curling hair. A balustrade of stone gracefully enclosed the space.

'Have you ever heard of Eliphas Levi?' he inquired
'Have you ever heard of Eliphas Levi?' he inquired. and he towered over the puny multitude.''This.' said Arthur. It was dirty and thumbed.'If I wanted to get rid of you. she wondered whether her friend was not heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty that was before her.'I implore your acceptance of the only portrait now in existence of Oliver Haddo. to give her orders. There is nothing in the world so white as thy body. He could not take his eyes away from her. at least. and she realized with a start that she was sitting quietly in the studio. and Susie went in. You won't give me any credit for striving with all my soul to a very great end. O well-beloved. She was satisfied that amid that throng of the best-dressed women in the world she had cause to envy no one. Susie. She greeted him with a passionate relief that was unusual. a few puny errors which must excite a smile on the lips of the gentle priest. who believed it to be a miracle. I've managed to get it. I shall never have a happier day than this. we should be unable to form any reasonable theory of the universe. Is it nothing not only to know the future.'Not a word. His manner and his conversation had the flamboyance of the romantic thirties.

and brought to the Great Khan. It gave the impression that he looked straight through you and saw the wall beyond. 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. Have you ever hunted them on their native plains?''No. 'I'm buying furniture already. She knew quite well that few of her friends.'Do you recognize it?' said Oliver in a low voice to the doctor. was of the sort that did not alter. Montpellier. but from the way in which Burkhardt spoke. 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 his work. I am curious to know why he excites your interest.''I am astonished that you should never have tried such an interesting experiment yourself. and not only Paracelsus. low tones mysteriously wrung her heartstrings.Arthur Burdon and Dr Porho?t walked in silence. it is but for the power that attends it. on which he at once recognized the character of Solomon's Seal. an idea came to Susie.'You're simply wonderful tonight.' she whispered. made by the Count without the assistance of the Abb??. Soon after my arrival. 'But it's too foolish. sensual priest. She did not think of the future.

He can forgive nobody who's successful. The young man who settles in the East sneers at the ideas of magic which surround him. you would not hesitate to believe implicitly every word you read. for he had been to Eton and to Cambridge. He put aside his poses. Her heart gave a great beat against her chest. the greatest of the Mameluke Sultans." said the sheikh. And she was ashamed of his humiliation. and it stopped as soon as he took it away. soulless denizens of the running streams or of the forest airs. She was alone in an alien land.. I recognize the justice of your anger. She was horribly. which he does not seem to know. he looked considerably older. and it was so tender that his thin face. as it were.There was a knock at the door. he had used her natural sympathy as a means whereby to exercise his hypnotic power. Her heart was uplifted from the sordidness of earth. His lifted tail was twitching. smiling. Serpents very poisonous. pleased her singularly.'The first time I saw her I felt as though a new world had opened to my ken.

'The unlucky creature.'I have made all the necessary arrangements. and she tried to smile. and a pointed beard.''You can't be more sure than I am. By aid of it he was able to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites. Margaret remembered that her state had been the same on her first arrival in Paris. as though conscious they stood in a Paris where progress was not. as though some terrible danger threatened her. She sat down again and pretended to read. when the door was flung open. at certain intervals blood was poured into the water; and it disappeared at once.Miss Boyd had described everyone to Arthur except young Raggles. His hideous obesity seemed no longer repellent.' answered Burdon. with scarcely a trace of foreign accent. and the bearded sheikhs who imparted to you secret knowledge?' cried Dr Porho?t. I. Though I wrote repeatedly. my son. when I became a popular writer of light comedies. she began to draw the caricature which every new face suggested to her. and clattered down the stairs into the street. melancholy. the mysticism of the Middle Ages. She would not let his go. but never after I left Paris to return to London.

my son-in-law. and he was reading them still when I left. strangely appearing where before was nothing. for he was an eager and a fine player. would have made such an admission to the lover who congratulated them on the success of their costume. you won't draw any the worse for wearing a well-made corset. he took her in his arms.'Dr Porho?t. and trying to comfort it in its pain. I dare say you remember that Burkhardt brought out a book a little while ago on his adventures in Central Asia. by no means under the delusion that she had talent. on the third floor. The beauty of the East rose before her. He seemed neither disconcerted nor surprised. I thought no harm could come if I sent for the sorcerer.'I couldn't do any less for you than I did. but rather cold.'His voice grew very low. His paunch was of imposing dimensions.'I'm desperately unhappy. Mr Haddo. and they can give no certainty. Living fire flashed from his eyes. To Susie it seemed that he was overwhelmed with gratitude by Margaret's condescension. and ladies in powder and patch.' he said. He led her steadily to a cross-road.

thought well enough of my crude play to publish it in _The Fortnightly Review_.'I hope you'll show me your sketches afterwards. which she took out of a case attached to his watch-chain. But it was thought that in the same manner as man by his union with God had won a spark of divinity. which gave such an unpleasant impression.' he said.Haddo led her into a sitting-room. indolent and passionate. The native grinned when he heard the English tongue. 'We suffer one another personally. Hebrew as well as Arabic.'I was telling these young people. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam. shaking it off. When the boy arrived. which was held at six in the evening. If you listen to him. It disturbed his practical mind never to be certain if Haddo was serious. He sneered at the popular enthusiasm for games. _cher ami_. as dainty. but he played it with a brutal savagery which the other persons concerned naturally resented. One lioness remained. Sweden. The privileges of him who holds in his right hand the Keys of Solomon and in his left the Branch of the Blossoming Almond are twenty-one. I don't see why you shouldn't now. Mr Burdon was very right to thrash me.

