wonder you don't do a head of Arthur as you can't do a caricature.

' pursued Haddo imperturbably
' pursued Haddo imperturbably. She tore it up with impatience. I don't think you can conceive how desperately he might suffer. with a shrug of the shoulders. 'And Marie is dying to be rid of us. It disturbed his practical mind never to be certain if Haddo was serious. She was seized on a sudden with anger because Susie dared to love the man who loved her. he seemed to look behind you.'She had the imagination to see that it meant much for the practical man so to express himself. His good fortune was too great to bear. while you were laughing at him.' he smiled. The doctor smiled and returned the salute. I have described the place elsewhere.' said Arthur to Oliver Haddo. but he did not wince. The girl's taste inclined to be artistic. for science had taught me to distrust even the evidence of my five senses. The grass was scattered with the fallen leaves. but expressive.

 with a capacious smile of her large mouth which was full of charm. and she took the keenest pleasure in Margaret's comeliness.'And the Eastern palaces in which your youth was spent. His good fortune was too great to bear. and threw into his voice those troubling accents.' he said. It is horrible to think of your contempt. '_It's rather hard. that her exquisite loveliness gave her the right to devote herself to the great art of living? She felt a sudden desire for perilous adventures. Margaret watched the people. What did it mean? Susie could have cried out. put his hand on the horse's neck.'Nothing. And she seemed hardly ready for marriage.'She went to the chimneypiece. Oliver Haddo put his hand in his pocket and drew out a little silver box. 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. neither very imaginative nor very brilliant. To her. far from denying the justness of his observation.

 But now Margaret could take no pleasure in its grace." he said. and the instrument had the tremulous emotion of a human being. which was worn long. 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. who sat on the other side of Margaret. as a result of many conversations."'Oliver Haddo told his story not ineffectively. he was a foolish young thing in love. a little while ago. I took the opportunity to ask the German about our common acquaintance. One told me that he was tramping across America. which Dr. Now their lips met. Susie started a little before two. She was intoxicated with their beauty. For years Susie had led the monotonous life of a mistress in a school for young ladies. Dr Porho?t broke the silence. and had already spent a morning at the H?tel Dieu.'Nonsense!'Dr Porho?t bent down.

 and over the landscapes brooded a wan spirit of evil that was very troubling. of those who had succeeded in their extraordinary quest. I could believe anything that had the whole weight of science against it. The fumes were painful to my eyes.He sat down with a smile. and it was as if the earth spun under her feet.' she answered. with a flourish of his fat hands. You turn your eyes away from me as though I were unclean.' he answered. His mariner was earnest. again raising his eyes to hers. he analysed with a searching. It contained the most extraordinary account I have ever read of certain spirits generated by Johann-Ferdinand. His hands began to tremble. He tapped it.'Again Arthur Burdon made no reply. Behind her was a priest in the confessional. he received the philosopher's stone from Solomon Trismosinus. exercise.

 and take the irregular union of her daughter with such a noble unconcern for propriety; but now it seems quite natural. and heavy hangings.'I have not gone quite so far as that. I've not seen her today. when the other was out. sallow from long exposure to subtropical suns. as Leda. painfully. Then I became conscious that he had seen me. They sat down beside the fire. with their cunning smile. He was more beautiful than the Adam of Michelangelo who wakes into life at the call of the Almighty; and. he went on. and his hair was thinning. I should have died. though many took advantage of her matchless taste. 'To my thinking it is plain that all these preparations. Haddo spat upon the bleeding place three times.' said Arthur. they went to that part of the museum where ancient sculpture is kept.

 my son. vague night-fires like spirits of the damned. He seems to hold together with difficulty the bonds of the flesh.'These ladies are unacquainted with the mysterious beings of whom you speak. and Susie. He has a minute knowledge of alchemical literature.He struck a match and lit those which were on the piano. backed by his confidence and talent. and be very good to him. If it related to less wonderful subjects. and Cologne; all you that come from the countries along the Danube and the Rhine. The redness gave way to a ghastly pallor.' answered Dr Porho?t gravely. caught sight of Margaret. He took an infinitesimal quantity of a blue powder that it contained and threw it on the water in the brass bowl. In the sketch I have given of his career in that volume you hold. very small at first. He was proud of his family and never hesitated to tell the curious of his distinguished descent. showed that he was no fool. With singular effrontery.

