power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her.

 her eyes fell carelessly on the address that Haddo had left
 her eyes fell carelessly on the address that Haddo had left. He unpacked your gladstone bag. though less noticeable on account of his obesity. are _you_ a lion-hunter?' asked Susie flippantly. enter his own profession and achieve a distinction which himself had never won.'This statement. You almost persuaded yourself to let me die in the street rather than stretch out to me a helping hand. and we dined together.'Let me go from here.'Knowing Susie's love for Arthur. He came forward slowly."'Oliver Haddo told his story not ineffectively. and their manner had such a matrimonial respectability. she hurried to the address that Oliver Haddo had given her. such as are used to preserve fruit. her words were scarcely audible. of the sunsets with their splendour. and painted courtesans."The boy was describing a Breton bed. I have two Persian cats. It lay slightly curled.''For a scientific man you argue with singular fatuity. But the older woman expressed herself with decision.''When you begin to talk of magic and mysticism I confess that I am out of my depth. with a colossal nose. He was a small person.

'Dr Porho?t. wondered with a little pang why no man like that had even cared for her. and he wore upon his head a chaplet of vervain leaves entwined about a golden chain.' he said. so that he might regain his strength. The fore feet and hind feet of the lioness are nearly the same size. There was a trace of moisture in them still.Dr Porho?t smiled. leaves of different sorts. The animal invariably sees the sportsman before he sees it. I could never resist going to see him whenever opportunity arose. He stopped at the door to look at her. but she had been strangely affected last night by the recollection of Haddo's words and of his acts. as it were. he wrote forms of invocation on six strips of paper.''It is a point of view I do not sympathize with.' said Arthur Burdon. leaning against a massive rock. It made two marks like pin-points.'Margaret smiled and held his hand. and were sauntering now in the gardens of the Luxembourg. but the bookcases that lined the walls. my O'Brien. I command you to be happy. The horse seemed not to suffer from actual pain. He could have knelt down and worshipped as though a goddess of old Greece stood before him.

Susie got up to light a cigarette. chestnut hair. then he passed his hand over it: it became immediately as rigid as a bar of iron. The greatest questions of all have been threshed out since he acquired the beginnings of civilization and he is as far from a solution as ever. that she was able to make the most of herself.' answered Margaret.' he smiled.' smiled Susie.'You look upon me with disgust and scorn.'My dear.' he said.She turned to Dr Porho?t.' he muttered. it occurred to her suddenly that she had no reason to offer for her visit. It is true that at one time I saw much of him. Haddo knew everybody and was to be found in the most unlikely places.'I wonder if someone has been playing a silly practical joke on me. It was strange and terrifying.'Not exactly. Margaret's terror. She found nothing to reply.'I am willing to marry you whenever you choose. if she would give him the original manuscript from which these copies were made. To get home she passed through the gardens of the Luxembourg. from learned and vulgar. sensual lips.

 He can forgive nobody who's successful. he addressed them in bad French. intemperate and boastful.'Oliver Haddo's story was received with astonished silence.'It is guaranteed to do so. if we want to go to the fair we must start. We sold the furniture for what it could fetch. The wretched brute's suffering.'I have made all the necessary arrangements.'That is Mr O'Brien. In one hand he held a new sword and in the other the Ritual. No unforeseen accident was able to confuse him.'Susie could not help laughing. It made two marks like pin-points. Fortunately it is rather a long one.'Meanwhile her life proceeded with all outward regularity. and Susie gave it an inquisitive glance. that hasn't its votaries. and he sat in complete shadow. With singular effrontery.'And it's not as if there had been any doubt about our knowing our minds.'Oliver Haddo began then to speak of Leonardo da Vinci. as it were. An attempt to generate another. He admired the correctness of Greek anatomy.' he said.

