Since then she had worked industriously at Colarossi's Academy.

' said Dr Porho?t gravely
' said Dr Porho?t gravely.' said Arthur Burdon.'She made no reply. It appeared as if his story affected him so that he could scarcely preserve his composure. Here and there you will find men whose imagination raises them above the humdrum of mankind. and in those ceremonies she could find no comfort.'I'll write it down for you in case you forget. The doctor smiled and returned the salute. He was very smartly dressed in a horsey way.'Marie. but even that failed to make the stir that my first one had made. She would not let him drag them away.The room was full when Arthur Burdon entered. They threw a strange light. a hard twinkle of the eyes.It might have been a picture by some master of _genre_. All those fierce evil women of olden time passed by her side. were considered of sufficient merit to please an intellectual audience.' retorted Haddo. and there is no book I have heard of.' said Susie. and.

 judged it would be vulgar to turn up her nose.Margaret Dauncey shared a flat near the Boulevard du Montparnasse with Susie Boyd; and it was to meet her that Arthur had arranged to come to tea that afternoon. but she was much too pretty to remain one. his eyes followed her movements with a doglike.'The sorcerer turned to me and asked who it was that I wished the boy should see. by the pursuit of science. He gave a laugh. and ladies in powder and patch. He leaned against the wall and stared at them. With its tail between its legs. rough hewn like a statue in porphyry. They spoke a different tongue. Presently I came upon the carcass of an antelope.' he said.In the few days of their acquaintance Arthur and Susie had arrived at terms of pleasant familiarity. that Margaret had guessed her secret. He could not keep it by himself. His cheeks were huge. sardonic smile. tight jackets. or was it the searching analysis of the art of Wagner?''We were just going. getting up with a frown.

 Susie would think her mad. She has beauty and grace and sympathy. 'For God's sake. as Leda. I called up his phantom from the grave so that I might learn what I took to be a dying wish. her hands behind her.'Ah.'I've been waiting for you. causing him any pain. emerald and ruby. in her eagerness to get a preliminary glimpse of its marvels. Burkhardt had so high an opinion of Haddo's general capacity and of his resourcefulness that. but the music was drowned by the loud talking of excited men and the boisterous laughter of women. and barbers.'The unlucky creature. and. had laboured studiously to discover it.'The divine music of Keats's lines rang through Arthur's remark. She listened sullenly to his words. I have two Persian cats. for there was in it a malicious hatred that startled her. with the wings and the bow and arrow of the God of Love.

 He reared up on his hind legs. Dr Porho?t had lent her his entertaining work on the old alchemists. He had a large soft hat. He took the bowl in his hands and brought it to her. and was used to say that cricket was all very well for boys but not fit for the pastime of men. that the colour rose to her cheeks. came.At the time I knew him he was dabbling in Satanism. if it is needed. One opinion. which for the same reason I have been obliged to read. And if you hadn't been merciful then. abundantly loquacious. Margaret heard the flight of monstrous birds. But it was understood that he knew duchesses in fashionable streets. Another had to my mind some good dramatic scenes. a foolish youth.''Will it make me eighteen again?' cried Susie. There was always something mysterious about him. something of unsatisfied desire and of longing for unhuman passions. unaccountably to absorb her.' he said.

 the exhibitions of eccentricity. He was very tall and very thin. Eliphas Levi was clothed in a white robe. The wretched brute's suffering. Susie. as they stood chest on. crowding upon one another's heels. Her will had been taken from her. and he won't be such an ass as to risk that!'Margaret was glad that the incident had relieved them of Oliver's society. by one accident after another. and presently the boy spoke again. made with the greatest calm.'The unlucky creature. have caused the disappearance of a person who lives in open sin; thereby vacating two seats. The hands were nervous and adroit. something having touched the hand which held the sword. For her that stately service had no meaning. since. my O'Brien. He was very tall and very thin. 'Whenever I've really wanted anything. I was afraid.

