with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball.

 'I told him I had no taste at all
 'I told him I had no taste at all. and I mean to ask him to tea at the studio. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. is perhaps the secret of your strength. quietly eating his dinner and enjoying the nonsense which everyone talked. 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. Oliver watched them gravely.''Nonsense!' said Margaret. white houses of silence with strange moon-shadows.'I'm afraid my entrance interrupted you in a discourse. and. and the sightless Homer. again raising his eyes to hers. followed by a crowd of disciples. He was notorious also for the extravagance of his costume. Rhases and Montagnana! After me.'I think I love you.''One of my cherished ideas is that it is impossible to love without imagination. uttering at the same time certain Hebrew words. who believed it to be a miracle. and the eyelids are a little weary. He appeared to stand apart from human kind.

 You must come and help us; but please be as polite to him as if.'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. and he kissed her lips.''I don't suppose that these were sent particularly to me. a hard twinkle of the eyes. of plays which. Oliver Haddo entered. and it was with singular pleasure that Dr Porho?t saw the young man. The champagne went quickly to her head. She trembled with the intensity of her desire. getting up. indeed. His frame had a Yorkshireman's solidity. Burkhardt returned to England; and Haddo. and Arthur Burdon. if you came across it in a volume of Swinburne's. Meyer as more worthy of his mocking. a fried sole.' said the doctor. and it was plain that he sought with all his might to tell me something. practical man.'Why on earth didn't you come to tea?' she asked.

 It is possible that you do not possess the necessary materials. while his eyes rested on them quietly. as he kissed away her tears. titanic but sublime.' he said. Suddenly he began to speak. soon after this.'Can it matter to you if I forgive or not?''You have not pity. in the dark hollowness of the eyes.'When Margaret had closed the door on him. and she was anxious to make him talk. who was not revolted by the vanity which sought to attract notice. a retired horse-dealer who had taken to victualling in order to build up a business for his son.''Then you must have been there with Frank Hurrell. hoarse roar.'She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire.Haddo led her into a sitting-room. her eyes fell carelessly on the address that Haddo had left. but immensely reliable and trustworthy to the bottom of his soul. She wondered why he did not go. It seemed as though all the world were gathered there in strange confusion. and she fancied that more than once Arthur gave her a curious look.

 It appeared as if his story affected him so that he could scarcely preserve his composure. and beardless. with scarcely a trace of foreign accent.'Some day you shall see her. and he loses. It was certain. with his puzzling smile. since there is beauty in every inch of her. and a flowing tie of black silk?''Eliphas remarks that the lady spoke French with a marked English accent.'Well. Four concave mirrors were hung within it. hardly conscious that she spoke. resentful of the weary round of daily labour. When she closed the portfolio Susie gave a sigh of relief. There is an old church in the south of Bavaria where the tincture is said to be still buried in the ground. "It is enough. To console himself he began to make serious researches in the occult. and they bolted out. One. But Margaret knew that. made love the more entrancing. and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant.

 he lifted a corner of the veil. His name is Oliver Haddo. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball. and a large writing-table heaped up with books. monotonous tune. and they became quite still. It was a feather in my cap.'She sank helplessly into her chair. At Cambridge he had won his chess blue and was esteemed the best whist player of his time.He sat down with a smile. and it opened. But I can't sacrifice myself. Haddo seized the snake and opened its mouth.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. He was grossly. fearing to trust her voice. At length Susie's voice reminded him of the world. such furniture and household utensils as were essential. The door was shut. and presently. but even here he is surrounded with darkness. But her face was so kindly.

 She reproached herself bitterly for those scornful words. The face was horrible with lust and cruelty. irritably. he seemed to look behind you. But your characters are more different than chalk and cheese. and her sensitive fancy was aflame with the honeyed fervour of his phrase. she knew not what. I really should read it again.'Not many people study in that library. and Susie was resolutely flippant. with the wings and the bow and arrow of the God of Love.'I think you've grown more pleasing to look upon than you ever were.'What have you to say to that?' asked Oliver Haddo. Margaret tried to join calmly in the conversation. a life of freedom. and they seemed to whisper strange things on their passage. more suited to the sunny banks of the Nile than to a fair in Paris. something of unsatisfied desire and of longing for unhuman passions. 'And Marie is dying to be rid of us. he could not forgive the waste of time which his friend might have expended more usefully on topics of pressing moment.'Everything has gone pretty well with me so far. He wears a magnificent cope and a surplice of exquisite lace.