 Now passed a guard in the romantic cloak of a brigand in comic opera and a peaked cap like that of an _alguacil_.'Haddo spoke in a low voice that was hardly steady.''Pray go on. He was very proud.'Sit down. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand. the water turned a mysterious colour. He had been at a marriage-feast and was drunk.' he muttered.'Miss Boyd could not help thinking all the same that Arthur Burdon would caricature very well. Though she knew not why.''In my origin I am more to be compared with Denis Zachaire or with Raymond Lully. He went on." he said.' smiled Susie. and he towered over the puny multitude. and his hair was thinning. Work could not distract her.My dear Burdon:It is singular that you should write just now to ask what I know of Oliver Haddo. Margaret and Susie got out.'I'm glad to see you in order to thank you for all you've done for Margaret. and the darkness before him offer naught but fear. with our greater skill. with our greater skill. It confers wealth by the transmutation of metals and immortality by its quintessence. when our friend Miss Ley asked me to meet at dinner the German explorer Burkhardt.

 Like a bird at its last gasp beating frantically against the bars of a cage. and her soul fled from her body; but a new soul came in its place. like a man suddenly awaked from deep sleep. The stiffness broke away from the snake suddenly. It was intolerable. At length she could control herself no longer and burst into a sudden flood of tears. and perhaps she might be able to pray. She saw things so vile that she screamed in terror. She was inwardly convinced now that the marriage would never take place. but fell in love with a damsel fair and married her. I was told. It was written by Aleister Crowley. you'd take his money without scruple if you'd signed your names in a church vestry. The native closed the opening behind them.'No.'Why on earth didn't you come to tea?' she asked. Suddenly.'His voice. I was very anxious and very unhappy. She asked herself frantically whether a spell had been cast over her. and concluded that in the world beyond they are as ignorant of the tendency of the Stock Exchange as we are in this vale of sorrow. In fact he bored me. at least. with his inhuman savour of fellowship with the earth which is divine. 'I'll go back to my hotel and have a wash.'When?''Very soon.

 Margaret's gift was by no means despicable. and presently. One told me that he was tramping across America.'In 1897. If he shoots me he'll get his head cut off. Work could not distract her. Suddenly. She was a hard-visaged creature of mature age.They had arranged to eat at a fashionable restaurant on the other side of the river. an idea came to Susie. Dr Porho?t had lent her his entertaining work on the old alchemists. His memory was indeed astonishing. it lost no strength as it burned; and then I should possess the greatest secret that has ever been in the mind of man.'Oliver Haddo began then to speak of Leonardo da Vinci. and Margaret nestled close to Arthur. and he wore upon his head a chaplet of vervain leaves entwined about a golden chain. She did not know if he loved her.Then Oliver Haddo moved. The box was on the table and. when Margaret. and sultans of the East. To get home she passed through the gardens of the Luxembourg.It seemed that Haddo knew what she thought. and brought to the Great Khan. her utter loathing. mademoiselle.

''Did I not say that you were a matter-of-fact young man?' smiled Dr Porho?t.' he answered. and Susie. but with a comic gravity that prevented one from knowing exactly how to take it. She seemed to know tortuous narrow streets. hangmen.At the time I knew him he was dabbling in Satanism. I shall never have a happier day than this. show them. 'I can't understand it.' she said dully. dissecting. and then it turns out that you've been laughing at us. but he adopted that under which he is generally known for reasons that are plain to the romantic mind. On it was engraved the sign of the Pentagram. and when James I. beheld the wan head of the Saint. He sent her to school; saw that she had everything she could possibly want; and when. with charcoal of alder and of laurel wood. and looked with a peculiar excitement at the mysterious array. He took the bowl in his hands and brought it to her. of the sunsets with their splendour. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me. and W. In two hours he was dead. looked at him.

 the charming statue known as _La Diane de Gabies_. 'It'll give me such pleasure to go on with the small allowance I've been making you. and sought vehemently to prevent herself. and it seemed gradually to approach. were alloyed with a feeling that aroused in her horror and dismay. one of which concerned Eliphas Levi and the other. in her eagerness to get a preliminary glimpse of its marvels. though at the same time they were profoundly aware that they possessed no soul. He could not resist taking her hand. She saw things so vile that she screamed in terror. but Oliver Haddo's. nearly connected with persons of importance. treasure from half the bookshops in Europe; and there were huge folios like Prussian grenadiers; and tiny Elzevirs. She shuddered to think of the dull house in Harley Street and the insignificance of its humdrum duties.' answered Margaret. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me.''That is the true scientific attitude.'I wish you worked harder. There was a mockery in that queer glance. and through the smoke I saw her spring to her feet and rush towards me. it was the Stage Society that produced the early plays of Bernard Shaw.'You're simply wonderful tonight. For there would be no end of it. made by the Count without the assistance of the Abb??. the return of the Pagan world.'She cried.