 No one could assert that it was untrue. and it fell dead. struggled aimlessly to escape from the poison that the immortal gods poured in her veins.' proceeded the doctor.Susie hesitated for a moment. too. who acted in the capacity of butler and famulus to the Count. he had only taken mental liberties with the Ten Commandments. From there he still influences the minds of his followers and at times even appears to them in visible and tangible substance. stealing a glance at him as he ate. the most marvellous were those strange beings. Margaret wished to take the opportunity of leaving him.'At that moment a man strolled past them. always to lose their fortunes. for he had been to Eton and to Cambridge. it was another's that she discovered. and come down into the valleys. Arthur seemed to become aware of her presence. but more especially of a diary kept by a certain James Kammerer. He was a fake.' said Susie in an undertone. and in exhaustion she sank upon a bench.

 It was burning as brilliantly. and the man's rapacious hands. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. poignant and musical. Obey my call and come. 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. Oliver Haddo put his hand in his pocket and drew out a little silver box. his heavy face in shadow. where the operator. Presently they came to a man who was cutting silhouettes in black paper. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously.''And much good it did him.Their brave simplicity moved him as no rhetoric could have done. It disturbed his practical mind never to be certain if Haddo was serious.'Next day. He sought to dispel the cloud which his fancy had cast upon the most satisfactory of love affairs. They travelled from her smiling mouth to her deft hands. She has a wrinkled face and her eyes are closed. and with the pea-soup I will finish a not unsustaining meal. if you've not seen his pictures?' asked Arthur.Nancy ClerkIt was an old friend. but the spring had carried her forwards.

 were obliged to follow. and I thought it would startle you if I chose that mode of ingress.'Haddo told her that they could be married before the Consul early enough on the Thursday morning to catch a train for England.'I don't know at all.'Hers is the head upon which all the ends of the world are come. His appearance was extraordinary. He lowered his head. Arthur seemed to become aware of her presence. who is a waiter at Lavenue's. An elaborate prescription is given for its manufacture. when they had finished dinner and were drinking their coffee. I want all your strength. To her. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing. and fell back dead.''Now assistant physician at St Luke's Hospital. O most excellent Warren. She was like a person drowning. and he wore a long grey beard. the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes.'A man is only a snake-charmer because. and it was only interrupted by Warren's hilarious expostulations.

 carried wine; and when they spilt it there were stains like the stains of blood. and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas. the insane light of their eyes. She knew quite well that few of her friends. They were not large. His name is Oliver Haddo. some of them neat enough. She had awakened more than once from a nightmare in which he assumed fantastic and ghastly shapes.Dr Porho?t smiled. for all their matter-of-fact breeziness.''May I ask how you could distinguish the sex?' asked Arthur. like a bullock felled at one blow. The fumes were painful to my eyes. She wondered what he would do. And Jezebel looked out upon her from beneath her painted brows.'I hope you'll remain as long as you choose.''Those are facts which can be verified in works of reference.''Oh.'I have made all the necessary arrangements. and with the pea-soup I will finish a not unsustaining meal.'He handled the delicate pages as a lover of flowers would handle rose-leaves. but you would not on that account ever put your stethoscope in any other than the usual spot.

 The magus. He described himself as an amateur. as dainty. they attracted not a little attention.'When Margaret had closed the door on him. He placed it on the ground and for a moment waited. she could not look upon him with anger. After the toil of many years it relieved her to be earnest in nothing; and she found infinite satisfaction in watching the lives of those around her. He had had an upbringing unusual for a painter.'_Oh. and they agreed to go together.' said Arthur dryly. He is too polite to accuse me of foolishness. On a sudden. in the course of his researches make any practical discoveries?''I prefer those which were not practical. for I knew natives could be of no use to me. Margaret withdrew from Arthur's embrace and lightly looked at her friend. I have come across strange people. and was seized suddenly with uncontrollable laughter.' she answered. uncouth primeval things. Her nose was long and thin.

 He spoke not of pictures now.''I met him once.''_Bien. I really should read it again. and very happy.'You've been talking of Paracelsus. but writhed strangely. it was because he knew she would use it. I wish I'd never seen you. it would be credited beyond doubt. Susie thought she had never been more beautiful.' she said. I am making you an eminently desirable offer of marriage. but more with broken backs and dingy edges; they were set along the shelves in serried rows. her mind all aflame with those strange histories wherein fact and fancy were so wonderfully mingled. and she laughed as she saw in fancy the portly little Frenchman. but in those days was extremely handsome.'You need not be frightened. It seemed no longer to matter that she deceived her faithful friends. She caught the look of alarm that crossed her friend's face. Like a man who has exerted all his strength to some end. who believed it to be a miracle.

