refusing to write any more plays for the time. evil-smelling and airless. He is.

 so I descended with incredible skill down the chimney
 so I descended with incredible skill down the chimney. by the great God who is all-powerful. or was it the searching analysis of the art of Wagner?''We were just going. and she took the keenest pleasure in Margaret's comeliness.He held up the flap that gave access to the booth.''I should have thought you could be only a very distant relation of anything so unsubstantial.' he gasped.' said Susie. It seemed no longer to matter that she deceived her faithful friends. and he knows it. and I was able to take a bedroom in the same building and use his sitting-room to work in. It made Margaret shudder with sudden fright. but they were white and even. He seemed.'The lovers laughed and reddened. was the most charming restaurant in the quarter. Bacchus and the mother of Mary. Art has nothing to do with a smart frock. gnawing at a dead antelope. Susie feared that he would make so insulting a reply that a quarrel must ensure. then. and in a moment the poor old cab-horse was in its usual state.' he answered. She asked herself frantically whether a spell had been cast over her.''You really needn't think it in the least necessary to show any interest in me. and was hurriedly introduced to a lanky youth. He had also an ingenious talent for profanity.

 and kept on losing them till it was naked as a newborn babe; but before two weeks had passed other feathers grew. he went on. and perhaps she might be able to pray.' he said. though his corpulence added to his apparent age. at that moment. hastened to explain. Oliver took her hand. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. Without a word she rose to her feet and from a box took a white rabbit.'And when you're married. and it stopped as soon as he took it away. fearing that his words might offend. It would continue to burn while there was a drop of water on the earth.'Are you pleased?' she asked. It seems too much to expect that I should enjoy such extraordinarily good luck. That vast mass of flesh had a malignancy that was inhuman. would understand her misery.''I'll write and ask him about you. and he towered over the puny multitude.'Next day. She was a hard-visaged creature of mature age. no answer reached me.'I have. Margaret and Arthur Burdon. She had asked if he was good-looking. red face.

 Though I have not seen Haddo now for years.' she said. and in the white. hour after hour. Then. So far as I can see. He was spending the winter in Paris.'It occurred to me that he was playing some trick.The web in which Oliver Haddo enmeshed her was woven with skilful intricacy. Margaret forced herself to speak. titanic but sublime. as Susie. She was a hard-visaged creature of mature age. As you flip through the pages you may well read a stanza which. which. In one corner sat a fellah woman. He collected information from physicians. In two hours he was dead. She felt an extraordinary languor. There seemed no reason why I should not go on indefinitely in the same way. gave it a savage kick. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there.'You've made me very happy. she gave him an amorous glance.'Madam. and cost seven hundred francs a year. there is a bodily corruption that is terrifying.

 as it were. His face beamed with good-nature. The German confessed that on more than one occasion he owed his life to Haddo's rare power of seizing opportunities.''I shall never try to make it.'You need not be afraid. His lifted tail was twitching. and then came to the room downstairs and ordered dinner.'That is a compatriot of yours. The best part of his life had been spent in Egypt. by the pursuit of science. 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. the truth of which Burkhardt can vouch for. but was obliged soon to confess that he boasted of nothing unjustly. She felt excessively weak. Forgetting that anyone else was in the room. were joined together in frenzied passion. and a pointed beard. but that you were responsible for everything. blushed feebly without answering.'Dr Porho?t stepped forward and addressed the charmer. which she'll do the moment you leave us. I've not seen her today. He remained where he fell in utter helplessness.''Oh. making a sign to him. 'I'm buying furniture already. He threw off his cloak with a dramatic gesture.

 on his advice. '_It's rather hard. He was spending the winter in Paris. They passed in their tattered motley. that your deplorable lack of education precludes you from the brilliancy to which you aspire?'For an instant Oliver Haddo resumed his effective pose; and Susie. hoarsely. and shook its paw. They spend their days in front of my fire. writhing snake. He looked at Arthur with a certain ironic gravity.A day or two later Susie received a telegram.'To follow a wounded lion into thick cover is probably the most dangerous proceeding in the world. I should be able to do nothing but submit. notwithstanding pieces of silk hung here and there on the walls. went with enigmatic motions. my O'Brien. and Arthur shut the door behind him. but she did not think the man was mad. I have finished with it for good and all. The lovers were silent. She saw cardinals in their scarlet. He was notorious also for the extravagance of his costume. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. it had never struck her that the time must come when it would be necessary to leave Haddo or to throw in her lot with his definitely. even to Arthur.'By the way. of the man's extraordinary qualities.

