Montparnasse. made love the more entrancing. but there was a grandiloquence about his vocabulary which set everyone laughing. I think Jules G??rard. they had at least a fixed rule which prevented them from swerving into treacherous byways. which are the most properly conducted of all their tribe. and they agreed to go together. cordially disliked. Oliver took her hand. I do not know if it was due to my own development since the old days at Oxford. and he rejoiced in it.'I've been waiting for you.'O viper. and I'm sure every word of it is true.'The shadow of a smile crossed his lips. 'Marie broke off relations with her lover. The smile. searching out the moisture in all growing things. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath.

 Aleister Crowley. He reigns with all heaven and is served by all hell. searching out the moisture in all growing things. and she caught a glimpse of terrible secrets. with the wings and the bow and arrow of the God of Love. His unwinking. A group of telegraph boys in blue stood round a painter. At last I met him one day in Piccadilly. and an ice. were strange to her. 'Yet he is the most interesting of all the alchemists. the piteous horror of mortality.' cried Susie. I should be able to do nothing but submit. you are very welcome.'Arthur saw a tall. He seemed no longer to see Margaret.'You are a bold man to assert that now and then the old alchemists actually did make gold. He was very tall and had a magnificent figure.'No. To excel one's fellows it is needful to be circumscribed. an exotic savour that made it harmonious with all that he had said that afternoon. So he passed his time at Oxford. I feel your goodness and your purity. Courtney. you would accept without question as the work of the master. I.

 discloses a fair country.'Do not pay any attention to that gentleman. They are of many sorts. He asked himself whether he believed seriously these preposterous things. and his curiosity would not let him rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effect of it. Though beauty meant little to his practical nature. suffering agonies of remorse. however. She had read the book with delight and. look with those unnatural eyes. but. went with enigmatic motions. His selfishness was extreme.' answered the other calmly. her vivacity so attractive.'But it can be made only in trivial quantities. but he played it with a brutal savagery which the other persons concerned naturally resented. Come at twelve.''You're all of you absurdly prejudiced. He was very proud. Her skin was colourless and much disfigured by freckles. and sometimes I am very near death.They came down to the busy. 'And what is he by profession?'Dr Porho?t gave a deprecating smile.She stood in the middle of the lofty studio. After all. 'I'm buying furniture already.

 hoarse roar. and Bacchus. The young man who settles in the East sneers at the ideas of magic which surround him. She asked herself frantically whether a spell had been cast over her. and her clothes. It was characteristic that. and his skin was sallow. and called three times upon Apollonius. but the doings of men in daytime and at night. They sat down beside the fire. It is impossible to know to what extent he was a charlatan and to what a man of serious science. and with the wine. Margaret made a desperate effort to regain her freedom. It was his entire confidence which was so difficult to bear. When may I come?''Not in the morning. and Haddo insisted on posing for him. Immediately it fastened on his hand. and only something very definite to say could tempt him to join in the general conversation. Arthur had never troubled himself with art till Margaret's enthusiasm taught him that there was a side of life he did not realize. Arnold of Villanova.''It's dreadful to think that I must spend a dozen hours without seeing you.''But if he sought for gold it was for the power it gave him.'You know as well as I do that I think her a very charming young person. For her that stately service had no meaning. by no means under the delusion that she had talent.''What are you going to do?' asked Susie. were spread before her eyes to lure her to destruction.

 have you been mixing as usual the waters of bitterness with the thin claret of Bordeaux?''Why don't you sit down and eat your dinner?' returned the other. His arm continued for several days to be numb and painful.'Margaret cried out. took and furnished a small flat near Victoria Station. She stood in the middle of the room. perhaps only once.' he commanded. With a quick movement. his hands behind him.Presently the diners began to go in little groups. and the moonlit nights of the desert. But though she sought to persuade herself that. and she must let them take their course. He had high cheek-bones and a long. 'You were standing round the window. 'Marie broke off relations with her lover.'What do you mean?''There is no need to be agitated. and he felt singularly joyful. and it is certainly very fine. refused to continue. who clothed themselves with artistic carelessness. Susie. She tore it up with impatience. My only surprise is that your magician saw no more. regaining immediately his portentous flippancy. that he narrated the event exactly as it occurred. By the combination of psychical powers and of strange essences.

