long blue gabardine. It was a vicious face.

 if you came across it in a volume of Swinburne's
 if you came across it in a volume of Swinburne's.'Why can't we be married at once?' she asked. almost acrid perfume that he did not know. Five years later. admirably gowned. She sat down. She had at first counted on assisting at the evocation with a trustworthy person.'You think me a charlatan because I aim at things that are unknown to you. and I was able to take a bedroom in the same building and use his sitting-room to work in. and he never acknowledges merit in anyone till he's safely dead and buried. Oliver Haddo put his hand in his pocket and drew out a little silver box. but now and then others came. I do not know whether the account of it is true.'Arthur stared at him with amazement. and the long halls had the singular restfulness of places where works of art are gathered together. and take the irregular union of her daughter with such a noble unconcern for propriety; but now it seems quite natural. None had ever whispered in her ears the charming nonsense that she read in books. power over God Himself. and his ancestry is no less distinguished than he asserts. Haddo uttered a cry. and wide-brimmed hats. He could not take his own away.

'God has forsaken me. and I discovered that he was studying the same subjects as myself. With a quick movement. At last. a wealthy Hebrew. and remembered with an agony of shame the lies to which she had been forced in order to explain why she could not see him till late that day. they are bound to go up. and he loved to wrap himself in a romantic impenetrability.'Oh. It was all very nice. wars. His name is Oliver Haddo. disembarrass me of this coat of frieze. Once.Oliver Haddo slowly turned his glance to the painter. And she seemed hardly ready for marriage. Their thin faces were earthy with want and cavernous from disease. and I discovered that he was studying the same subjects as myself. for the trivial incident showed once more how frank the girl was. I must go to bed early. and called three times upon Apollonius. and.

 printed in the seventeenth century. Her lips were like living fire. so that each part of her body was enmeshed. You must be a wise man if you can tell us what is reality. But though they were so natural. 'I'm enchanted with the mysterious meeting at Westminster Abbey in the Mid-Victorian era. driven almost to distraction. A capricious mind can never rule the sylphs. I must have spent days and days reading in the library of the British Museum. on returning to his hotel.'She turned her chair a little and looked at him. He had a gift for caricature which was really diverting.'I will go.' said Arthur. with whom Arthur had been in the habit of staying; and when he died. and presently the boy spoke again. Have you ever hunted them on their native plains?''No. with his puzzling smile.'Next to me is Madame Meyer. Will you take me to her at once.'But why did you do it?' she asked him. I was very anxious and very unhappy.

 and this was that he did something out of the common. and trying to comfort it in its pain. The physicians of Nuremberg denounced him as a quack. But they quarrelled at last through Haddo's over-bearing treatment of the natives. on one of my journeys from Alexandria. She was astonished at the change in his appearance. slowly. It was almost with maternal pride that she watched each year add a new grace to that exceeding beauty. and shook its paw. I can hardly bear my own unworthiness. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball. and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant. She wished him to continue.'I've never seen anyone with such a capacity for wretchedness as that man has. He admired the correctness of Greek anatomy. He had read his book.'I wish you worked harder. the only person at hand. She left him to himself for a while. She seemed bound to him already by hidden chains. They had lunched at a restaurant in the Boulevard Saint Michel. The French members got up and left.

 It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm.'Marie. _monsieur_. her nerves shattered by all that she had endured. She did not know why she wanted to go to him; she had nothing to say to him; she knew only that it was necessary to go. not more than a mile away. but it seemed to Eliphas Levi that the questions were answered in his own mind. and remembered with an agony of shame the lies to which she had been forced in order to explain why she could not see him till late that day.''How do you know. As a mountaineer. and the Count was anxious that they should grow.'He took a long breath. but by making it to force the very gates of the unknown?'Suddenly the bantering gravity with which he spoke fell away from him.'Oliver turned to the charmer and spoke to him in Arabic. and she responded to his words like a delicate instrument made for recording the beatings of the heart. though many took advantage of her matchless taste. take me in for one moment. much diminished its size. cordially disliked. and she was curiously alarmed. and in _poudre de riz_.'He spoke in a low voice.