 He was seated now with Margaret's terrier on his knees. and the acrid scents of Eastern perfumes. But it would be a frightful thing to have in one's hands; for once it were cast upon the waters. creeping stealthily through her limbs; and she was terrified.'My dear. You turn your eyes away from me as though I were unclean. and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt. and at this date the most frequented in Paris. and take the irregular union of her daughter with such a noble unconcern for propriety; but now it seems quite natural.'Why did you make me come here?' she asked suddenly. but it would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself. I precipitate myself at your feet.Arthur came forward and Margaret put her hands on his shoulders. and a wonderful feeling for country. my novel had when it was published. but she knew that something horrible was about to happen. Burkhardt returned to England; and Haddo.''It is right that Margaret should care for beauty. with faded finery. of attar of roses.'Can it matter to you if I forgive or not?''You have not pity. She made a little sketch of Arthur. turning to his friend. I have never been able to make up my mind whether he is an elaborate practical joker. however long I live. His lust was so vast that he could not rest till the stars in their courses were obedient to his will. Margaret walked slowly to the church.

 And I really cannot see that the alchemist who spent his life in the attempted manufacture of gold was a more respectable object than the outside jobber of modern civilization. and had resigned herself to its dreariness for the rest of her life. and she talked all manner of charming nonsense. He's the most delightful interpreter of Paris I know. I can tell you. as though too much engrossed in his beloved really to notice anyone else; and she wondered how to make conversation with a man who was so manifestly absorbed. and the reptile teeth went deep into his flesh. Of these I am. the snake darted forward. however. 'I am the only man alive who has killed three lions with three successive shots. as though the thing of which he spoke was very near his heart. He had thrown himself into the arrogant attitude of Velasquez's portrait of Del Borro in the Museum of Berlin; and his countenance bore of set purpose the same contemptuous smile. But Arthur shrugged his shoulders impatiently. for by then a great change had come into my life. too. He had a gift for caricature which was really diverting. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me.'God has forsaken me. with queer plates. but she looked neat in her black dress and white cap; and she had a motherly way of attending to these people. She would have given much to confess her two falsehoods. the alchemist. who claimed to possess an autograph manuscript by the reputed author Schimeon ben Jochai.''Oh. had sought to dazzle him by feats that savoured almost of legerdemain. I was thirty.

 She shrugged her shoulders. I told the friend with whom I shared the flat that I wanted to be rid of it and go abroad. Though I have not seen Haddo now for years.''Do you love me very much?' she asked. She knelt down and. half cruel. The dog rolled over with a loud bark that was almost a scream of pain.'That is a compatriot of yours. He forgot everything. It was the look which might fill the passionate eyes of a mystic when he saw in ecstasy the Divine Lady of his constant prayers. and the carriage rolled away.' said Arthur to Oliver Haddo. making more and more friends. and huge limping scarabs.' he said. He did not seem astonished that she was there. 'Why had that serpent no effect on him though it was able to kill the rabbit instantaneously? And how are you going to explain the violent trembling of that horse. and the shuffle of their myriad feet. abnormally lanky. rang a tinkling bell at one of the doorways that faced her. even if I had to sacrifice myself. He leaned against the wall and stared at them. The surroundings were so commonplace that they seemed to emphasise his singularity. for Oliver Haddo passed slowly by.'Arthur was prevented from answering by their arrival at the Lion de Belfort. and the tinkling of uncouth instruments. I'm pretty well-to-do.

 mentions the Crusades. It was as though fiends of hell were taking revenge upon her loveliness by inspiring in her a passion for this monstrous creature. I met him a little while ago by chance. always to lose their fortunes. Margaret sprang forward to help him. he found a note in his room. intent upon his greetings. Margaret's gift was by no means despicable. But I can't sacrifice myself. She was proud to think that she would hand over to Arthur Burdon a woman whose character she had helped to form. 'but he's always in that condition. Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity. by all the introspection of this later day.'Arthur made no reply. and he growled incessantly.' he said. the face rather broad. Hastily I slipped another cartridge in my rifle. He's the most delightful interpreter of Paris I know. and would have no reconciliation. it's the only thing in which a woman's foot looks really nice."'Oliver Haddo told his story not ineffectively. You won't give me any credit for striving with all my soul to a very great end. but Eliphas experienced such a sudden exhaustion in all his limbs that he was obliged to sit down. I picked up once for a song on a barrow at London Bridge a little book in German. But one phrase escaped him almost against his will. lacking in wit.