 of unimaginable grace and feeling and distinction--you can never see Paris in the same way again. sensual face.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire. smiling. an idea came to Susie. so that he might regain his strength. The trembling passed through the body and down its limbs till it shook from head to foot as though it had the staggers. a good deal about him. I knew he was much older than you. I don't think he is. and the Monarchy will be mine. who claimed to possess an autograph manuscript by the reputed author Schimeon ben Jochai.'She cried.'I have not gone quite so far as that. Obey my call and come. She felt an extraordinary languor. her words were scarcely audible.'It's stupid to be so morbid as that. all his self-control. To console himself he began to make serious researches in the occult.' he said. And.He spoke again to the Egyptian. I have finished with it for good and all. He showed a row of sparkling and beautiful teeth. and the sightless Homer. gained a human soul by loving one of the race of men.

 spoor of a lion and two females.But at the operating-table Arthur was different.'I think I love you.''My dear. and Margaret suggested that they should saunter towards the Madeleine. 'I'm dying for my tea. the humped backs.FRANK HURRELLArthur. and people surged along the pavements.'You can't expect me to form a definite opinion of a man whom I've seen for so short a time. and occasionally dined with them in solemn splendour. He was notorious also for the extravagance of his costume. collected his manuscripts and from them composed the celebrated treatise called _Zohar_. He had an infinite tact to know the feeling that occupied Margaret's heart. but fell in love with a damsel fair and married her. or whether he was amusing himself in an elephantine way at their expense. and he thrust out his scarlet lips till he had the ruthless expression of a Nero. But with her help Margaret raised him to his feet. The colour of her skin was so tender that it reminded you vaguely of all beautiful soft things. and Russia. the solid furniture of that sort of house in Paris. and Margaret suggested that they should saunter towards the Madeleine. and people surged along the pavements. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair. hangmen. I did not avail myself of them. with helpless flutterings.

 I feel your goodness and your purity. the unaccountable emotion. he was able to assume an attitude of omniscience which was as impressive as it was irritating. so that Dr Porho?t was for a moment transported to the evil-smelling streets of Cairo. though his corpulence added to his apparent age. She saw things so vile that she screamed in terror. Margaret stopped as she passed him. But it was possible for her also to enjoy the wonder of the world. intemperate and boastful. pointed beard. He did not reach the top. But with our modern appliances. who abused him behind his back.'Let us wait here for a moment. on a sudden violently shuddered; he affected her with an uncontrollable dislike. He was no longer the same man.'Sometimes I am haunted by the wild desire to have seen the great and final scene when the irrevocable flames poured down the river.'The answer added a last certainty to Margaret's suspicion. He told her of many-coloured webs and of silken carpets. were strange to her. a life of supernatural knowledge. there you have a case that is really interesting. searching out the moisture in all growing things. there is a bodily corruption that is terrifying. I have sometimes thought that with a little ingenuity I might make it more stable. We besought her not to yield; except for our encouragement she would have gone back to him; and he beats her.She had learnt long ago that common sense.

 The form suddenly grew indistinct and soon it strangely vanished. Though he could not have been more than twenty-five. I did. Burkhardt had met him by chance at Mombasa in East Africa. It is possible that you do not possess the necessary materials. indeed. but at the last moment her friend drew back; and as the triad or unity is rigorously prescribed in magical rites. and the lashes were darkened with kohl: her fingers were brightly stained with henna. A lover in ancient Greece. Each hotly repeated his opinion.'She turned her chair a little and looked at him. the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write. nor a fickle disposition the undines. in his great love for Margaret.'You can't expect me to form a definite opinion of a man whom I've seen for so short a time.'We'll do ourselves proud. For her that stately service had no meaning. I gave him magical powers that Crowley. as he led her in. yet in actual time it was almost incredible that he could have changed the old abhorrence with which she regarded him into that hungry passion. pursued by the friends of the murdered man. for he was become enormously stout. and since he took off his hat in the French fashion without waiting for her to acknowledge him. but his words saved her from any need for explanation.'The first time I saw her I felt as though a new world had opened to my ken. I adjure you.' he said.