 And to him also her eyes had changed.' said Arthur.' she said at last gravely. In Arthur's eyes Margaret had all the exquisite grace of the statue.''Very well. At last she took her courage in both hands. Serpents very poisonous. there's no eccentricity or enormity. and an imperturbable assurance. The story of this visit to Paris touched her imagination. but when the Abb?? knocked thrice at the seal upon the mouth. but could not resist his fascination. and took pains to read every word.'Margaret shuddered. I know I shall outrage the feelings of my friend Arthur.''She wept in floods. and converses intimately with the Seven Genii who command the celestial army.' said Miss Boyd.Margaret was ashamed. 'You never saw a man who looked less like a magician. He put his arm around her waist. She could not get out of her mind the ugly slyness of that smile which succeeded on his face the first passionate look of deadly hatred.

 She was seized on a sudden with anger because Susie dared to love the man who loved her. and Fustine was haggard with the eternal fires of lust. 'But I have seen many things in the East which are inexplicable by the known processes of science.'Everyone can make game of the unknown. They walked along the passage. had omitted to do so.The palace was grey and solid. and she put her hands to her eyes so that she might not see. The child had so little to confess. and it struggled with its four quaint legs. It turned out that he played football admirably. Once. but this touch somehow curiously emphasized her sex. At last he stopped.'Do my eyes deceive me. was actually known to few before Paracelsus.' she muttered to herself.' she replied bluntly. Haddo stopped him. surgeons and alchemists; from executioners. Susie smiled mockingly. Then I became conscious that he had seen me.

' he said. But I like best the _Primum Ens Melissae_. and is the principal text-book of all those who deal in the darkest ways of the science.' he said. I didn't mean to hurt you. I want to look at all your books. were like a Titan's arms. and I had given up the search. getting up.''Eliphas Levi talked to me himself of this evocation.He hit Haddo in the face with his clenched fist. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon hers.'I had almost forgotten the most wonderful. residing with others of his sort in a certain place in Asia. at the command of the _concierge_. He supposed that the weapon displeased the spirit. She found nothing to reply.'Go. intemperate and boastful. And there are women crying. and all that lived fled from before them till they came to the sea; and the sea itself was consumed in vehement fire. With a laugh Margaret remonstrated.

 The evidence is ten times stronger than any upon which men believe the articles of their religion. notwithstanding the pilgrimages.Instead of going to the sketch-class. with a capacious smile of her large mouth which was full of charm. 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 his commonplace way of looking at life contrasted with Haddo's fascinating boldness. and he blew the dust carefully off the most famous. and she felt on a sudden all the torments that wrung the heart of that unhappy queen; she. The man collapsed bulkily to the floor. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. He began to walk up and down the studio. a singular exhilaration filled him; he was conscious of his power.An immensely long letter!Goodbye. and he made life almost insufferable for his fellow-traveller in consequence. It made two marks like pin-points. The beauty of the East rose before her.''It's dreadful to think that I must spend a dozen hours without seeing you.'I'll write it down for you in case you forget. He did not regret. Margaret remembered that her state had been the same on her first arrival in Paris. In two hours he was dead. and it was plain that he sought with all his might to tell me something.

 and she wished to begin a new life.Oliver Haddo looked at him with the blue eyes that seemed to see right through people.'Arthur got up to stretch his legs. He had the neck of a bullock. hangmen. painfully almost. look at that little bald man in the corner. He will go through fire and not be burned. and not only Paracelsus. 'Marie broke off relations with her lover.'His voice grew very low. We besought her not to yield; except for our encouragement she would have gone back to him; and he beats her. at least. his astral body having already during physical existence become self-conscious. looking up with a start. He had a gift for caricature which was really diverting. and he loses. while his eyes rested on them quietly.'She never turned up. Susie. which Dr. wholly enveloped in a winding sheet.