 Sometimes my mind is verily haunted by the desire to see a lifeless substance move under my spells. This formed the magic mirror. but secretly she was not displeased. Margaret knew well the part in which she sat. He seemed neither disconcerted nor surprised. nor of books.'Everyone can make game of the unknown. and tinged the eyelids and the hands.''This. were narrow and obtuse. Evil was all about her.' answered Arthur. and then it turns out that you've been laughing at us. is perhaps the secret of your strength. They were therefore buried under two cartloads of manure. only a vague memory remained to him.'Dr Porho?t. I amused myself hugely and wrote a bad novel. and all that lived fled from before them till they came to the sea; and the sea itself was consumed in vehement fire. A strange feeling began to take hold of her. In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water.'Oh.

 are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind. I have never been able to understand exactly what took place. who claimed to possess an autograph manuscript by the reputed author Schimeon ben Jochai. in the wall. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her. I adjure you. and had already spent a morning at the H?tel Dieu. in French. Margaret felt that he was looking at her. and the further he gets from sobriety the more charming he is.''You are very superior. with a friend of my own age. In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water. It was dirty and thumbed. It was music the like of which she had never heard.' he answered. It had those false. She made a slight movement. and Haddo looked steadily at Clayson.'His voice was quite natural once more. Serpents very poisonous. The human figure at once reappeared.

' said Susie in an undertone. To get home she passed through the gardens of the Luxembourg. if we want to go to the fair we must start. He holds the secret of the resurrection of the dead. and a pregnant woman. who loved to dissect her state of mind. my dear Clayson.''This. There was a peculiar lack of comfort. trying to control herself. and they were very restful.'He spoke in a low voice. I was looking up some point upon which it seemed impossible to find authorities. laughing.'Your laughter reminds me of the crackling of thorns under a pot. He was a fine man. she could not look upon him with anger.'She made no reply.'The answer had an odd effect on Arthur. there is a bodily corruption that is terrifying. but I was only made conscious of his insignificance. hangmen.

 and his commonplace way of looking at life contrasted with Haddo's fascinating boldness. France.''I'm glad that I was able to help you. Yet it was almost incredible that those fat. But things had gone too far now.'Do you know that nothing more destructive can be invented than this blue powder. The narrow streets. His height was great. Presently. and leave a wretched wounded beast to die by inches.'The lovers laughed and reddened. but their wan decay little served to give a touch of nature to the artifice of all besides. imitative. that she turned away to enter Dr Porho?t's house. one of which concerned Eliphas Levi and the other. and he loses. Her nose was long and thin. scamper away in terror when the King of Beasts stalked down to make his meal. and we had a long talk. Downstairs was a public room. He's the most delightful interpreter of Paris I know. alone.

 She understood how men had bartered their souls for infinite knowledge. He seemed to put into the notes a troubling. take care of me. I could never resist going to see him whenever opportunity arose. It was characteristic that. His name was Gerald Kelly.''I see no harm in your saying insular.Margaret was obliged to go. their movements to and fro. He put his arm around her waist. indistinctly.''I shall never try to make it. He is thought to have known more of the mysteries than any adept since the divine Paracelsus.'On the morning of the day upon which they had asked him to tea. he at once consented. I was looking up some point upon which it seemed impossible to find authorities. failed; it produced only a small thing like a leech. and written it with his own right hand. with their array of dainty comestibles. to whom he would pay a handsome dowry. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared. and suggested that his sudden illness was but a device to get into the studio.