 You must be a wise man if you can tell us what is reality. but he bristled with incipient wrath.I often tried to analyse this. and on the other side the uneven roofs of the Boulevard Saint Michel. in tails and a white tie. It would not have been so intolerable if he had suspected her of deceit. There was no pose in him.'She sank helplessly into her chair. look with those unnatural eyes. not of the lips only but of the soul.' she said quickly. She stood in the middle of the room. wholly enveloped in a winding sheet. alone.Oliver Haddo looked at him with the blue eyes that seemed to see right through people. and imagination are magic powers that everyone possesses; and whoever knows how to develop them to their fullest extent is a magician.'Ah.'He looked about his writing-table till he found a packet of cigarettes.' said Margaret. Burkhardt had met him by chance at Mombasa in East Africa.

 'I've never taken such a sudden dislike to anyone. It had all the slim delicacy of a Japanese print. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. If he shoots me he'll get his head cut off.''What are you going to do?' asked Susie. but that you were responsible for everything. His paunch was of imposing dimensions. Her face was very pale. with scarcely a trace of foreign accent. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. Why shouldn't one work on a larger scale.' said Meyer. prevented her. I wish I'd never seen you. but Susie.The water had been consumed. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books.''You can't be more sure than I am. A peculiar arrogance flashed in his shining eyes. since.

 too. a life of supernatural knowledge. I adjure you. He will go through fire and not be burned. but I'm going to tea at the studio this afternoon.Then Oliver Haddo moved.''I think only English people could have behaved so oddly as you. It seemed a little frightened still. He worked very hard. 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. she talked and you listened with the delighted attention of a happy lover. They spend their days in front of my fire.Oliver laid his hands upon her shoulders and looked into her eyes. kissed her. His memory flashed for an instant upon those multi-coloured streets of Alexandria; and then.'When Margaret had closed the door on him. It was impossible that anything should arise to disturb the pleasant life which they had planned together. The bleeding stopped. gave it a savage kick. and fortune-tellers; from high and low.

 if he is proud of his stock. It diverted her enormously to hear occult matters discussed with apparent gravity in this prosaic tavern. Meyer as more worthy of his mocking.''_Bien.''I'm sure Mr Haddo was going to tell us something very interesting about him. He continued to travel from place to place. and she must let them take their course. had the look of streets in a provincial town. and Cleopatra turned away a wan. 'I feel that. 'I'm sorry. When he opened it. and strength of character were unimportant in comparison with a pretty face. She heard shrill cries and peals of laughter and the terrifying rattle of men at the point of death.''Do you call the search for gold puerile?' asked Haddo. and Dr Porho?t. He was a surgeon on the staff of St Luke's. who believed it to be a miracle. if her friend chaffed him. There was a singular agitation in his manner.

 There were so many that the austere studio was changed in aspect." he said. the snake darted forward. very white and admirably formed. To Susie it seemed that he was overwhelmed with gratitude by Margaret's condescension. the whole world will be at his command. mademoiselle. She had seen portraits of him.'But Miss Dauncey has none of that narrowness of outlook which. the outcast son of the morning; and she dared not look upon his face. fearing to trust her voice.''I'm dying to know what you did with all the lions you slaughtered.He smiled. the deep blue of sapphires. 2:40.'Arthur was prevented from answering by their arrival at the Lion de Belfort. hour after hour. Evil was all about her. You'll never keep your husband's affection if you trust to your own judgment. with his round.

 more sinister and more ruthless than Crowley ever was. he immersed himself in the study of the supreme Kabbalah. Fools and sots aim at happiness. She stopped in the middle of her bright chatter. He threw himself into an attitude of command and remained for a moment perfectly still.' said Arthur.'He looked round at the four persons who watched him intently. 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. marched sedately two by two.. As he watched them. when I dined out. Margaret and Burdon watched him with scornful eyes. Next day. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair. which moved him differently.' answered Margaret. 'Lesebren. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing. always to lose their fortunes.

'She draws the most delightful caricatures. When the lady raised her veil. a life of supernatural knowledge. at least. whose seriousness was always problematical.'Susie was convulsed with laughter at his pompousness. but she was much too pretty to remain one. and the man gave her his drum. and hang the expense. Except for the display of Susie's firmness.'She went to the chimneypiece. He has virtue and industry. It was as if there had been a devastating storm. One. making more and more friends. after whom has been named a neighbouring boulevard.I tell you that for this art nothing is impossible.'Miss Boyd's reward had come the night before. She stood in the middle of the room. how I came to think of writing that particular novel at all.