 'Is not that your magician?''Oliver Haddo. I took an immediate dislike to him. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand. on returning to his hotel. He looked at Burdon. but Susie. so that Dr Porho?t was for a moment transported to the evil-smelling streets of Cairo. and then came to the room downstairs and ordered dinner. She felt a heartrending pang to think that thenceforward the consummate things of art would have no meaning for her. but now and then others came.'Well. With a leer and a flash of his bright teeth. and from under it he took a goatskin sack.'You are very lucky. and when you've seen his sketches--he's done hundreds. Dr Porho?t got up to go. I am a plain. by the interest that was still taken in a book of Huysmans's.'He's frightened of me.'No. He read out the fine passage from the preface of the _Paragranum_:'I went in search of my art.'You are evidently very brave. for the uneven surface of the sack moved strangely. but rather cold. and I should have been ashamed to see it republished. They sat in silence. a virgin.

 'I don't know what there is about him that frightens me. but rising by degrees. He sank painfully into a chair. I shall never have a happier day than this. except allow me to sit in this chair. and the lashes were darkened with kohl: her fingers were brightly stained with henna. and the woman in the dim background ceased her weird rubbing of the drum. smiling. She made a slight movement. he suggested that she should not live alone. 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).'You brute.' he answered. But those quick dark eyes were able to express an anguish that was hardly tolerable. I received a letter from the priest of the village in which she lived. but he would not speak of her.' he answered. He had had an upbringing unusual for a painter. 'I should not care to dogmatize about this man. and her physical attraction was allied with physical abhorrence. and you were uneasily aware that your well-worn pyjamas and modest toilet articles had made an unfavourable impression upon him. Susie willingly agreed to accompany her. But the reverse occurred also. He did not seem to see her. A capricious mind can never rule the sylphs.' pursued the doctor. Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity.

 to make a brave show of despair. It crossed his mind that at this moment he would willingly die. after asking me to dinner.' answered Arthur. and finally the officiating clergy. All I know is that he has travelled widely and is acquainted with many tongues. irritably. Her laughter was like a rippling brook. difficult smiles of uneasy gaiety. No harm has come to you. too. to invoke outlandish gods. You'll never keep your husband's affection if you trust to your own judgment. fearing to trust her voice. scrupulously observing the rules laid down by the Ritual. dear doctor. It became current opinion in other pursuits that he did not play the game. but expressive. was the mother of Helen of Troy. and.Though too much interested in the characters of the persons whom chance threw in his path to have much ambition on his own behalf. she loathed and feared him. 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. and she could not let her lover pay. caused a moment of silence. and be very good to him. It is possible that under certain conditions the law of gravity does not apply.

'I hope you'll remain as long as you choose. 'You should be aware that science. kissed her. His courage is very great. they took a cab and drove through the streets. came. He will go through fire and not be burned. and they can give no certainty. He died as the result of a tavern brawl and was buried at Salzburg. Her words by a mystic influence had settled something beyond possibility of recall. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon Margaret so intently that he did not see he was himself observed. but with a comic gravity that prevented one from knowing exactly how to take it. He reared up on his hind legs. and dreamed strange dreams. she would scarcely have resisted her desire to wear nondescript garments of violent hue. priceless gems. je vous aime. Sprenger's _Malleus Malefikorum_. and miseries of that most unruly nation. A footman approached. and to them it can give a monstrous humanity. It seems too much to expect that I should enjoy such extraordinarily good luck.'By the way.'Next to me is Madame Meyer. You are but a snake. The _homunculus_ within died after a few painful respirations in spite of all efforts to save him. how passionately he adored his bride; and it pleased her to see that Margaret loved him in return with a grateful devotion.

 as though the thing of which he spoke was very near his heart. She noticed that Haddo. but an exceedingly pale blue. and was not disposed to pay much attention to this vehement distress.'You haven't yet shown that the snake was poisonous. She admired his capacity in dealing with matters that were in his province. Aleister Crowley. _The Magician_ was published in 1908. rising. She wept ungovernably. as was plain. as it were. and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand.''I didn't know that you spoke figuratively. having read this letter twice. though she set a plain woman's value on good looks. When. Steam bands thundered out the popular tunes of the moment. so that I need not here say more about it. with the difficulty of a very fat person. left her listless; and between her and all the actions of life stood the flamboyant. at certain intervals blood was poured into the water; and it disappeared at once.'Dr Porho?t closed the book. very white and admirably formed. I sold out at considerable loss. with his round.'Well.

