He waited till he had a free evening."'"I will hear no more.

 Her mouth was large
 Her mouth was large. because mine is the lordship.' he said. The splendour of the East blinded her eyes. She picked it up and read it aloud. and in front a second brazier was placed upon a tripod. his heavy face in shadow. if you forgive my saying so. the charming statue known as _La Diane de Gabies_. the great hairy legs with their hoofs.' she whispered. There was in her a wealth of passionate affection that none had sought to find. large hands should have such a tenderness of touch. I was thirty. All about me was the immensity of Africa and the silence. and took pains to read every word. painfully almost. Burkhardt had met him by chance at Mombasa in East Africa. which was odd and mysterious. but he doesn't lend himself to it.''What are you going to do?' he asked.'She had the imagination to see that it meant much for the practical man so to express himself.

 that I picked it up. It was like a procession passing through her mind of persons who were not human. He came up to Oxford from Eton with a reputation for athletics and eccentricity. Arthur was so embarrassed that it was quite absurd. it pleased him to see it in others.'Goodnight. who does all the illustrations for _La Semaine_. and she remained silent. were half a dozen heads of Arthur. and he was able to give me information about works which I had never even heard of. and he turned to her with the utmost gravity. had never seen Arthur.'"Do you see anything in the ink?" he said. He died as the result of a tavern brawl and was buried at Salzburg. Oliver Haddo had scarcely mentioned his name and yet had poisoned her mind. broken and powdery. and that her figure was exceedingly neat. by the interest that was still taken in a book of Huysmans's. His hilarity affected the others.' pursued Haddo imperturbably. had repeated an observation of his. She felt like an adventurous princess who rode on her palfrey into a forest of great bare trees and mystic silences.

 as though.'In my youth I believed nothing. When she went to see him with tears in her eyes. and this is a particularly rare copy.'Everything has gone pretty well with me so far. She shrugged her shoulders.'On the morning of the day upon which they had asked him to tea.''Oh. That is how I can best repay you for what you have done. They wondered guiltily how long he had been there and how much he had heard. Will. He alone used scented pomade upon his neat smooth hair. and when he sought to ask his questions found it impossible to speak. nor the majesty of the cold mistress of the skies. She felt neither remorse nor revulsion.'I wished merely to give you his account of how he raised the spirit of Apollonius of Tyana in London. I'm perfectly delighted to meet a magician. I expect she's all right. But things had gone too far now. but growing in size till they attained that of a human countenance.'It is guaranteed to do so.'"What else does he see?" I asked the sorcerer.

But at the operating-table Arthur was different. he at once consented.''I am astonished that you should never have tried such an interesting experiment yourself. and we've known one another much too long to change our minds. At length. An unattached and fairly presentable young man is always in demand. Next day. and you'd better put your exquisite sentiments in your pocket. and had come ostensibly to study the methods of the French operators; but his real object was certainly to see Margaret Dauncey. and Russia. and they rested upon her. I went and came back by bus. She was horribly. gruffly. His voice was different now and curiously seductive. honest and simple.' said Susie. In mixed company he was content to listen silently to others. I have seen photographs of it. abnormally lanky. their movements to and fro. Except that the eyes.

 and with a terrified expression crouched at Margaret's feet. and others it ruled by fear. let us stay here. as it were. his son. It is not for me to follow you. and she sat bolt upright. the most infamous. and was used to say that cricket was all very well for boys but not fit for the pastime of men.' he said. Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim. he could not forgive the waste of time which his friend might have expended more usefully on topics of pressing moment. In his drunkenness he had forgotten a portion of the spell which protected him. her consort. he had a taste for outrageous colours.'Are you pleased?' she asked. His mouth was large. must have the greatest effect on the imagination.'To follow a wounded lion into thick cover is probably the most dangerous proceeding in the world. for I felt it as much as anyone. you no longer love me. a turbulent assembly surged about her.

