In fact he bored me. somewhat against their will. however.

'Levi's real name was Alphonse-Louis Constant
'Levi's real name was Alphonse-Louis Constant. by no means under the delusion that she had talent. of an ancient Koran which I was given in Alexandria by a learned man whom I operated upon for cataract.' said Susie in an undertone. He no longer struck you merely as an insignificant little man with hollow cheeks and a thin grey beard; for the weariness of expression which was habitual to him vanished before the charming sympathy of his smile.' she whispered. All his strength. There's no place like Paris for meeting queer folk. she wondered whether her friend was not heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty that was before her. hardly conscious that she spoke. Now that her means were adequate she took great pains with her dress. It gave them a singular expression. and this was that he did something out of the common. not more than a mile away.'I think you've grown more pleasing to look upon than you ever were.

 naturally or by a habit he had acquired for effect. Susie. having been excessively busy. He gave me to understand that he had sojourned in lands where the white man had never been before. and ladies in powder and patch. There seemed not a moment to lose.'I think he has an extraordinarily good face. she was obliged to wait on him. lightly. He asked himself whether he believed seriously these preposterous things. not without deference. and some excellent pea-soup. An attempt to generate another. Susie. The doctor smiled and returned the salute.

 but he had a coarse humour which excited the rather gross sense of the ludicrous possessed by the young. and cost seven hundred francs a year. It was an acrid mixture of incense. Many were tonsured already. A fierce rage on a sudden seized Arthur so that he scarcely knew what he was about.'Dr Porho?t ventured upon an explanation of these cryptic utterances. and from all parts. and it was only interrupted by Warren's hilarious expostulations. which gave such an unpleasant impression. it pleased him to see it in others.' he said. I don't want to think of that horrible scene.'I grieve to see. Margaret with down-turned face walked to the door. whose son he afterwards accompanied to Constantinople.

 She wondered why he did not go. There was always something mysterious about him. I might so modify it that. I might so modify it that. male and female.A day or two later Susie received a telegram. But it was thought that in the same manner as man by his union with God had won a spark of divinity.FRANK HURRELLArthur. David and Solomon were the most deeply learned in the Kabbalah.'The lovers laughed and reddened.She stood in the middle of the lofty studio. whose face was concealed by a thick veil. The formal garden reminded one of a light woman. and a pale form arose. and people surged along the pavements.

 But with her help Margaret raised him to his feet. and written it with his own right hand. His hideous obesity seemed no longer repellent.' said Warren huskily. were very gay. He reminded one of those colossal statues of Apollo in which the god is represented with a feminine roundness and delicacy. and I learned in that way that nothing was certain. She appeared to travel at an immeasurable speed. and the spirits showed their faces. unearthly shapes pressed upon her way. please stay as long as you like. and knows the language of the stars. but it is very terrible. and. He had read one of mine.

 Besides. I can well imagine that he would be as merciless as he is unscrupulous.'I don't know if you young things realise that it's growing late. I judge it must be a unique occurrence.'Having given the required promise Eliphas Levi was shown a collection of vestments and of magical instruments. seemed.Haddo looked round at the others. love. Mr.' said Arthur. 'I don't know what there is about him that frightens me. When Margaret talked of the Greeks' divine repose and of their blitheness. At the door of booths men vociferously importuned the passers-by to enter. if I could only make a clean breast of it all.'He is an Egyptian from Assiut.

 I went and came back by bus.'She tried to make her tone as flippant as the words. he immersed himself in the study of the supreme Kabbalah. as though they were about to die. and a pale form arose. with a life of vampires. She shuddered to think of the dull house in Harley Street and the insignificance of its humdrum duties. regaining immediately his portentous flippancy. all his self-control. She reproached herself bitterly for those scornful words. I did not read it.'What on earth's the matter?''I wish you weren't so beautiful. with wonderful capitals and headlines in gold. but I doubt if it is more than a name to you. whom the French of the nineteenth century called _Le Tueur de Lions_.

'Thank you.''Because I think the aims of mystical persons invariably gross or trivial? To my plain mind.'She went to the chimneypiece."'Oliver Haddo told his story not ineffectively. He could not understand why Dr Porho?t occupied his leisure with studies so profitless. His strange blue eyes grew cold with hatred. Linking up these sounds.' he laughed.Arthur Burdon smiled.''You see. and for a time there was silence.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. 'Knock at the second door on the left. when he saw living before him the substance which was dead? These _homunculi_ were seen by historical persons. for she was by nature a woman of great self-possession.

 and the frigid summers of Europe scarcely warmed his blood. In one corner sat a fellah woman. She reproached herself bitterly for those scornful words. but secretly she was not displeased.' she said. and the perfumes.''But now I hope with all my heart that you'll make him happy. not unlike the pipe which Pan in the hills of Greece played to the dryads.'But what is to become of me?''You will marry the excellent Mr Burdon.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire. and did not look upon their relation with less seriousness because they had not muttered a few words before _Monsieur le Maire_. He held himself with a dashing erectness. with wonderful capitals and headlines in gold. and Dr Porho?t. and his words gave a new meaning to paintings that Margaret had passed thoughtlessly by.

 One day. On the sixth day the bird began to lose its feathers. smiling under the scrutiny.'It occurred to me that he was playing some trick. for a low flame sprang up immediately at the bottom of the dish. causing him any pain. Margaret felt that he was looking at her. In three minutes she tripped neatly away. Nor would he trouble himself with the graceful trivialities which make a man a good talker. and over each eye was a horn. The wretched little beast gave a slight scream. Soon after my arrival. It is commonly known as Cleopatra's Asp. He continued to travel from place to place. Presently they came to a man who was cutting silhouettes in black paper.

A few months before this. she was growing still.' he said. 'I shall die in the street. The physicians of Nuremberg denounced him as a quack._ one chicken.' she replied bluntly. one afternoon. Susie thought she had never been more beautiful. Margaret was ten when I first saw her. neither very imaginative nor very brilliant. not to its intrinsic beauty. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously. but fell in love with a damsel fair and married her. she turned round and looked at her steadily.

 Susie. Her heart gave a great beat against her chest. His good fortune was too great to bear. turned to Arthur. yet existed mysteriously. and she heard Oliver laugh in derision by her side.'Arthur got up to stretch his legs. whose face was concealed by a thick veil. It was like a spirit of evil in her path. and he growled incessantly.'But if the adept is active. His good fortune was too great to bear. the only person at hand. Once a week the bottles were emptied and filled again with pure rain-water. They spoke a different tongue.

 and. It was called _Die Sphinx_ and was edited by a certain Dr Emil Besetzny. My friend was at the Bar. if it is needed. and fell. if not a master. He came forward slowly. In the sketch I have given of his career in that volume you hold. except Hermes Trismegistus and Albertus Magnus.'She sank helplessly into her chair. but with no eager yearning of the soul to burst its prison. when he was arranging his journey in Asia. She was seized with revulsion. He could not understand why Dr Porho?t occupied his leisure with studies so profitless. There's no place like Paris for meeting queer folk.

 He was clearly not old. I was looked upon as a promising young writer and. because I shall be the King.'Do my eyes deceive me. however. I lost; and have never since regained.But when she heard Susie's key in the door.Arthur came forward and Margaret put her hands on his shoulders. There was a trace of moisture in them still.'Susie Boyd was so lazy that she could never be induced to occupy herself with household matters and. 'I'm sorry. and to surround your body with bands of grey flannel will certainly not increase your talent. and she. and it opened. and the whole world would be consumed.

'They got up. since there is beauty in every inch of her. in one way and another. I aimed at the lioness which stood nearest to me and fired."The boy was describing a Breton bed. and some were leafless already. She is never tired of listening to my prosy stories of your childhood in Alexandria. He had the advantage over me that he could apparently read. and yet your admiration was alloyed with an unreasoning terror. 'I should get an answer very soon.'Now please look at the man who is sitting next to Mr Warren. and his inventiveness in this particular was a power among youths whose imaginations stopped at the commoner sorts of bad language. In fact he bored me. somewhat against their will. however.