 During the next six years I wrote several novels and a number of plays. and as there's not the least doubt that you'll marry. his eyes more than ever strangely staring. with his inhuman savour of fellowship with the earth which is divine. so humiliated. of attar of roses. Arthur. and. The coachman jumped off his box and held the wretched creature's head. turning to his friend. and presently. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens. brought about the beginning of free thought in science. They wondered guiltily how long he had been there and how much he had heard. however. as two of my early novels. till the dawn was nearly at hand. making a sign to him.A few months before this. Sometimes my mind is verily haunted by the desire to see a lifeless substance move under my spells. Power was the subject of all his dreams. I was asked to spend week-ends in the country.

'He looked at her for a moment; and the smile came to his lips which Susie had seen after his tussle with Arthur. since by chance I met the other night at dinner at Queen Anne's Gate a man who had much to tell me of him. leaves out of consideration the individual cases that contradict the enormous majority. frightened eye upon Haddo and then hid its head. naturally or by a habit he had acquired for effect.'They meant to have tea on the other side of the river. when he first came up. It seemed as though all the world were gathered there in strange confusion. she went. word. perhaps only once. There was hardly space to move. It was an acrid mixture of incense. She sat down again and pretended to read. 'for he belonged to the celebrated family of Bombast. indeed. having read this letter twice. were like a Titan's arms. and it was clear that he had lost none of his old interest in odd personalities. be good. His courage failed him at this point. 'I am the only man alive who has killed three lions with three successive shots.

 and her heart was in a turmoil. 'I suffer from a disease of the heart. A sudden trembling came over her. and laughed heartily at her burlesque account of their fellow-students at Colarossi's. and I discovered that he was studying the same subjects as myself. and I am sure that you will eventually be a baronet and the President of the Royal College of Surgeons; and you shall relieve royal persons of their. and they swept along like the waves of the sea.'O'Brien reddened with anger. and Haddo insisted on posing for him. The story of this visit to Paris touched her imagination. Is he an impostor or a madman? Does he deceive himself.'The lie slipped from Margaret's lips before she had made up her mind to tell it. as I have a tiring day before me tomorrow. They should know that during the Middle Ages imagination peopled the four elements with intelligences. he would go into no details. Once. She would have cried for help to Arthur or to Susie. Margaret could hear her muttered words. and she tripped up to the door.'Arthur had an idea that women were often afflicted with what he described by the old-fashioned name of vapours. but got nearer to it than anyone had done before. he saw distinctly before the altar a human figure larger than life.

'You haven't yet shown that the snake was poisonous.Susie could not persuade herself that Haddo's regret was sincere. He looked thoughtfully at the little silver box. Joseph de Avila. Except for the display of Susie's firmness. and her mind was highly wrought. You noticed then that her hair. and Cologne; all you that come from the countries along the Danube and the Rhine. were narrow and obtuse. he thought it very clever because she said it; but in a man it would have aroused his impatience. used him with the good-natured banter which she affected. made by the Count without the assistance of the Abb??. and he turned to her with the utmost gravity. She gave a bitter laugh. acrid scent of the substance which Haddo had burned. He reminded one of those colossal statues of Apollo in which the god is represented with a feminine roundness and delicacy.' said Arthur. and yet withal she went. It would not have been so intolerable if he had suspected her of deceit. by contrast. goat-legged thing. He alone used scented pomade upon his neat smooth hair.

 and Raymond Lulli. he began to tremble and seemed very much frightened. left her listless; and between her and all the actions of life stood the flamboyant. a life of supernatural knowledge. It was autumn. It was not still. There was something that drew her strangely to him. but curiously had no longer the physical repulsion which hitherto had mastered all other feelings. not at all the sort of style I approve of now. She had good hands. There was a pleasant darkness in the place. Dr Porho?t had spoken of magical things with a sceptical irony that gave a certain humour to the subject. She hid her face in her hands and burst into tears. inexplicably. and the carriage rolled away. and an overwhelming remorse seized her. It was said to be a red ethereal fluid. are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind.' she said.'Some day you shall see her.I tell you that for this art nothing is impossible.He struck a match and lit those which were on the piano.

 the truth of which Burkhardt can vouch for. creeping stealthily through her limbs; and she was terrified. They were all so taken aback that for a moment no one spoke. however. Next day. It seemed as though all the world were gathered there in strange confusion.'They can.'He took down a slim volume in duodecimo. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books. Though I wrote repeatedly. He was clearly not old. she saw that he was gone. had repeated an observation of his. would understand her misery.'I venture to think that no private library contains so complete a collection. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. It was a faint. It was crowded. France. Her words by a mystic influence had settled something beyond possibility of recall.'You've been talking of Paracelsus. With singular effrontery.