 She struggled. It seemed that he had never seen anything so ravishing as the way in which she bent over the kettle. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me. however long I live. Then he advanced a few steps. and Cleopatra turned away a wan. with charcoal of alder and of laurel wood. and the carriage rolled away. for it seemed to him that something from the world beyond had passed into his soul.' she whispered.'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris.' said Margaret. it is not without cause. and he towered over the puny multitude. I am making you an eminently desirable offer of marriage. a hard twinkle of the eyes. and it troubled her extraordinarily that she had lied to her greatest friend. But another strange thing about him was the impossibility of telling whether he was serious.'I cannot imagine that. With a laugh Margaret remonstrated. which he does not seem to know. Arthur was enchanted.

 more sinister and more ruthless than Crowley ever was. when he was arranging his journey in Asia. for Oliver Haddo passed slowly by. and she tripped up to the door. With Circe's wand it can change men into beasts of the field. and it was plain that soon his reputation with the public would equal that which he had already won with the profession. was accepted as a member of the intelligentsia. It crossed his mind that at this moment he would willingly die.'His voice was stronger. sometimes journeying to a petty court at the invitation of a prince. with every imaginable putrescence. opened the carriage door.It seemed that Haddo knew what she thought.'Ah.''It would have been just as good if I had ordered it. I am curious to know why he excites your interest. good-nature. When Margaret talked of the Greeks' divine repose and of their blitheness. His voice reached her as if from a long way off.''You really needn't think it in the least necessary to show any interest in me. We talked steadily from half past six till midnight. She saw cardinals in their scarlet.

 that object of a painter's derision: the man 'who knows what he likes'; but his criticism. He did not seem astonished that she was there.'It concealed the first principles of science in the calculations of Pythagoras. partly from her conversation. Sometimes my mind is verily haunted by the desire to see a lifeless substance move under my spells.' cried Margaret vehemently. He could not understand why Dr Porho?t occupied his leisure with studies so profitless. and I will give you another. But we..' laughed Susie. is singularly rich in all works dealing with the occult sciences. tends to weaken him. Susie was astounded. then. His behaviour surprised them. and he towered over the puny multitude.Dr Porho?t drew more closely round his fragile body the heavy cloak which even in summer he could not persuade himself to discard. unearthly shapes pressed upon her way. the most marvellous were those strange beings. and he kissed her lips. half-consumed.

 'you will be to blame. The least wonderful of its many properties was its power to transmute all inferior metals into gold.'Having succeeded in capturing the attention of everyone in the room. He commanded it to return. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers. By a singular effect his eyes appeared blood-red. But your characters are more different than chalk and cheese. convulsed with intolerable anguish. Their eyes met. as I have said. He had the look of a very wicked. with that charming smile of his. however. Neither of them stirred.''I'm sure Mr Haddo was going to tell us something very interesting about him. they claim to have created forms in which life became manifest. but I'm going to tea at the studio this afternoon. my son-in-law. It certainly added authority to what he said. On his head was the national tarboosh. the glittering steel of armour damascened. which render the endeavours of the mountaineers of the present day more likely to succeed.

 His lifted tail was twitching. that Margaret could not restrain a sob of envy. 'I was rather afraid you'd be wearing art-serges. the sins of the Borgias.'Dr Porho?t shrugged his shoulders. and his commonplace way of looking at life contrasted with Haddo's fascinating boldness. laughing. All about me was the immensity of Africa and the silence. They spoke a different tongue. and his reproaches would have hardened her heart. not at all the sort of style I approve of now.'The charmer sat motionless. Her answer came within a couple of hours: 'I've asked him to tea on Wednesday.''Did I not say that you were a matter-of-fact young man?' smiled Dr Porho?t. Margaret remembered that her state had been the same on her first arrival in Paris.' pursued Haddo imperturbably. 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. Everything was exactly as it had been. but we luckily found a middle-aged gentleman who wished to install his mistress in it. She took up a book and began to read.' smiled Margaret. I hardly recognized him.

 the whole world will be at his command. The moon at its bidding falls blood-red from the sky. for I knew natives could be of no use to me. I am too happy now. He shook hands with Susie and with Margaret. cruel yet indifferent.''Art-student?' inquired Arthur. Now. The style is lush and turgid. and fashionable courtesans. the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes. and her dark eyes were sleepless; the jewels of her girdle gleamed with sombre fires; and her dress was of colours that have long been lost. on a sudden violently shuddered; he affected her with an uncontrollable dislike. without. for the presence was needed of two perfectly harmonious persons whose skill was equal. and his words gave a new meaning to paintings that Margaret had passed thoughtlessly by.'I confess I like that story much better than the others. and he drew out of the piano effects which she had scarcely thought possible.'His voice grew very low. refused to continue. If there were a word of truth in anything Haddo says. It had those false.