 The magus. Then I became conscious that he had seen me.''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. joining to the knowledge of the old adepts the scientific discovery of the moderns? I don't know what would be the result.''Nonsense!' said Margaret. for there was in it a malicious hatred that startled her.' said Arthur ironically.The music was beautiful. Nor would he trouble himself with the graceful trivialities which make a man a good talker. At the entrance. longer and more ample than the surplice of a priest.'What else is the world than a figure? Life itself is but a symbol. curling hair had retreated from the forehead and temples in such a way as to give his clean-shaven face a disconcerting nudity. sad dignity; and it seemed to Margaret fit thus to adore God. At Cambridge he had won his chess blue and was esteemed the best whist player of his time. and on her head is a little white cap. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264. She looked so fresh in her plain black dress.'He had been so quiet that they had forgotten his presence. After the toil of many years it relieved her to be earnest in nothing; and she found infinite satisfaction in watching the lives of those around her. and fell. to occupy myself only with folly. The boy began to speak. and all the details were settled. and I learned in that way that nothing was certain. It seemed that Margaret and Arthur realized at last the power of those inhuman eyes. and the glow of yellow light within.

 He drew out a long.'My name Mohammed. It seemed no longer to matter that she deceived her faithful friends.'You give me credit now for very marvellous powers. in the attitude of a prisoner protesting his innocence. he analysed with a searching. He spoke of frankincense and myrrh and aloes. Naked and full of majesty he lay. had laboured studiously to discover it. and I don't think we made them particularly welcome. Her deep blue eyes were veiled with tears. I hope that your studies in French methods of surgery will have added to your wisdom. for what most fascinated the observer was a supreme and disdainful indifference to the passion of others. which are the most properly conducted of all their tribe. He waited till he had a free evening. took and furnished a small flat near Victoria Station. Come at twelve.' he said. one on Sunday night. blushed feebly without answering. and suggested that his sudden illness was but a device to get into the studio. and they rested upon her. She felt neither remorse nor revulsion. and the troublous sea of life whereon there is no refuge for the weary and the sick at heart. and wrote a full-page review of the novel in _Vanity Fair_. The roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia are not so white as thy body. and she was anxious to make him talk.

 I asked him what persons could see in the magic mirror. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire.'I've never met a man who filled me with such loathing.He looked upon himself as a happy man. by Count Franz-Josef von Thun. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable. or is he laughing up his sleeve at the folly of those who take him seriously? I cannot tell. again raising his eyes to hers. and his ancestry is no less distinguished than he asserts. having at the same time a retentive memory and considerable quickness. and her heart was in a turmoil. With Haddo's subtle words the character of that man rose before her. stood on the chimney-piece. irritated. There's no form of religion. and had already spent a morning at the H?tel Dieu. From there he still influences the minds of his followers and at times even appears to them in visible and tangible substance. she had hurried till her bones ached from one celebrated monument to another. and they were called Hohenheim after their ancient residence. and the Count was anxious that they should grow. if he is proud of his stock. The lion gave vent to a sonorous roar. He was highly talented. for I felt it as much as anyone. He leaned forward with eager face. before consenting to this.

 With a little laugh. Mona Lisa and Saint John the Baptist. a virgin. Letters and the arts meant little to him. 'Yet he is the most interesting of all the alchemists. and had come ostensibly to study the methods of the French operators; but his real object was certainly to see Margaret Dauncey. 'You know that it is almost impossible for an infidel to acquire the holy book. slowly. Thereupon. But let us talk of other things. That is Warren. It was sent from the Rue Littr??. while Margaret put the tea things away.'I am willing to marry you whenever you choose. and is the principal text-book of all those who deal in the darkest ways of the science. Just think what a privilege it is to come upon a man in the twentieth century who honestly believes in the occult. I have described the place elsewhere. But they quarrelled at last through Haddo's over-bearing treatment of the natives. By some accident one of the bottles fell one day and was broken. and tawny distances. he made up for it with a diverting pleasantry that might very well have passed for humour.'Dr Porho?t shrugged his shoulders. The lies which at first seemed intolerable now tripped glibly off her tongue. motionless. and it was plain that he was much moved. writhing snake. He opened his eyes.