''But why should you serve them in that order rather than in the order I gave you?'Marie and the two Frenchwomen who were still in the room broke into exclamations at this extravagance. for heaven's sake don't cry! You know I can't bear people who weep.'You give me credit now for very marvellous powers. on which had been left the telegram that summoned her to the Gare du Nord. a bottle-green frock-coat. The sources from which this account is taken consist of masonic manuscripts. with a hateful smile on his face. and his hand and his brain worked in a manner that appeared almost automatic. judged it would be vulgar to turn up her nose.'Her heart was moved towards him. as she helped herself. and Haddo insisted on posing for him. The manager of the Court Theatre. I have seen photographs of it.He sat down with a smile. who abused him behind his back. Suddenly. practical man. or is he laughing up his sleeve at the folly of those who take him seriously? I cannot tell. He was not a great talker and loved most to listen in silence to the chatter of young people. with the difficulty of a very fat person.''Well. The silence was so great that each one heard the beating of his heart. It was his entire confidence which was so difficult to bear. but Oliver Haddo's. In mixed company he was content to listen silently to others.

 I had heard many tales of his prowess. She left everything in his hands. goat-legged thing. and I did not bother about it much.''Silly ass!' answered Arthur with emphasis. There was a trace of moisture in them still.'I was educated at Eton. and the country reposed after the flood of rain and the tempestuous wind and the lightning.' she said quickly. but merely to amuse herself. like a man racked by torments who has not the strength even to realize that his agony has ceased. like him freshly created. while Margaret put the tea things away. and gave it to an aged hen. and they went down steadily.'Well?' said the girl. like leaves by the wind.'O'Brien reddened with anger. the snake darted forward. rang a tinkling bell at one of the doorways that faced her. We told him what we wanted. who had been sitting for a long time in complete silence. and his head reeled as it had before dinner. till the dawn was nearly at hand.'He stood before Margaret. There was a peculiar lack of comfort.

 and. She chattered without pause and had the satisfaction presently of capturing their attention. who was not revolted by the vanity which sought to attract notice. I walked back to my camp and ate a capital breakfast. The atmosphere was extraordinarily peaceful. and his verse is not entirely without merit.They looked idly at the various shows. but with a comic gravity that prevented one from knowing exactly how to take it. Oliver Haddo proceeded to eat these dishes in the order he had named. which flamed with a dull unceasing roar.' she replied bluntly. She did not know whither she was borne.'Then there was the _Electrum Magicum_. as she helped herself. But the trees grew without abandonment. To my shame. but had not the strength to speak. It is the _Clavicula Salomonis_; and I have much reason to believe that it is the identical copy which belonged to the greatest adventurer of the eighteenth century. dealing only with the general. but Oliver Haddo's. I bought. and tawny distances. and lives only in the delicacy with which it has moulded the changing lineaments. Then he answered Arthur. I had never thought it worth while. all his self-control.

 She knew that she did not want to go. 'But it's too foolish. very small at first. She seemed bound to him already by hidden chains. Dr Porho?t opened in person. The wretched brute's suffering. as Saint Anne. Come at twelve.Susie hesitated for a moment. half-consumed. She couldn't help it. He was a great talker and he talked uncommonly well. She was alone in an alien land.'If you wish it.' he said. She felt an extraordinary languor.''I wish you would write that life of Paracelsus which you suggest in your preface. which had little vitality and soon died. It commands the elements. There was only the meagre light of the moon.'Susie's passion for caricature at once asserted itself.'God has forsaken me.' he gasped. were considered of sufficient merit to please an intellectual audience. and her physical attraction was allied with physical abhorrence. which she'll do the moment you leave us.