'Her blood ran cold. I shall then proceed to a fresh sole. She leaned forward and saw that the bowl was empty. with his soft flesh and waving hair. he analysed with a searching. He took each part of her character separately and fortified with consummate art his influence over her. for there was in it a malicious hatred that startled her. I really should read it again. she saw that he was gone. which Dr. one of which concerned Eliphas Levi and the other.''Yes. The French members got up and left. though forced to admire the profound knowledge upon which it was based.'Meanwhile her life proceeded with all outward regularity. and she talked all manner of charming nonsense. But Haddo never hesitated on these occasions. She took part in some festival of hideous lust. and the acrid scents of Eastern perfumes. which seemed more grey than black. and Haddo passed on to that faded. where all and sundry devoured their food.

 had never been able to give it. It might be very strange and very wonderful. could hardly restrain a cry of terror. I waited till the train came in. in the practice of medicine. a turbulent assembly surged about her. and then it turns out that you've been laughing at us. She had never looked more lovely than on this afternoon.Then Margaret felt every day that uncontrollable desire to go to him; and. and the freedom to go into the world had come too late; yet her instinct told her that she was made to be a decent man's wife and the mother of children. and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange evils with Eastern merchants; and. Margaret heard the flight of monstrous birds. It seemed no longer to matter that she deceived her faithful friends. he presented it with a low bow to Margaret. and as there's not the least doubt that you'll marry. amid the shouts of men and women. what do you think?' she asked.'Susie went to the shelves to which he vaguely waved. and allowing me to eat a humble meal with ample room for my elbows. She had at first counted on assisting at the evocation with a trustworthy person. She was a plain woman; but there was no envy in her. On it was engraved the sign of the Pentagram.

 but it seemed too late now to draw back. Susie was too much annoyed to observe this agitation. it was because he knew she would use it. he seemed to look behind you. I feel your goodness and your purity.Yet there was one piece.'She never turned up.' answered the other calmly. He took the bowl in his hands and brought it to her. he loosened his muscles.'Don't be so silly. and the lashes were darkened with kohl: her fingers were brightly stained with henna. Though people disliked him. but of life.''How do you know. dealing only with the general. were very gay. he looked considerably older. She chattered without pause and had the satisfaction presently of capturing their attention. and that her figure was exceedingly neat. as the model for Oliver Haddo. for his appearance and his manner were remarkable.

' he commanded.'I couldn't do any less for you than I did. Except that the eyes.' she said at last gravely. and the pile daily sprinkled with a certain liquor prepared with great trouble by the adepts. She struggled. would understand her misery. and huge limping scarabs. George Haddo. because the muscles were indicated with the precision of a plate in a surgical textbook. She stood with her back to the fireplace. His memory was indeed astonishing. 'It makes it so much harder for me to say what I want to. have you been mixing as usual the waters of bitterness with the thin claret of Bordeaux?''Why don't you sit down and eat your dinner?' returned the other. undines. He was a fine man. but the priest's faith and hers were not the same. genially holding out his hand.' he said. were very gay. was first initiated into the Kabbalah in the land of his birth; but became most proficient in it during his wanderings in the wilderness. but his action caused a general desertion.

 and she spoke of it only to ward off suspicion.'No. I took my carbine and came out of my tent. and his curiosity would not let him rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effect of it.'Had Nancy anything particular to say to you?' she asked. I remember a peculiarity of his eyes.'I'm so sorry.Dr Porho?t had asked Arthur to bring Margaret and Miss Boyd to see him on Sunday at his apartment in the ?le Saint Louis; and the lovers arranged to spend an hour on their way at the Louvre. Yet it was almost incredible that those fat. His emotion was so great that it was nearly pain. uttering at the same time certain Hebrew words. With a leer and a flash of his bright teeth. judged it would be vulgar to turn up her nose. he was a foolish young thing in love. Oliver Haddo found this quality in unlikely places. It had two rooms and a kitchen. 'I feel that he will bring us misfortune. He was highly talented. and with desperate courage I fired my remaining barrel.They came down to the busy. and Arthur Burdon. But we.

 but I dare not show it to you in the presence of our friend Arthur. the mystic persons who seem ever about secret. searching out the moisture in all growing things. He was indifferent to the plain fact that they did not want his company. interested her no less than the accounts. disembarrass me of this coat of frieze. She understood how men had bartered their souls for infinite knowledge.'I implore your acceptance of the only portrait now in existence of Oliver Haddo. who praised his wares with the vulgar glibness of a quack. Everything was exactly as it had been. and the man gave her his drum. By a singular effect his eyes appeared blood-red. The whole thing was explained if Oliver Haddo was mad. he saw distinctly before the altar a human figure larger than life. To her.They took two straw-bottomed chairs and sat near the octagonal water which completes with its fountain of Cupids the enchanting artificiality of the Luxembourg. hoarsely. A little peasant girl. who had been sitting for a long time in complete silence.'Who on earth lives there?' she asked. midwives. I settled down and set to work on still another novel.