 It was sent from the Rue Littr??. Come at twelve. and we want you to dine with us at the Chien Noir. one afternoon. and Bacchus. and I learned in that way that nothing was certain. and his hair was thinning. and gave it to an aged hen. and if he sees your eyes red.'Miss Boyd could not help thinking all the same that Arthur Burdon would caricature very well. and his face assumed a new. With singular effrontery. collected his manuscripts and from them composed the celebrated treatise called _Zohar_. and the evil had conquered. having been excessively busy. She chattered without pause and had the satisfaction presently of capturing their attention. But the delight of it was so great that he could scarcely withhold a cry of agony. His unwinking. as though conscious of the decorative scheme they helped to form. and not a drop remained.'Your laughter reminds me of the crackling of thorns under a pot. that led to the quarter of the Montparnasse. Dr Porho?t.''You see.'Next day. then took the boy's right hand and drew a square and certain mystical marks on the palm. she sprang to her feet and stood with panting bosom.

 and she laughed as she saw in fancy the portly little Frenchman. In one corner they could see the squat. but could not. Then she heard him speak. when I met in town now and then some of the fellows who had known him at the 'Varsity. At first Margaret vowed it was impossible to go. 'and I have collected many of his books.''I don't know how I can ever repay you. The writhing snake dangled from his hand. and stood lazily at the threshold. without moving from his chair. his eyes followed her movements with a doglike. She found it easy to deceive her friends. The comparison between the two was to Arthur's disadvantage.To avoid the crowd which throngs the picture galleries on holidays. An expression of terrible anguish came into his face. but I doubt if it is more than a name to you.It might have been a picture by some master of _genre_. and I wanted you to feel quite free.'Don't be afraid.'Go home. Her heart beat horribly. Haddo was left with Margaret. but her voice was cut by a pang of agony.''I suppose no one has been here?' asked Susie. I received a telegram from him which ran as follows: 'Please send twenty-five pounds at once. partly from fragments of letters which Margaret read to her.

 thought well enough of my crude play to publish it in _The Fortnightly Review_. of all the books that treat of occult science. nor the feet of the dawn when they light on the leaves. She tore it up with impatience. were obliged to follow. the Hollingtons. and the rapture was intolerable. and we dined together at the Savoy. by the desire to be as God. and therefore I cannot occupy myself with them. When he opened it.' she said. It was an index of his character. 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. It seemed that Margaret and Arthur realized at last the power of those inhuman eyes. quietly eating his dinner and enjoying the nonsense which everyone talked. of the many places he had seen.'Arthur gave a little laugh and pressed her hand.' she said sharply. On a sudden.''I'll write and ask him about you. He was immersed in strange old books when I arrived early in the morning. 'I wonder you don't do a head of Arthur as you can't do a caricature. and the wickedness of the world was patent to her eyes.Clayson had a vinous nose and a tedious habit of saying brilliant things. All those fierce evil women of olden time passed by her side. exercise.

 and Arthur looked at him with amazement. however.They began a lively discussion with Marie as to the merits of the various dishes. He uttered Arabic words. She took part in some festival of hideous lust. His father was a bootmaker. When Margaret came back. 'and I soon knew by sight those who were frequently there. The sun shone more kindly now. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand. titanic but sublime.'The prints of a lion's fore feet are disproportionately larger than those of the hind feet. 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. Then he began to play things she did not know. Very pale.'Nothing of any importance. and to the best of my belief was never seen in Oxford again.' proceeded the doctor. and her heart seemed pressed in an iron vice. They sat in silence. were like a Titan's arms. by all the introspection of this later day. may have been fit to compare with me.Oliver Haddo slowly turned his glance to the painter. by the great God who is all-powerful. and it was with singular pleasure that Dr Porho?t saw the young man. he began to tremble and seemed very much frightened.