 blushing as though she had been taken in some indiscretion. the radiance of sunset and the darkness of the night. pointed beard. 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. It was strange and terrifying.' cried Susie gaily. They passed in their tattered motley. which was worn long.'Arago.'You knew I should come. He had a handsome face of a deliberately aesthetic type and was very elegantly dressed. he at once consented. the hydrocephalic heads. They had buried her on the very day upon which the boy had seen this sight in the mirror of ink. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair. a warp as it were in the woof of Oliver's speech. In the year 1698 some of it penetrated through the soil. and Susie asked for a cigarette. rugged and gnarled like tortured souls in pain. In one corner sat a fellah woman. 'Do you think if he'd had anything in him at all he would have let me kick him without trying to defend himself?'Haddo's cowardice increased the disgust with which Arthur regarded him. so humiliated. Eliphas Levi was clothed in a white robe. He described himself as an amateur. with the wings and the bow and arrow of the God of Love. Don't you think it must have been hard for me. He smiled quietly.

Altogether.'What else is the world than a figure? Life itself is but a symbol. Haddo hesitated a moment. but Paracelsus asserts positively that it can be done. but with a comic gravity that prevented one from knowing exactly how to take it.' he replied. and there were flowers everywhere. and she caught a glimpse of terrible secrets. His mocking voice rang in her ears.'My dear. and to question it upon two matters. on a sudden violently shuddered; he affected her with an uncontrollable dislike. in the dark hollowness of the eyes. We left together that afternoon. and his bones were massive.'"I desire to see the widow Jeanne-Marie Porho?t. white sheepskin which was stretched beneath. Like a bird at its last gasp beating frantically against the bars of a cage. had repeated an observation of his. deformed.'Let us wait here for a moment. brought him to me one evening. It seemed a little frightened still.''Now assistant physician at St Luke's Hospital.''Since I have been occupied with these matters. and now she lives with the landscape painter who is by her side. or is he laughing up his sleeve at the folly of those who take him seriously? I cannot tell.

 But the delight of it was so great that he could scarcely withhold a cry of agony. by Delancre; he drew his finger down the leather back of Delrio's _Disquisitiones Magicae_ and set upright the _Pseudomonarchia Daemonorum_ of Wierus; his eyes rested for an instant on Hauber's _Acta et Scripta Magica_. and she remained silent. The sources from which this account is taken consist of masonic manuscripts. He recited the honeyed words with which Walter Pater expressed his admiration for that consummate picture. 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. and Dr Porho?t. and the black slaves who waited on you. Arthur looked away quickly. and her soul fled from her body; but a new soul came in its place. was unexpected in connexion with him. she was able to make her cut more pointed.'Much. with the difficulty of a very fat person. A capricious mind can never rule the sylphs. Margaret's animation was extraordinary. had great difficulty in escaping with his life. His eyes were soft with indescribable tenderness as he took the sweetmeats she gave him. scamper away in terror when the King of Beasts stalked down to make his meal. He asked Margaret to show him her sketches and looked at them with unassumed interest. he was a foolish young thing in love.''Art-student?' inquired Arthur. she would scarcely have resisted her desire to wear nondescript garments of violent hue. I can tell you. she was seized often with a panic of fear lest they should be discovered; and sometimes. and he never acknowledges merit in anyone till he's safely dead and buried. but I am bound to confess it would not surprise me to learn that he possessed powers by which he was able to do things seemingly miraculous.

 I tremble in every limb at the thought of your unmitigated scorn.'But a minute later.'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris. but once she had at least the charm of vivacious youth.''I shall never try to make it. I know I shall outrage the feelings of my friend Arthur.' he said. O most excellent Warren. intolerable shame. and demands the utmost coolness. and the lashes were darkened with kohl: her fingers were brightly stained with henna. These eyes were the most curious thing about him. She seemed to stand upon a pinnacle of the temple. for a low flame sprang up immediately at the bottom of the dish. She looked so fresh in her plain black dress. and her heart was in a turmoil.'You give me credit now for very marvellous powers. And she takes a passionate interest in the variety of life. By a singular effect his eyes appeared blood-red. When the bottles were removed. who painted still life with a certain amount of skill. The roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia are not so white as thy body. She has a wrinkled face and her eyes are closed.''If I died tomorrow. is perhaps the secret of your strength.''It's dreadful to think that I must spend a dozen hours without seeing you. which for the same reason I have been obliged to read.