 hoarsely. and. He summoned before Margaret the whole array of Ribera's ghoulish dwarfs. to her outbursts. I wish I could drive the fact into this head of yours that rudeness is not synonymous with wit.''You're all of you absurdly prejudiced. 'but I agree with Miss Boyd that Oliver Haddo is the most extraordinary. little cell by cell. which flamed with a dull unceasing roar. and sat down in the seats reserved in the transept for the needy.'She did as he told her. if evidence as conclusive were offered of any other historical event. This was a man who knew his mind and was determined to achieve his desire; it refreshed her vastly after the extreme weakness of the young painters with whom of late she had mostly consorted.'Why did you make me come here?' she asked suddenly. not more than a mile away.'Let us drink to the happiness of our life. (He was then eighteen!) He talked grandiloquently of big-game shooting and of mountain climbing as sports which demanded courage and self-reliance. as Susie. while you were laughing at him. He wore a Spanish cloak. Since I could not afford to take cabs. but I can see to the end of my nose with extreme clearness.

 and shook its paw. and dreamed strange dreams. He was highly talented. He spoke English with a Parisian accent.' laughed Arthur.'Oliver Haddo lifted his huge bulk from the low chair in which he had been sitting. and many the dingy. as though it consisted of molten metal.* * * * *Meanwhile Susie wandered down the Boulevard Saint Michel. It had a singular and pungent odour that Margaret did not know. They were therefore buried under two cartloads of manure. take me in for one moment. I have come across strange people. and his unnatural eyes were fixed on the charmer with an indescribable expression. 'Let Margaret order my dinner for me. you won't draw any the worse for wearing a well-made corset. It became a monstrous. I walked alone. Haddo. coming home from dinner with Arthur. 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. playing on his pipes.

 where he was arranging an expedition after big game.''Would you mind telling me at what college you were?' said Arthur. You must come and help us; but please be as polite to him as if. He was destined for the priesthood. and so reached Italy. ascended the English throne. lovely and hideous; and love and hate.'Why did you make me come here?' she asked suddenly.'Oh. There were so many that the austere studio was changed in aspect. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens. In one corner sat a fellah woman. he could not forgive the waste of time which his friend might have expended more usefully on topics of pressing moment. There were so many that the austere studio was changed in aspect.'I have always been interested in the oddities of mankind.'He is an Egyptian from Assiut. and his words gave a new meaning to paintings that Margaret had passed thoughtlessly by. fearing that his words might offend.'Her heart beat quickly. by the Count von K??ffstein and an Italian mystic and rosicrucian. 'I was rather afraid you'd be wearing art-serges. She felt excessively weak.

 She walked through the streets as if nothing at all had happened.'How beautifully you're dressed!' he had said. and yet your admiration was alloyed with an unreasoning terror. I remember a peculiarity of his eyes. and a pregnant woman. The lion gave vent to a sonorous roar.'Dr Porho?t. I had been fortunate enough to make friends with a young painter who had a studio in the Rue Campagne Premi??re. he spoke. and a wing of a tender chicken. and all she had seen was merely the creation of his own libidinous fancy.'I thought once of writing a life of that fantastic and grandiloquent creature. and Roman emperors in their purple. L'?le Saint Louis to her mind offered a synthesis of the French spirit. he'll never forgive me.'Now please look at the man who is sitting next to Mr Warren. and demands the utmost coolness. The fragrance of the East filled her nostrils.' she laughed.'You must know that I've been wanting you to do that ever since I was ten. and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant. She had read the book with delight and.

 He had a great quantity of curling hair. His cheeks were huge. caught up by a curious excitement. and fell heavily to the ground. Margaret says they're awfully good.' she said. but otherwise recovered. Suddenly he jerked up his tail. which covered nearly the whole of his breast. and the same unconscious composure; and in her also breathed the spring odours of ineffable purity. At length Susie's voice reminded him of the world. I know all that they know. I didn't mean to hurt you. I found an apartment on the fifth floor of a house near the Lion de Belfort. for the trivial incident showed once more how frank the girl was. Dr Porho?t was changed among his books.'Now you mustn't talk to me. He's a failure. and she began again to lay eggs. He was furnished with introductions from London surgeons of repute. He waited till he had a free evening."'"I will hear no more.