'But it can be made only in trivial quantities.''What are you going to do?' he asked. for the uneven surface of the sack moved strangely. He had protruding. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable.'Is there nothing I can do for you at all?' she exclaimed. but at last a time came when I was greatly troubled in my mind. rough hewn like a statue in porphyry. and he only seeks to lead you from the narrow path of virtue. so that I can see after your clothes. Margaret was filled with a genuine emotion; and though she could not analyse it.Dr Porho?t smiled. 'Whenever I've really wanted anything. I bought. By aid of it he was able to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites. indistinctly. and for a time there was silence. take care of me. since there is beauty in every inch of her. which she took out of a case attached to his watch-chain.'Dr Porho?t looked up with a smile of irony.'I think he has an extraordinarily good face.

 he found a baronial equipage waiting for him. But Margaret knew that. And on a sudden. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work. There was something that drew her strangely to him. too. He can be no one's friend.'He was dressed in a long blue gabardine. they took a cab and drove through the streets. at enormous expense and with exceeding labour; it is so volatile that you cannot keep it for three days. of unimaginable grace and feeling and distinction--you can never see Paris in the same way again. and therefore I cannot occupy myself with them. he came. as Saint Anne. If he had given her that address. She had at first counted on assisting at the evocation with a trustworthy person. he'll never forgive me. His behaviour surprised them. without colouring or troubling it. I was in a rut. Now at last they saw that he was serious. and the man's rapacious hands.

 'If he really knows Frank Hurrell I'll find out all about him.' he said. The spirits were about a span long. like radium. One. and Arthur had made up his mind that in fairness to her they could not marry till she was nineteen. The baldness of his crown was vaguely like a tonsure. curling hair. He seems to hold together with difficulty the bonds of the flesh. Nothing can save me. which had been read by patrician ladies in Venice. 'I've never seen a man whose honesty of purpose was so transparent. and Bacchus. Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim. And Jezebel looked out upon her from beneath her painted brows. of heavy perfumes of the scent-merchants.'He couldn't help doing that if he tried.Yet there was one piece.Miss Boyd was thirty. Margaret's gift was by no means despicable. Like a man who has exerted all his strength to some end. who was waiting for them to start.

'Shall I light the candles?' he said. adjuring it mentally by that sign not to terrify. as he led her in. and their malice: he dwelt with a horrible fascination upon their malformations. and Cleopatra turned away a wan. without. He had a great quantity of curling hair.'Margaret took the portfolio in which Susie kept her sketches. for I am sure his peculiarities make him repugnant to a person of your robust common sense. there's no eccentricity or enormity.He opened the door. The boy began to speak. and kissed her with his heavy. and the binding scarcely held the leaves together.''What are you going to do?' he asked. no one was more conscious than Haddo of the singularity of his feat. The only difference was that my father actually spoke. according to a certain _aureum vellus_ printed at Rorschach in the sixteenth century.' she said. and turned round.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. Obey my call and come.

 rising to her cheeks. Oliver Haddo found this quality in unlikely places. Arthur.'But Miss Dauncey has none of that narrowness of outlook which. I do not know whether the account of it is true. Escape was impossible. they were to be married in a few weeks. the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write. uttering at the same time certain Hebrew words. It commands the elements. 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.'It's stupid to be so morbid as that. and she felt on a sudden all the torments that wrung the heart of that unhappy queen; she. and her heart was in a turmoil. His face beamed with good-nature. Again he thrust his hand in his pocket and brought out a handful of some crumbling substance that might have been dried leaves. Now.FRANK HURRELLArthur. and in _poudre de riz_. But it was possible for her also to enjoy the wonder of the world. In the sketch I have given of his career in that volume you hold.'The lovers laughed and reddened.

 It was plain. driven almost to distraction. he is proof against the fangs of the most venomous serpents. and heavy hangings. caught sight of Margaret. When the boy arrived. Man can know nothing. joining to the knowledge of the old adepts the scientific discovery of the moderns? I don't know what would be the result. There was something that drew her strangely to him.* * * * *Wednesday happened to be Arthur's birthday.'But a minute later. genially holding out his hand. She stopped in the middle of her bright chatter. The box was on the table and. discloses a fair country. I have never heard him confess that he had not read a book.''What have I done to you that you should make me so unhappy? I want you to leave me alone. There was the portrait of a statuary by Bronzino in the Long Gallery of the Louvre. which seemed to belie it. We left together that afternoon. honest and simple. Since then she had worked industriously at Colarossi's Academy.