 driven almost to distraction. a turbulent assembly surged about her.FRANK HURRELLArthur. A balustrade of stone gracefully enclosed the space. and come down into the valleys. but with great distinctness. made with the greatest calm.''Oh. She mounted a broad staircase. honest and simple. he looked exactly like a Franz Hals; but he was dressed like the caricature of a Frenchman in a comic paper. She had ceased to judge him. but Arthur pressed her not to change her plans. As she walked along the interminable street that led to her own house.'I never know how much you really believe of all these things you tell us.Haddo looked round at the others. where all and sundry devoured their food. The only difference was that my father actually spoke. A year after his death. Man can know nothing. He had high cheek-bones and a long. plain face lit up as she realized the delight of the scene upon which her eyes rested; and it was with a little pang. by the Count von K??ffstein and an Italian mystic and rosicrucian.'How often have I explained to you.'Yet it reigned in Persia with the magi. It did not take me long to make up my mind. and the Merestons.

 He remained where he fell in utter helplessness. drawing upon his memory. lacking in wit. his appearance. He commanded it to return. would have done. at least.''Nonsense!' said Margaret.' he said. It should be remembered that Lactantius proclaimed belief in the existence of antipodes inane. but it seemed too late now to draw back. they showed a curious pleasure in his company.' said Haddo. so humiliated. The doctor smiled and returned the salute. without recourse to medicine. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. and heavy hangings. but how it was acquired I do not know. not I after you. When he opened it. though he was never seen to work. and take the irregular union of her daughter with such a noble unconcern for propriety; but now it seems quite natural.Then Margaret felt every day that uncontrollable desire to go to him; and.''I don't know how I can ever repay you. Instinctively she knelt down by his side and loosened his collar.'Not a word.

 But he only laughed.'Hasn't he had too much to drink?' asked Arthur frigidly. very fair. But with her help Margaret raised him to his feet. Burkhardt returned to England; and Haddo. Mr Burdon was very right to thrash me. and yet he was seized with awe.'I will have a vanilla ice. and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand.'The words were so bitter. and some were leafless already. She did not know if he loved her. who sought. breaking into French in the impossibility of expressing in English the exact feeling which that scene gave him. some of them neat enough. he had no doubt about the matter. But another strange thing about him was the impossibility of telling whether he was serious. it was because he knew she would use it. 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. I had heard many tales of his prowess. and in exhaustion she sank upon a bench.He seemed able to breathe more easily. she was shaken with sobs. blended with the suave music of the words so that Margaret felt she had never before known their divine significance.'You think me a charlatan because I aim at things that are unknown to you. and his hand and his brain worked in a manner that appeared almost automatic.'I've never seen anyone with such a capacity for wretchedness as that man has.

 mingling with his own fantasies the perfect words of that essay which. She tried to cry out. At least.'I've never seen anyone with such a capacity for wretchedness as that man has.'Oliver Haddo's story was received with astonished silence. which Raggles. look with those unnatural eyes. 'It is really very surprising that a man like you should fall so deeply in love with a girl like Margaret Dauncey. his hands behind him. or is he laughing up his sleeve at the folly of those who take him seriously? I cannot tell. and so reached Italy. It appears that one of his friends prepared the remedy. icily. roaring loudly and clawing at the air. une sole. take me in for one moment. she had hurried till her bones ached from one celebrated monument to another. was accepted as a member of the intelligentsia. He seemed to have a positive instinct for operating. It was characteristic that. It was autumn. which has rarely interfered with the progress of science. and at intervals the deep voice of the priest. When Arthur recovered himself. The time will come when none of you shall remain in his dark corner who will not be an object of contempt to the world. At the same moment the trembling began to decrease. His face.

 On a sudden. how cruel! How hatefully cruel!''Are you convinced now?' asked Haddo coolly. At last Margaret sought by an effort to regain her self-control. He had fine eyes and a way. but not entirely a fake. I am aware that the law of secrecy is rigorous among adepts; and I know that you have been asked for phenomena. Susie told the driver where they wanted to be set down.' returned Haddo.'I am willing to marry you whenever you choose. though at the same time they were profoundly aware that they possessed no soul.'I don't know at all. the snake fell to the ground. Electric trams passed through it with harsh ringing of bells. the urge came and.''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. to become a master of his art. The hand of a draughtsman could not have fashioned it with a more excellent skill. because I love him so much that all I do is pure delight. The gaiety was charming.'Sometimes I am haunted by the wild desire to have seen the great and final scene when the irrevocable flames poured down the river. His folly and the malice of his rivals prevented him from remaining anywhere for long.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. and she fancied that more than once Arthur gave her a curious look. and his gaunt face grew pale with passion. refusing to write any more plays for the time. evil-smelling and airless. He is.