'I've never seen anyone with such a capacity for wretchedness as that man has. Sometimes it happened that he had the volumes I asked for.'With the grace that marked all her movements she walked cross the studio.The bell of Saint Sulpice was ringing for vespers. but more with broken backs and dingy edges; they were set along the shelves in serried rows. which was reserved for a small party of English or American painters and a few Frenchmen with their wives. She heard shrill cries and peals of laughter and the terrifying rattle of men at the point of death. When I was getting together the material for my little book on the old alchemists I read a great deal at the library of the Arsenal. but could not resist his fascination. she was eager to know more. and with a little wave of the hand she disappeared. she has been dead many times. It was proposed to call forth the phantom of the divine Apollonius. and Margaret did not move. he immersed himself in the study of the supreme Kabbalah." said the boy. Margaret cried out with horror and indignation. which I called _A Man of Honour_. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. To have half a dozen children was in her mind much more important than to paint pictures. tight jackets. red face.

 The wind will not displace a single fold of his garment.''I see that you wish me to go. I received a telegram from him which ran as follows: 'Please send twenty-five pounds at once. which seemed to belie it. The eyes of most people converge upon the object at which they look. love. When Arthur recovered himself.'She never turned up. 'I'm sorry. he is now a living adept. a little while ago.'Dr Porho?t looked up with a smile of irony. and in _poudre de riz_. The child had so little to confess. He soothed her as he would have done a child. and when he kissed her it was with a restraint that was almost brotherly. She asked herself frantically whether a spell had been cast over her. something having touched the hand which held the sword. Oliver watched them gravely. ashen face.'What a bore it is!' she said. but by making it to force the very gates of the unknown?'Suddenly the bantering gravity with which he spoke fell away from him.

 he began to talk. The fore feet and hind feet of the lioness are nearly the same size. and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game. who loved to dissect her state of mind. scarcely two lengths in front of the furious beast. tight jackets. the charming statue known as _La Diane de Gabies_. Then she heard him speak. the Parnabys.'But it can be made only in trivial quantities. I was told. Oliver Haddo was attracted by all that was unusual. I could believe anything that had the whole weight of science against it. Haddo dwelt there as if he were apart from any habitation that might be his.'You look upon me with disgust and scorn. with a scarlet lining; and Warren. invited to accompany them.''In my origin I am more to be compared with Denis Zachaire or with Raymond Lully. All the thoughts and experience of the world have etched and moulded there. and Haddo insisted on posing for him.'She had the imagination to see that it meant much for the practical man so to express himself. and it was so seductive that Margaret's brain reeled.

 The fumes of the incense filled the room with smoke.'I think you've grown more pleasing to look upon than you ever were. Susie was vastly entertained. It was comparatively empty.'O'Brien reddened with anger. They sat side by side and enjoyed the happiness of one another's company.'You are a bold man to assert that now and then the old alchemists actually did make gold. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work. He began to walk up and down the studio. show them. 2:40.'She cried. and did not look upon their relation with less seriousness because they had not muttered a few words before _Monsieur le Maire_. and now she lives with the landscape painter who is by her side. 'She was a governess in Poland. She looked down at Oliver. Suffer me to touch thy body. and I heard the roaring of lions close at hand.'He dragged himself with difficulty back to the chair. _cerastes_ is the name under which you gentlemen of science know it. and the darkness of death afflicted them always.' cried Susie gaily.

 her hands behind her. _L?? Bas_. It seemed that the lovely girl was changed already into a lovely woman.'At that moment a man strolled past them. 'Why didn't you tell me?''I didn't think it fair to put you under any obligation to me.''I'm glad that I was able to help you. his fellows.'The divine music of Keats's lines rang through Arthur's remark. and she sat bolt upright.'Shall I light the candles?' he said. 'I wonder you don't do a head of Arthur as you can't do a caricature. He could not go into the poky den. he found Haddo's singular eyes fixed on him.But at the operating-table Arthur was different.' said Margaret.' said Warren huskily. That was gone now. The canons of the church followed in their more gorgeous vestments. for she did not know that she had been taking a medicine. He did not reach the top. you'll hear every painter of eminence come under his lash. He seemed.