 blushing as though she had been taken in some indiscretion. and the troublous sea of life whereon there is no refuge for the weary and the sick at heart.'"I am a dead man. and. who was interpreter to the French Consulate. Then came all legendary monsters and foul beasts of a madman's fancy; in the darkness she saw enormous toads. without colouring or troubling it. His manner and his conversation had the flamboyance of the romantic thirties. with the dark.'But it can be made only in trivial quantities. indeed. 'He is the most celebrated occultist of recent years. But though they were so natural. soon after this. They were not large. it was another's that she discovered. and their manner had such a matrimonial respectability. with an entertaining flow of rather pompous language which made the amusing things he said particularly funny. His love cast a glamour upon his work. He had also an ingenious talent for profanity. though an odious attraction bound her to the man. On his head was the national tarboosh. it is not without cause. some years later.'Thank you. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared.

 The goddess's hand was raised to her right shoulder. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. He will pass through the storm and no rain shall fall upon his head.'I have made all the necessary arrangements. And to him also her eyes had changed. He spoke not of pictures now. I have sometimes thought that with a little ingenuity I might make it more stable. He was a liar and unbecomingly boastful. by all the introspection of this later day. but fell in love with a damsel fair and married her. picking the leg of a chicken with a dignified gesture. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. often to suffer persecution and torture. It was burning as brilliantly. before I'd seen him I hoped with all my heart that he'd make you happy. She began to rub it with her hands. the organic from the inorganic. his lips were drawn back from the red gums. She took up a book and began to read. who was apparently arriving in Paris that afternoon. and the mobile mouth had a nervous intensity which suggested that he might easily suffer the very agonies of woe. vague night-fires like spirits of the damned. It was burning as brilliantly.'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris. he looked considerably older.' said Haddo.

 he presented it with a low bow to Margaret. unaccountably to absorb her. I'd do all I could to make him happy. to the library. as if heated by a subterranean fire.'You must hate me for intruding on you. hoarse roar.Margaret had never been in better spirits. I judge it must be a unique occurrence. rang a tinkling bell at one of the doorways that faced her.Haddo looked round at the others. It was so unexpected that she was terrified. A Hungarian band played in a distant corner. and he was confident in her great affection for him. 'And who is the stout old lady by his side. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. a life of freedom. who for ten years had earned an average of one hundred pounds a year. Though he knew so many people. She wished him to continue.Dr Porho?t drew more closely round his fragile body the heavy cloak which even in summer he could not persuade himself to discard. treasure from half the bookshops in Europe; and there were huge folios like Prussian grenadiers; and tiny Elzevirs. must have the greatest effect on the imagination. was accepted as a member of the intelligentsia. Her face was very pale..

 could only recall him by that peculiarity. they are bound to go up.'Thank you. She was determined that if people called her ugly they should be forced in the same breath to confess that she was perfectly gowned. It gave her a horrible delight. He holds the secret of the resurrection of the dead. Then they began to run madly round and round the room.'If anything happens to me. it is not without cause.'These beings were fed every three days by the Count with a rose-coloured substance which was kept in a silver box. and his ancestry is no less distinguished than he asserts.'This is the fairy prince. But with the spirits that were invisible. and painted courtesans. One of these casual visitors was Aleister Crowley.'I think I like you because you don't trouble about the common little attentions of lovers. I don't see why things should go against me now. and Susie gave it an inquisitive glance. and at the bottom saw a blue fire. He had been greatly influenced by Swinburne and Robert Browning. 'Do you believe that I should lie to you when I promised to speak the truth?''Certainly not. and Susie had the conversation to herself.' laughed Clayson. The greatest questions of all have been threshed out since he acquired the beginnings of civilization and he is as far from a solution as ever. inexplicably. like leaves by the wind.

'I want to do something for you in return for what you have done for me. but an exceedingly pale blue. dealing with the black arts. something of unsatisfied desire and of longing for unhuman passions. or is this the Jagson whose name in its inanity is so appropriate to the bearer? I am eager to know if you still devote upon the ungrateful arts talents which were more profitably employed upon haberdashery. put his hand on the horse's neck. and he drew out of the piano effects which she had scarcely thought possible. though he could not resist. She sat down again and pretended to read. because I love him so much that all I do is pure delight. but the humour filled me with mortification. no one knew him. as Arthur looked silently at the statue. One. with a smile.'You've never done that caricature of Arthur for me that you promised.''What is there to be afraid of?' she cried. some times attracted to a wealthy city by hope of gain. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264. These alone were visible.' answered Margaret. Sometimes. She would not let him drag them away. Then he answered Arthur. sometimes journeying to a petty court at the invitation of a prince. as was plain.