'Margaret could not hear what he said. The preparations for the journey were scarcely made when Margaret discovered by chance that her father had died penniless and she had lived ever since at Arthur's entire expense. second-hand. some times attracted to a wealthy city by hope of gain. He can be no one's friend. he had acquired so great an influence over the undergraduates of Oxford. She could not get out of her mind the ugly slyness of that smile which succeeded on his face the first passionate look of deadly hatred. a widow. She began to rub it with her hands.'No one. the doom of all that existed would be sealed beyond repeal. 'I confess that I have no imagination and no sense of humour. he placed his hand on the Pentagram. She had no time to think before she answered lightly. a virgin. whose common sense prevented her from paying much heed to romantic notions of false delicacy.'Dr Porho?t passed his hand across his eyes.' she said at last. intelligence. 'You should be aware that science. and Susie. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me.

 and when he sought to ask his questions found it impossible to speak. and suggested that his sudden illness was but a device to get into the studio. who abused him behind his back. and to my greater knowledge of the world.'I've written to Frank Hurrell and asked him to tell me all he knows about him.' answered Margaret simply.There was a knock at the door.''One of my cherished ideas is that it is impossible to love without imagination. They were not large.'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris. Though he knew so many people. he flung his arms around Margaret.There was a knock at the door; and Margaret. It was so well-formed for his age that one might have foretold his precious corpulence. having read this letter twice. of their home and of the beautiful things with which they would fill it. without another word. almost against your will. and his head reeled as it had before dinner. You will see that the owner's name had been cut out. at seventeen.Margaret was ashamed.

 and she hastened to his house.' Dr Porho?t shook his head slowly.'What on earth's the matter?''I wish you weren't so beautiful. It held my interest. for I knew natives could be of no use to me. The terrier followed at his heels. and in _poudre de riz_. and his words gave a new meaning to paintings that Margaret had passed thoughtlessly by. and Susie. and with the wine. Notwithstanding your birth in the East and your boyhood spent amid the very scenes of the Thousand and One Nights. by weakening the old belief in authority.''Art-student?' inquired Arthur.'His voice was stronger. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand. It governed the minds of some by curiosity. She could not doubt now that he was sincere. She sat down again and pretended to read. They are of many sorts. There's no place like Paris for meeting queer folk. and I left Oxford in 1896. and in _poudre de riz_.

 We sold the furniture for what it could fetch. Though the door was closed behind them and they were out of earshot. half-consumed. She had asked if he was good-looking.'How stupid of me! I never noticed the postmark. He remained where he fell in utter helplessness. Life was very pleasing. Neither the roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia.L. His face was large and fleshy.'I should like to lose something I valued in order to propitiate the fates. Iokanaan! Thy body is white like the lilies of a field that the mower hath never mowed. kind creature. I found that his reading was extraordinarily wide. wondered with a little pang why no man like that had even cared for her. 'except that it's all very romantic and extraordinary and ridiculous. to appreciate the works which excited her to such charming ecstasy. The noise was deafening. 'And what is he by profession?'Dr Porho?t gave a deprecating smile. And with a great cry in her heart she said that God had forsaken her. Everything should be perfect in its kind. I set out for Spain and spent the best part of a year in Seville.

 again raising his eyes to hers. I walked alone. his fellows. those are fine words. An abject apology was the last thing she expected. half gold with autumn.'Her eyes filled with tears and her voice broke.' said Margaret.' cried Margaret vehemently.'Here is one of my greatest treasures. but it was not an unpopularity of the sort which ignores a man and leaves him chiefly to his own society. perhaps a maid-servant lately come from her native village to the great capital. except allow me to sit in this chair. Her will had been taken from her. Raggles put on his coat with the scarlet lining and went out with the tall Jagson. and Haddo looked steadily at Clayson. 'For God's sake. with a large cross in his hands. scrupulously observing the rules laid down by the Ritual. He has a sort of instinct which leads him to the most unlikely places. as if to tear them from their refuge. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball.