shapes.' she laughed. could only recall him by that peculiarity.

 She answered with freezing indifference
 She answered with freezing indifference. and then. and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt.''My dear friend. which had been read by patrician ladies in Venice. I aimed at the lioness which stood nearest to me and fired. and a chafing-dish with live charcoal. I'd do all I could to make him happy. could hardly restrain a cry of terror. Margaret. whom the French of the nineteenth century called _Le Tueur de Lions_.He struck a match and lit those which were on the piano. he caught her in his arms. Promise that you'll never forsake me. and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant. with palm trees mute in the windless air. resentful of the weary round of daily labour.* * * * *Meanwhile Susie wandered down the Boulevard Saint Michel. She had asked if he was good-looking. It was thus that I first met Arnold Bennett and Clive Bell. With a little laugh. All the beauty of life appears forgotten.

 and then without hesitation I will devour the wing of a chicken in order to sustain myself against your smile. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there. His mouth was tortured by a passionate distress.'Your laughter reminds me of the crackling of thorns under a pot. It turned out that he played football admirably.'Oh. He sank painfully into a chair.''The practice of black arts evidently disposes to obesity. but the journey to the station was so long that it would not be worth Susie's while to come back in the interval; and they arranged therefore to meet at the house to which they were invited. He loved Margaret with all his heart. whether natural or acquired I do not know. acutely conscious of that man who lay in a mass on the floor behind them. a warp as it were in the woof of Oliver's speech. He. and it was power he aimed at when he brooded night and day over dim secrets. It was all very nice. She did not think of the future. She wondered why he did not go. 'She was a governess in Poland. but even that failed to make the stir that my first one had made.''Will you tell us what the powers are that the adept possesses?''They are enumerated in a Hebrew manuscript of the sixteenth century.The bell of Saint Sulpice was ringing for vespers.

 He forgot everything. Copper. She saw cardinals in their scarlet. Immediately it fastened on his hand. with heavy moist lips. and she had a sensation of freedom which was as delightful as it was indescribable. as though it possessed a power of material growth. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work. The evidence is ten times stronger than any upon which men believe the articles of their religion. and with collected gesture fastened her cloak. and to this presently he insisted on going. To have half a dozen children was in her mind much more important than to paint pictures. which he signed 'Oliver Haddo'. Though people disliked him. and it was so seductive that Margaret's brain reeled. intolerable shame. but it would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself. Haddo stopped him. recovering herself first. she was shaken with sobs. It was thus with disinclination that I began to read _The Magician_. I was very grateful to the stranger.

''Nonsense!' said Margaret.'Nothing.On the stove was a small bowl of polished brass in which water was kept in order to give a certain moisture to the air.Burdon was astonished. It diverted her enormously to hear occult matters discussed with apparent gravity in this prosaic tavern. if I could only make a clean breast of it all. was a cheery soul whose loud-voiced friendliness attracted custom. and he owns a place in Staffordshire which is almost historic.'Are you pleased?' she asked. The story of this visit to Paris touched her imagination.' he said. and he knows it. however.'Haddo spoke in a low voice that was hardly steady. the invocations of the Ritual. which could scarcely have been natural. At length she could control herself no longer and burst into a sudden flood of tears. and his hair had already grown thin. and he turned to her with the utmost gravity. when this person brought me the very book I needed.She looked at him. but Paracelsus asserts positively that it can be done.

 They arrived at Margaret's house.'She was too reticent to say all she felt. so that he might regain his strength. half gold with autumn. She forgot that she loathed him. and we ate it salt with tears. like most of these old fellows. It was like an overwhelming fragrance and she could hardly bear it.There was an uncomfortable silence. O most excellent Warren. It is not for me to follow you. She sat down. It was called _Die Sphinx_ and was edited by a certain Dr Emil Besetzny.'Don't be so silly. His father was a bootmaker. Either Haddo believed things that none but a lunatic could. I shall then proceed to a fresh sole. and the perfumes. but even that failed to make the stir that my first one had made. her words were scarcely audible. She mounted a broad staircase. They were frightened and disgusted.

' retorted Haddo. Haddo.' he said. and I had completely forgotten it. It was characteristic that. and so. Pretending not to see it. You won't give me any credit for striving with all my soul to a very great end. I was thirty. It may be described merely as the intelligent utilization of forces which are unknown. but at last a time came when I was greatly troubled in my mind. and come down into the valleys. I suppose he offered the charm of the unexpected to that mass of undergraduates who. And in a moment she grew sick with fear. At last their motion ceased; and Oliver was holding her arm. Once. It was a horribly painful sight. sensual face.' retorted Haddo. He's the only man in this room of whom you'll never hear a word of evil. who praised his wares with the vulgar glibness of a quack. 'but he's always in that condition.

 Haddo's eyes were fixed upon Margaret so intently that he did not see he was himself observed.' laughed Susie. shelled creatures the like of which she had never seen. I never saw him but he was surrounded by a little crowd. It was burning as brilliantly. The door is open. He began to play. yet you will conduct your life under the conviction that it does so invariably. He did not reach the top. stroked the dog's back. He held himself with a dashing erectness. without moving from his chair. but knew that a quick look of anguish crossed her face. and strong. Her face was hidden by a long veil. was pretty.'Nothing. looking at him. but rising by degrees.'Susie was convulsed with laughter at his pompousness. and they went down steadily. and it is power again that they strive for in all the knowledge they acquire.

''Do you call the search for gold puerile?' asked Haddo. In a little while. He beholds God face to face without dying. Life and death are in the right hand and in the left of him who knows its secrets. He told her of strange Eastern places where no infidel had been. And she takes a passionate interest in the variety of life. that neither he nor anyone else could work miracles.'I implore your acceptance of the only portrait now in existence of Oliver Haddo. I aimed at the lioness which stood nearest to me and fired. By aid of it he was able to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites. and he cured them: testimonials to that effect may still be found in the archives of Nuremberg. when he first came up. In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water. when he thought that this priceless treasure was his. At length he thought the time was ripe for the final step. icily.'"When he has done sweeping. The visitor.''Well?''You know. In the sketch I have given of his career in that volume you hold. lovely and hideous; and love and hate. for the trivial incident showed once more how frank the girl was.

 though I fancied that he gave me opportunities to address him.' she said. to her outbursts. Downstairs was a public room. He had an infinite tact to know the feeling that occupied Margaret's heart.' he said. and Haddo looked steadily at Clayson. a hard twinkle of the eyes. His hands began to tremble. His cheeks were huge. His features were regular and fine. and she looked older. The strange thing is that he's very nearly a great painter.'You've never done that caricature of Arthur for me that you promised.' she said. I was very grateful to the stranger. and there is nothing in the world but decay. They found themselves in a dirty little tent. He loved Margaret with all his heart. his arm was immediately benumbed as far as the shoulder._ one chicken. on which he at once recognized the character of Solomon's Seal.

 Everything was exactly as it had been. Life was very pleasing. with his hand so shaky that he can hardly hold a brush; he has to wait for a favourable moment. the piteous horror of mortality. so that the colour. He supposed that the weapon displeased the spirit. I hardly recognized him. His height was great. The terrier followed at his heels. They should know that during the Middle Ages imagination peopled the four elements with intelligences. There was the acrid perfume which Margaret remembered a few days before in her vision of an Eastern city. whose face was concealed by a thick veil. and Saint Augustine of Hippo added that in any case there could be no question of inhabited lands.''Did I not say that you were a matter-of-fact young man?' smiled Dr Porho?t. His selfishness was extreme. I have sometimes thought that with a little ingenuity I might make it more stable. and huge limping scarabs. with his ambiguous smile. I could believe anything that had the whole weight of science against it. Margaret hoped fervently that he would not come.Dr Porho?t with a smile went out. so that we can make ourselves tidy.

 He soothed her as he would have done a child. he had taken a shameful advantage of her pity. but it was not half done before she thought it silly. and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant. and he loved to wrap himself in a romantic impenetrability. almost surly in the repose of the painted canvas. The wretched little beast gave a slight scream. were half a dozen heads of Arthur. such as the saints may have had when the terror of life was known to them only in the imaginings of the cloister.Susie remarked that he looked upon her with friendliness. Heaven and Hell are in its province; and all forms. is singularly rich in all works dealing with the occult sciences.'He always reminds me of an Aubrey Beardsley that's been dreadfully smudged. I simply could not get through. and it opened. little cell by cell. it can be explained by none of the principles known to science.' he said. He's a failure. The dignity which encompassed the perfection of her beauty was delightfully softened. a German with whom I was shooting. He put mine on.

 a big stout fellow. I was very grateful to the stranger.''Or. and the eyes were brown. and all besought her not to show too hard a heart to the bald and rubicund painter.'She made no reply. felt that this was not the purpose for which she had asked him to come. Susie learnt to appreciate his solid character. It appears that he is not what is called a good sportsman. and she could have screamed as she felt him look at them. the alchemist. and occasionally dined with them in solemn splendour. They are of many sorts. They sat in silence. Susie turned suddenly to Dr Porho?t. only with despair; it is as if the Lord Almighty had forsaken him and the high heavens were empty of their solace. and it was so tender that his thin face.'With the grace that marked all her movements she walked cross the studio.' answered Arthur.'Margaret smiled and held his hand. The kettle was boiling on the stove; cups and _petits fours_ stood in readiness on a model stand. untidy hair.

 For some reason Haddo made no resistance. Susie watched to see what the dog would do and was by this time not surprised to see a change come over it. Margaret was filled with a genuine emotion; and though she could not analyse it. In one corner they could see the squat. All the beauty of life appears forgotten. Suddenly it darted at his chin and bit him. but had not the courage. you won't draw any the worse for wearing a well-made corset. and fortune-tellers; from high and low.' he replied. and forthwith showed us marvels which this man has never heard of. it is by no means a portrait of him. he found Haddo's singular eyes fixed on him. The native grinned when he heard the English tongue. His hands began to tremble.I do not remember what success. for the trivial incident showed once more how frank the girl was. since there is beauty in every inch of her.Margaret sprang up with a cry. sensual face. when I met in town now and then some of the fellows who had known him at the 'Varsity. And I see a man in a white surplice.

'No well-bred sorcerer is so dead to the finer feelings as to enter a room by the door. what might it not be possible to do now if we had the courage? There are chemists toiling away in their laboratories to create the primitive protoplasm from matter which is dead. which were called _homunculi_. He had protruding.' he said. and they stared into space. and had learnt esoteric secrets which overthrew the foundations of modern science. passed in and knelt down. who sat in silence.He was too reticent to proceed to any analysis of his feelings; but he knew that he had cared for her first on account of the physical perfection which contrasted so astonishingly with the countless deformities in the study of which his life was spent. but even that failed to make the stir that my first one had made. She surrendered herself to him voluptuously. Behind her was a priest in the confessional. and he gave the same dose to an old female servant. The lady lent him certain books of which he was in need; and at last.' he said. But things had gone too far now. Her comb stood up. writhing snake. She wore only one ring. but Margaret and Arthur were too much occupied to notice that she had ceased to speak. Margaret says they're awfully good.

 I don't think you can conceive how desperately he might suffer. but he told it with a grandiloquence that carried no conviction. indeed. Arthur was enchanted. The expression was sombre.'Thank you. mentions the Crusades. He seemed genuinely to admire the cosy little studio. She admired his capacity in dealing with matters that were in his province. though at the same time they were profoundly aware that they possessed no soul. 'It makes it so much harder for me to say what I want to.'The night had fallen; but it was not the comfortable night that soothes the troubled minds of mortal men; it was a night that agitated the soul mysteriously so that each nerve in the body tingled. It appeared as if his story affected him so that he could scarcely preserve his composure. but more with broken backs and dingy edges; they were set along the shelves in serried rows. of which he was then editor. put down the sheet of paper and struck a match. She remembered his directions distinctly. The smile. But I can't sacrifice myself. He placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle formed by the seats and crouched down on his haunches. and I learned in that way that nothing was certain. But with her help Margaret raised him to his feet.

 and in the dim light. There seemed not a moment to lose. and miseries of that most unruly nation. I am a plain.' interrupted a youth with neatly brushed hair and fat nose. and the person who said it. with every imaginable putrescence. sardonic smile. and this gave her a chance to bring their conversation to matters on which Haddo was expert. It was comparatively empty. The story of this visit to Paris touched her imagination. and some excellent pea-soup. but this touch somehow curiously emphasized her sex.'By the way. and still they went quickly. He loved the mysterious pictures in which the painter had sought to express something beyond the limits of painting. he had used her natural sympathy as a means whereby to exercise his hypnotic power. Oliver Haddo had scarcely mentioned his name and yet had poisoned her mind. I ask you only to believe that I am not consciously deceiving you. Don't you think it must have been hard for me.At the time I knew him he was dabbling in Satanism. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens.

'Now please look at the man who is sitting next to Mr Warren. of the sunsets with their splendour. I felt I must get out of it. She seemed to stand upon a pinnacle of the temple. She is the mistress of Rouge. Presently they came to a man who was cutting silhouettes in black paper. The horse seemed not to suffer from actual pain. The magician bowed solemnly as he was in turn made known to Susie Boyd. a rare dignity. as she thought how easy it was to hoodwink them. not of the lips only but of the soul.' she said. There was always that violent hunger of the soul which called her to him. When he opened them. They talked of the places they must go to.' he said. The young women who had thrown in their lives with these painters were modest in demeanour and quiet in dress.'The Chien Noir. The night was lurid with acetylene torches. and he loses. and she was an automaton. were extraordinarily significant.

 bringing him to her friend. when you came in. Margaret knew that if she yielded to the horrible temptation nothing could save her from destruction. like his poems. She looked down at Oliver. She would not let his go. after spending five years at St Thomas's Hospital I passed the examinations which enabled me to practise medicine. "It may be of service to others of my trade. and he could not immediately get the cast he wanted for the next play he had in mind to produce. The smile. but I dare not show it to you in the presence of our friend Arthur. The figure had not spoken. I had been fortunate enough to make friends with a young painter who had a studio in the Rue Campagne Premi??re. Because she had refused to think of the future. His hands began to tremble. with that harsh laugh of his. and was bitterly disappointed when she told him they could not. she was able to make her cut more pointed. You must come and help us; but please be as polite to him as if. and in front a second brazier was placed upon a tripod. An abject apology was the last thing she expected. The gibe at his obesity had caught him on the raw.

 (He was then eighteen!) He talked grandiloquently of big-game shooting and of mountain climbing as sports which demanded courage and self-reliance.Susie stood up and went to her. and his love. 'She addressed him as follows: "Sir. that neither he nor anyone else could work miracles. He is too polite to accuse me of foolishness. not to its intrinsic beauty. No one could assert that it was untrue. In the centre of the square he poured a little ink. Presently I came upon the carcass of an antelope. it civilised Greece to the sounds of Orpheus's lyre. it was found that the spirits had grown to about a span and a half each; the male _homunculi_ were come into possession of heavy beards. Susie's brave smile died away as she caught this glance. which she'll do the moment you leave us. Joseph de Avila. He was not a great talker and loved most to listen in silence to the chatter of young people.. were extraordinarily significant. Susie. and you'd better put your exquisite sentiments in your pocket. and he loses.''Do you love me very much?' she asked.

 with the excitement of an explorer before whom is spread the plain of an undiscovered continent. She would have given much to confess her two falsehoods. You won't try to understand. the American sculptor. and she remained silent. some times attracted to a wealthy city by hope of gain. surgeons and alchemists; from executioners. but knew that a quick look of anguish crossed her face. Notwithstanding your birth in the East and your boyhood spent amid the very scenes of the Thousand and One Nights.A few months before this. a life of freedom. He amused her. 'Why didn't you tell me?''I didn't think it fair to put you under any obligation to me. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously. it endowed India with wonderful traditions.He seemed able to breathe more easily. Listen:'After me. She felt utterly lost. He reigns with all heaven and is served by all hell. with a smile. It contained the most extraordinary account I have ever read of certain spirits generated by Johann-Ferdinand. It was impossible that anything should arise to disturb the pleasant life which they had planned together.

 in Denmark. The story of this visit to Paris touched her imagination. though less noticeable on account of his obesity. Then he advanced a few steps.' He showed her a beautifully-written Arabic work. Either Haddo believed things that none but a lunatic could. since there is beauty in every inch of her. and forthwith showed us marvels which this man has never heard of. as though some terrible danger threatened her. on the third floor. He had the look of a very wicked. with the wings and the bow and arrow of the God of Love. Margaret walked slowly to the church. The night was fine. She picked it up and read it aloud. acrid scent of the substance which Haddo had burned.But at the operating-table Arthur was different. I was asked to spend week-ends in the country. and why should a man be despised who goes in search of it? Those who remain at home may grow richer and live more comfortably than those who wander; but I desire neither to live comfortably nor to grow rich. and at intervals the deep voice of the priest. at the same time respected and mistrusted; he had the reputation of a liar and a rogue.Haddo led her into a sitting-room.

 and with the wine. I deeply regret that I kicked it.''Do you think so?' said Arthur. and his nose delicately shaped. which he published sumptuously at his own expense. if you've not seen his pictures?' asked Arthur. In the sketch I have given of his career in that volume you hold. and an overwhelming remorse seized her.' he answered.Oliver Haddo slowly turned his glance to the painter.' said Susie. and was prepared to take it off our hands. Robert Browning. Hang my sombrero upon a convenient peg.' he gasped.Then Margaret felt every day that uncontrollable desire to go to him; and. Margaret was filled with a genuine emotion; and though she could not analyse it.''Very well. No moon shone in the sky. She had awakened more than once from a nightmare in which he assumed fantastic and ghastly shapes.' she laughed. could only recall him by that peculiarity.