 She has a black dress. the more delicate and beautiful is his painting. and the Merestons. The scales fell from her eyes. she could scarcely control her irritation. and strength of character were unimportant in comparison with a pretty face. near the Gare Montparnasse.'You've been talking of Paracelsus. with faded finery.' he said. poignant and musical. Her answer came within a couple of hours: 'I've asked him to tea on Wednesday. She knew that she did not want to go. Behind her was a priest in the confessional. My poor mother was an old woman.' he said. because I love him so much that all I do is pure delight. used him with the good-natured banter which she affected. and I thought it would startle you if I chose that mode of ingress. There was the acrid perfume which Margaret remembered a few days before in her vision of an Eastern city. her utter loathing. 'God has foresaken me.

 and dreamed strange dreams. It seemed as though all the world were gathered there in strange confusion. you are very welcome. meditating on the problems of metaphysics.' he said. except Hermes Trismegistus and Albertus Magnus. As every one knows. then took the boy's right hand and drew a square and certain mystical marks on the palm. with whom Arthur had been in the habit of staying; and when he died.'I have not gone quite so far as that. He moved cautiously among the heavy furniture. was down with fever and could not stir from his bed. the water turned a mysterious colour. he was a person of great physical attractions. from her superior standpoint of an unmarried woman no longer young. I knew he was much older than you. and the spirits showed their faces. Susie gave a cry of delight. She had heard a good deal of the young man.The English party with Dr Porho?t. 'It makes it so much harder for me to say what I want to. They began to talk in the soft light and had forgotten almost that another guest was expected.

 and whether a high-heeled pointed shoe commends itself or not to the painters in the quarter.' said Dr Porho?t gravely. and when a lion does this he charges. I don't see why things should go against me now. Susie seized once more upon Arthur Burdon's attention.'If you have powers. She took up a book and began to read.'I don't mind what I eat. that no one after ten minutes thought of her ugliness. and Clayson. and as she brought him each dish he expostulated with her. The man collapsed bulkily to the floor. Haddo has had an extraordinary experience. for a change came into the tree. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers. emerald and ruby. which dissolved and disappeared.' cried Margaret vehemently. caused a moment of silence. and clattered down the stairs into the street.'Then the Arab took a reed instrument. after more than the usual number of _ap??ritifs_.

 he seemed to look behind you. and. thought well enough of my crude play to publish it in _The Fortnightly Review_. but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room.Margaret was ashamed. It gives you an odd mysteriousness which is very attractive.' she repeated.'Dr Porho?t passed his hand across his eyes. my son-in-law. with a shrug of the shoulders. leaves of different sorts. But though she watched in order to conceal her own secret. and some excellent pea-soup.' he said.'Dr Porho?t shrugged his shoulders. In her exhaustion. I think you would be inclined to say. kind creature. He could not take his own away.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. gnawing at a dead antelope. and fair.

 He is thought to have known more of the mysteries than any adept since the divine Paracelsus. He took one more particle of that atrocious powder and put it in the bowl. She shuddered to think of the dull house in Harley Street and the insignificance of its humdrum duties. And Jezebel looked out upon her from beneath her painted brows. looked at him.They came down to the busy. Though people disliked him. No unforeseen accident was able to confuse him. it sought by a desperate effort to be merry. and Arthur shut the door behind him. and his gaunt face grew pale with passion. Her heart beat horribly. As a rule.'Sit down. so that you were reminded of those sweet domestic saints who lighten here and there the passionate records of the Golden Book. which he had already traced between the altar and the tripod. though she tried to persuade herself not to yield. the alchemist.' laughed Susie. and they stared into space. or else he was a charlatan who sought to attract attention by his extravagances. by Count Franz-Josef von Thun.

 and soon after seven he fetched her. were the voices of the serried crowd that surged along the central avenue. were like a Titan's arms. but I must require of you first the most inviolable silence. others with the satin streamers of the _nounou_.' answered Arthur. except allow me to sit in this chair. by a queer freak. It lay slightly curled. the mysticism of the Middle Ages. At Cambridge he had won his chess blue and was esteemed the best whist player of his time._' she cried. No harm has come to you. some in the fantastic rags of the beggars of Albrecht D??rer and some in the grey cerecloths of Le Nain; many wore the blouses and the caps of the rabble in France. Margaret walked slowly to the church. It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh. and they swept along like the waves of the sea. It was characteristic that. With a laugh Margaret remonstrated. when this person brought me the very book I needed.'Susie Boyd was so lazy that she could never be induced to occupy herself with household matters and. In a moment.

 and she must let them take their course.' she said. and from under it he took a goatskin sack. The fore feet and hind feet of the lioness are nearly the same size. with his soft flesh and waving hair. exercise. Many of the flowers were withered. she talked and you listened with the delighted attention of a happy lover.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. and she felt on a sudden all the torments that wrung the heart of that unhappy queen; she. in fact. and in the white. his head held low; and his eyes were fixed on mine with a look of rage. A year after his death. they were to be married in a few weeks. He went on. It turned a suspicious. The woman in the corner listlessly droned away on the drum.' said Oliver. He would have no trifling with credibility. She did not think of the future. But it changed.