'Miss Boyd could not help thinking all the same that Arthur Burdon would caricature very well.' proceeded the doctor. and to him only who knocks vehemently shall the door be opened_. He leaned against the wall and stared at them. He reared up on his hind legs.'If anything happens to me.'I saw the place was crowded. came to Scotland in the suite of Anne of Denmark.'You'd far better go out to dinner instead of behaving like a pair of complete idiots.' answered Arthur. One of two had a wan ascetic look.'I wish Mr Haddo would take this opportunity to disclose to us the mystery of his birth and family. and I had received no news of her for many weeks. But the older woman expressed herself with decision. who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt. or if. and the lashes were darkened with kohl: her fingers were brightly stained with henna. for her eyes expressed things that he had never seen in them before.'I don't think you will ever get me to believe in occult philosophy. When may I come?''Not in the morning. scarcely two lengths in front of the furious beast. The trees were neatly surrounded by bushes. or lecturing at his hospital. All about me was the immensity of Africa and the silence. At one time I read a good deal of philosophy and a good deal of science. though he claimed them.

 and what he chose seemed to be exactly that which at the moment she imperatively needed.' laughed Arthur. and you were uneasily aware that your well-worn pyjamas and modest toilet articles had made an unfavourable impression upon him. Porho?t's house. but once she had at least the charm of vivacious youth. gruffly. with his ambiguous smile. but unaccountably elated. in ghastly desolation; and though a dead thing. He lowered his head. as I have said. alone. Her love for Arthur appeared on a sudden more urgent.''I am astonished that you should never have tried such an interesting experiment yourself. There was the portrait of a statuary by Bronzino in the Long Gallery of the Louvre. made love the more entrancing. always to lose their fortunes.''My dear. fearing to trust her voice. whose common sense prevented her from paying much heed to romantic notions of false delicacy. dark night is seen and a turbulent sea.'And how is Miss Dauncey?' he asked. He erred when he described me as his intimate friend. who clings to a rock; and the waves dash against him. and it troubled her extraordinarily that she had lied to her greatest friend. for no apparent reason.

 Mr. I must go to bed early.'I'm so sorry. for all I know. but we luckily found a middle-aged gentleman who wished to install his mistress in it. Mr Burdon was very right to thrash me. her eyes fell carelessly on the address that Haddo had left. but a curious look came into his eyes as he gazed in front of him. I found that his reading was extraordinarily wide. Beyond. He placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle formed by the seats and crouched down on his haunches. but. and with a voice that was cold with the coldness of death she murmured the words of the poet:'I am amorous of thy body. All the beauty of life appears forgotten. the twin towers of Notre Dame.' said Arthur Burdon. often incurring danger of life.'_Oh. The wretched little beast gave a slight scream. There was a pleasant darkness in the place. The girl's taste inclined to be artistic. and they seemed to whisper strange things on their passage. 'Do you believe that I should lie to you when I promised to speak the truth?''Certainly not. On the sixth day the bird began to lose its feathers.' said Dr Porho?t. I have studied their experiments.

' smiled Dr Porho?t. priceless gems.'You need not be frightened. but the doings of men in daytime and at night. and photographs of well-known pictures. he at once consented. and his skin was sallow. a German with whom I was shooting. 'You were standing round the window.' he replied. and head off animals whose spoor he has noticed. It choked the two women. bringing out a novel once a year (which seldom earned more than the small advance the publisher had given me but which was on the whole respectably reviewed). she knew what the passion was that consumed her. with heavy moist lips. it flew to the green woods and the storm-beaten coasts of his native Brittany. Margaret and Burdon watched him with scornful eyes.''We certainly saw things last night that were not quite normal. he seemed to know by heart. she sprang to her feet and stood with panting bosom. yet you will conduct your life under the conviction that it does so invariably. for I knew natives could be of no use to me.' he said. it is but for the power that attends it. if you forgive my saying so. Miss Margaret admires you as much as you adore her.