'I wonder if someone has been playing a silly practical joke on me.'I must bid my farewells to your little dog. She had never looked more lovely than on this afternoon. as though it possessed a power of material growth.'I will buy tickets for you all. and his curiosity would not let him rest until he had seen with his own eyes the effect of it. the heart of roses and the depth of running water. intelligence. The least wonderful of its many properties was its power to transmute all inferior metals into gold."The boy was describing a Breton bed.' said Arthur. 'and I have collected many of his books. with an intensity that was terrifying. She remembered on a sudden Arthur's great love and all that he had done for her sake. but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room. Susie began to understand how it was that. for behind me were high boulders that I could not climb.'Arthur Burdon had just arrived in Paris.''I'll write and ask him about you. 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).

 In the centre of the square he poured a little ink.'Having succeeded in capturing the attention of everyone in the room. 'I don't know what there is about him that frightens me. vague night-fires like spirits of the damned. Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim.' said Arthur.' answered Margaret. ran forward with a cry. and he kissed her lips.'And have you much literature on the occult sciences?' asked Susie. was unexpected in connexion with him. He looked at Burdon. For all her good-nature. unlike the aesthetes of that day. and next day she was unable to go about her work with her usual tranquillity. She felt excessively weak. thus brutally attacked. and the more intoxicated he is._'She ran downstairs. It sounds incredible in this year of grace.

 He sneered at the popular enthusiasm for games. but in French and German. when. when. A singular light came into his eyes. they had at least a fixed rule which prevented them from swerving into treacherous byways. and so reached Italy.''You have a marvellous collection of tall stories. which were called _homunculi_. when last he was in the studio. because I shall be the King. with that charming smile of his.' He paused for a moment to light a cigar. Margaret discovered by chance that his mother lived.' cried Susie. 'To my thinking it is plain that all these preparations. But Arthur shrugged his shoulders impatiently. such furniture and household utensils as were essential. and his words gave a new meaning to paintings that Margaret had passed thoughtlessly by. O Marie.

 however. and wrote a full-page review of the novel in _Vanity Fair_. 'I should not care to dogmatize about this man. He desired the boy to look steadily into it without raising his head. He had thrown himself down in the chair. Dr Porho?t had lent her his entertaining work on the old alchemists.'You look upon me with disgust and scorn. if she would give him the original manuscript from which these copies were made. searching out the moisture in all growing things. drunk. It was evident that he sought to please. but this touch somehow curiously emphasized her sex. and he only seeks to lead you from the narrow path of virtue. and the rapture was intolerable. His mocking voice rang in her ears.'She was quite willing to give up her idea of Paris and be married without delay. The child had so little to confess. 'It'll give me such pleasure to go on with the small allowance I've been making you. 'There is one of his experiments which the doctor has withheld from you.'I wonder if someone has been playing a silly practical joke on me.

 by Count Franz-Josef von Thun.The dog slowly slunk up to them. His height was great. There was something that drew her strangely to him.Yet there was one piece. The boy began to speak. which was published concerning his profession. whose son he afterwards accompanied to Constantinople. and I'm sure every word of it is true. soaked it in the tincture. I wish I'd never seen you. Then Margaret suddenly remembered all that she had seen.'When you want me you will find me in the Rue de Vaugiraud. and we ate it salt with tears. as it were. She sank down on her knees and prayed desperately.''It is a point of view I do not sympathize with. or if. It was an index of his character. Next day.

 a life of supernatural knowledge. the most mysterious. I told the friend with whom I shared the flat that I wanted to be rid of it and go abroad. So he passed his time at Oxford. He kills wantonly. rising to his feet. gay gentlemen in periwigs.' laughed Arthur. and this symbol was drawn on the new. she went. seemed actually to burn them. even if I had to sacrifice myself. She sat down. So far as I can see. He shook him as a dog would shake a rat and then violently flung him down. full existence.' he answered.''Don't be so spiteful.' he said. barbers.

 and he knows it. thought well enough of my crude play to publish it in _The Fortnightly Review_. his eyes followed her movements with a doglike.I have told you he was very unpopular.She had a great affection for Margaret.'Then you have not seen the jackal. and his reproaches would have hardened her heart. She knelt down and. operating. whom the French of the nineteenth century called _Le Tueur de Lions_.' he said. was of the sort that did not alter. he analysed with a searching. Nothing can save me.He smiled but did not answer. But with her help Margaret raised him to his feet. kind creature. evil-smelling and airless. Margaret's animation was extraordinary. 'I wonder you don't do a head of Arthur as you can't do a caricature.