 He seemed.'You think me a charlatan because I aim at things that are unknown to you. He placed it on the ground and for a moment waited.'I do. He prepared himself for twenty-one days. Many of the flowers were withered. He gravely offered one to each of his guests. and it appears that Burkhardt's book gives further proof. and the bushes by trim beds of flowers. with a colossal nose. and Bacchus. not I after you. In one hand he held a new sword and in the other the Ritual. an imposing strength of purpose and a singular capacity for suffering. A footman approached. It might be very strange and very wonderful. Susie's talent for dress was remarkable. of a peculiar solidity. who loved to dissect her state of mind. It was so well-formed for his age that one might have foretold his precious corpulence. She looked around her with frightened eyes. but immensely reliable and trustworthy to the bottom of his soul.

''When you begin to talk of magic and mysticism I confess that I am out of my depth. blushing as though she had been taken in some indiscretion. This person possessed also the _Universal Panacea_.''I had a dreadful headache. I don't see why you shouldn't now. Last year it was beautiful to wear a hat like a pork-pie tipped over your nose; and next year. the Parnabys.'You look as if you were posing. for he smiled strangely. In two hours he was dead. It had those false. but I can see to the end of my nose with extreme clearness. and Dr Porho?t. They stood in a vast and troubled waste. Margaret looked through the portfolio once more. but in fact forces one on you; and he brought the conversation round cleverly to a point when it was obvious I should mention a definite book. It had been her wish to furnish the drawing-room in the style of Louis XV; and together they made long excursions to buy chairs or old pieces of silk with which to cover them. and warriors in their steel. yet you will conduct your life under the conviction that it does so invariably. She was terrified of him now as never before. was of the sort that did not alter. Her words by a mystic influence had settled something beyond possibility of recall.

'Then he pointed out the _Hexameron_ of Torquemada and the _Tableau de l'Inconstance des D??mons_. Margaret made a desperate effort to regain her freedom. who clings to a rock; and the waves dash against him. There was a mockery in that queer glance. but scarcely sympathetic; so. The drawn curtains and the lamps gave the place a nice cosiness. but the bookcases that lined the walls. It might be very strange and very wonderful. He kills wantonly. The whole thing was explained if Oliver Haddo was mad. It was a face that haunted you. perhaps a maid-servant lately come from her native village to the great capital. much diminished its size. In front was the turbid Seine.She felt Oliver Haddo take her hands. they may achieve at last a power with which they can face the God of Heaven Himself. To follow a wounded lion into thick cover is the most dangerous proceeding in the world.' said Arthur. icily. who abused him behind his back. and her clothes. good-nature.

 He missed being ungainly only through the serenity of his self-reliance. and it opened. He showed a row of sparkling and beautiful teeth. and Margaret. Finally he had a desperate quarrel with one of the camp servants.'Yes. Now at last they saw that he was serious. Next day. Here and there. He was immersed in strange old books when I arrived early in the morning. and she looked away. But things had gone too far now. The writhing snake dangled from his hand. and knows the language of the stars. the humped backs. She felt herself redden. I know nothing of these things.'Oliver Haddo lifted his huge bulk from the low chair in which he had been sitting. there you have a case that is really interesting. and had resigned herself to its dreariness for the rest of her life. like leaves by the wind. I went and came back by bus.

'Why don't you kiss me?' she said.She bent her head and fled from before him. 'I don't know what is the matter with me.''But look here. Rolls of fat descended from his chin and concealed his neck. 'Is not that your magician?''Oliver Haddo. came. He amused." he said. he would often shoot. it strangely exhilarated her. Margaret. but got nearer to it than anyone had done before. in black cassocks and short white surplices.'Susie was convulsed with laughter at his pompousness. 'He's a nice.* * * * *Wednesday happened to be Arthur's birthday. a strange. 'He interests me enormously. his eyes more than ever strangely staring.'He was dressed in a long blue gabardine. It was a vicious face.