 Susie. Her heart beat horribly.'Yet the man who could write that was in many ways a mere buffoon. They had acquired a burning passion which disturbed and yet enchanted him.'Who is your fat friend?' asked Arthur. The bed is in a sort of hole.Miss Boyd was beginning to tear him gaily limb from limb. And she was ashamed of his humiliation. and he rejoiced in it.'She did as he told her. 'I've never seen a man whose honesty of purpose was so transparent. as the model for Oliver Haddo. But one cannot say the same of incredulity. but the odd thing was that he had actually done some of the things he boasted of. then took the boy's right hand and drew a square and certain mystical marks on the palm. and one evening asked a friend to take me to him. there are some of us who choose to deal only with these exceptions to the common run. with the air of mystery he affects.''Do you call the search for gold puerile?' asked Haddo. Oliver Haddo left at Margaret's door vast masses of chrysanthemums. Count von K??ffstein. and Cologne; all you that come from the countries along the Danube and the Rhine.Dr Porho?t with a smile went out. They talked of all the things they would do when they were married. and his crest was erect.''I think only English people could have behaved so oddly as you.

 But her common sense was sound. She felt excessively weak. rather breathlessly. She was horribly. he was able to assume an attitude of omniscience which was as impressive as it was irritating. as now. The magician bowed solemnly as he was in turn made known to Susie Boyd. the day before. The most interesting part of his life is that which the absence of documents makes it impossible accurately to describe. and Margaret. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. but not a paltry. but I know not what there is in the atmosphere that saps his unbelief. as though. with an entertaining flow of rather pompous language which made the amusing things he said particularly funny. or misunderstood of the vulgar. What could she expect when the God of her fathers left her to her fate? So that she might not weep in front of all those people.'His voice was stronger. with his portion of the card in his hand. with the good things they ate. Have you ever hunted them on their native plains?''No. Next day.'But a minute later. was pretty. and they stared into space. she thought that Dr Porho?t might do something for her.

 it pleased him to see it in others.'Dr Porho?t stepped forward and addressed the charmer. stealing a glance at him as he ate. playing on his pipes. and his nose delicately shaped. as though it consisted of molten metal. I haven't. becoming frightened.'He scribbled the address on a sheet of paper that he found on the table. _monsieur_. When I scrambled to my feet I found that she was dying.''For a scientific man you argue with singular fatuity.'I have no equal with big game. He amused. and his head reeled as it had before dinner.'Let us wait here for a moment. Though the hint of charlatanry in the Frenchman's methods had not escaped Arthur Burdon's shrewd eyes. Now at last they saw that he was serious. I sold out at considerable loss. could hardly restrain a cry of terror. I received a letter from the priest of the village in which she lived. And with a great cry in her heart she said that God had forsaken her. Listen:'After me. for now she was willing to believe that Haddo's power was all-embracing. All the beauty of life appears forgotten. long afterwards.

 He attracted attention. Neither the roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia. who sought. I made up my mind to abandon the writing of novels for the rest of my life. and his eye fell on a stout volume bound in vellum. A balustrade of stone gracefully enclosed the space. the doom of all that existed would be sealed beyond repeal. his appearance. 'but he's always in that condition. It was Pan. There was just then something of a vogue in Paris for that sort of thing. the more delicate and beautiful is his painting.'I want to do something for you in return for what you have done for me. She felt on a sudden curiously elated. she gave him an amorous glance.Dr Porho?t had been making listless patterns with his stick upon the gravel. which flamed with a dull unceasing roar. to appreciate the works which excited her to such charming ecstasy. They walked on and suddenly came to a canvas booth on which was an Eastern name. She was proud to think that she would hand over to Arthur Burdon a woman whose character she had helped to form. barbers. Meyer as more worthy of his mocking. The hands were nervous and adroit. and she took a first glance at them in general. What had she done? She was afraid. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her.