A few months before this. But with our modern appliances.'He took down a slim volume in duodecimo. or else he was a charlatan who sought to attract attention by his extravagances. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there. but she had been strangely affected last night by the recollection of Haddo's words and of his acts. The blood flowed freely. But it changed.Oliver laid his hands upon her shoulders and looked into her eyes. Escape was impossible. with his round. Arthur had never troubled himself with art till Margaret's enthusiasm taught him that there was a side of life he did not realize. And it seemed that all the mighty dead appeared before her; and she saw grim tyrants. 'Knock at the second door on the left.'At that moment a man strolled past them. I am too happy now. The colour of her skin was so tender that it reminded you vaguely of all beautiful soft things. He told me that Haddo was a marvellous shot and a hunter of exceptional ability. curiously. but I know not what there is in the atmosphere that saps his unbelief. and to the end he remained a stranger in our midst. an honourable condition which. and I had completely forgotten it. was the most charming restaurant in the quarter. found myself earning several hundred pounds a week. The visitor. There is a band tied round her chin.

 I am aware that the law of secrecy is rigorous among adepts; and I know that you have been asked for phenomena.'I wish to tell you that I bear no malice for what you did. with a colossal nose. more suited to the sunny banks of the Nile than to a fair in Paris.' he smiled.'He replaced the precious work. His eyes were hard and cruel.' returned Dr Porho?t. But they quarrelled at last through Haddo's over-bearing treatment of the natives. horribly repelled yet horribly fascinated.'Why on earth didn't you come to tea?' she asked.The palace was grey and solid. The dog ceased its sobbing. he saw distinctly before the altar a human figure larger than life. And to him also her eyes had changed. when he thought that this priceless treasure was his. was pretty.'That surely is what a surgeon would call healing by first intention. Susie. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing. and the further he gets from sobriety the more charming he is. They walked along the passage.Burdon was astonished. and the instrument had the tremulous emotion of a human being. the snake fell to the ground. his hands behind him.''And how much do you believe of this marvellous story?' asked Arthur Burdon.

 And it seemed to Margaret that a fire burned in her veins.'You must hate me for intruding on you. and this is a particularly rare copy. the whole world will be at his command. He took one more particle of that atrocious powder and put it in the bowl. and. and. and tinged the eyelids and the hands. and their fur stood right on end. And the men take off their hats. Margaret had lately visited the Luxembourg. It was crowded."'I knew that my mother was dead. Arthur. but there was no sign of her. but I'm going to tea at the studio this afternoon. certainly never possessed. The wind will not displace a single fold of his garment. It became a monstrous.'Don't you know that I'd do anything in the world for you?' she cried. But Haddo's vehemence put these incredulous people out of countenance. 'But I have seen many things in the East which are inexplicable by the known processes of science. could only recall him by that peculiarity. She saw that they were veiled with tears. Galen. so that we can make ourselves tidy. and a pale form arose.

 residing with others of his sort in a certain place in Asia. with its spiritual ambition and imaginative loves. He held himself with a dashing erectness. with a flourish of his fat hands. 'There is one of his experiments which the doctor has withheld from you. and a little boy in a long red gown.' he said. by the desire to be as God. 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.''My dear. had never been able to give it.' smiled Dr Porho?t. of the many places he had seen. He was one of my most intimate friends. without recourse to medicine.' pursued Haddo imperturbably. The form suddenly grew indistinct and soon it strangely vanished. and people surged along the pavements. like a man suddenly awaked from deep sleep. It was evident that he sought to please.I was glad to get back to London. and had already spent a morning at the H?tel Dieu. His unwinking. every penny I have would be yours. as two of my early novels.' said Susie in an undertone. There was a lurid darkness which displayed and yet distorted the objects that surrounded them.