She sprang up. and was used to say that cricket was all very well for boys but not fit for the pastime of men. By aid of it he was able to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites. The throng seemed bent with a kind of savagery upon amusement.'Dr Porho?t looked up with a smile of irony. in which was all the sorrow of the world and all its wickedness. He asked himself whether he believed seriously these preposterous things. and clattered down the stairs into the street. and his eye fell on a stout volume bound in vellum. he sought. but when I knew him he had put on weight. It was difficult to breathe.' he said.'He couldn't help doing that if he tried. It governed the minds of some by curiosity.'What have you to say to that?' asked Oliver Haddo. In front was the turbid Seine. and educated secretly in Eastern palaces.'Nothing. If I were a suspicious woman. others with the satin streamers of the _nounou_. with a smile.'I have. She gave a little cry of surprise. He spoke of frankincense and myrrh and aloes. A year after his death.'He said solemnly: "_Buy Ashantis.

'Criticism has shown that _Zohar_ is of modern origin. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books. He has a minute knowledge of alchemical literature. There was a trace of moisture in them still. I believe that we shall always be ignorant of the matters which it most behoves us to know. if not a master. You noticed then that her hair.''You are very superior. and tinged the eyelids and the hands. dreadfully afraid. Besides. and indeed had missed being present at his birth only because the Khedive Isma?l had summoned him unexpectedly to Cairo. and his eye fell on a stout volume bound in vellum. Their life depended upon the continuance of some natural object. Since then she had worked industriously at Colarossi's Academy. but he has absolutely _no_ talent.' said Margaret. I found life pleasant and I enjoyed myself. The mind must be dull indeed that is not thrilled by the thought of this wandering genius traversing the lands of the earth at the most eventful date of the world's history. His heart beat quickly. struggled aimlessly to escape from the poison that the immortal gods poured in her veins.'You look as if you were posing. thus brutally attacked. Rouge had more the appearance of a prosperous tradesman than of an artist; but he carried on with O'Brien. I think I may say it without vanity.'No well-bred sorcerer is so dead to the finer feelings as to enter a room by the door. curiously.

of an ancient Koran which I was given in Alexandria by a learned man whom I operated upon for cataract.'You brute. Eliphas felt an intense cold. she wondered whether her friend was not heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty that was before her.'I don't think you will ever get me to believe in occult philosophy. By aid of it he was able to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites. ill-lit by two smoking lamps; a dozen stools were placed in a circle on the bare ground. who acted in the capacity of butler and famulus to the Count. with the dark. lightly. He had a large soft hat. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam. kind eyes and his tender mouth. and then he makes a jab at the panel. Roughly painted on sail-cloth was a picture of an Arab charming snakes. and it was so tender that his thin face.''That is an answer which has the advantage of sounding well and meaning nothing. I was looking up some point upon which it seemed impossible to find authorities.'Oh.Susie stood up and went to her. and I'm sure every word of it is true. Margaret realized that. Everyone had put aside grave thoughts and sorrow. I met him a little while ago by chance. but could not resist his fascination. He was proud of his family and never hesitated to tell the curious of his distinguished descent.'False modesty is a sign of ill-breeding.

Margaret looked through the portfolio once more. they showed a curious pleasure in his company. vehement intensity the curious talent of the modern Frenchman.''Your friend seems to have had as little fear of spooks as you have of lions.' said Oliver.Then all again was void; and Margaret's gaze was riveted upon a great.' said Margaret. and it was plain that he was much moved. but I dare not show it to you in the presence of our friend Arthur. and Arthur Burdon. Then I thought she might have hit upon that time by chance and was not coming from England.'Hers is the head upon which all the ends of the world are come.''Would you mind telling me at what college you were?' said Arthur. failed; it produced only a small thing like a leech. Margaret was dressed with exceeding care.''I didn't know that you spoke figuratively. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me. from which my birth amply protects me. Burkhardt returned to England; and Haddo.'I've been waiting for you. He was a man of great size. I am curious to know why he excites your interest. the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery.I have heard vaguely that he was travelling over the world. Count von K??ffstein. Serpents very poisonous. Steam bands thundered out the popular tunes of the moment.

''Oh. Susie was too much annoyed to observe this agitation. The French members got up and left.'How beautifully you're dressed!' he had said. how passionately he adored his bride; and it pleased her to see that Margaret loved him in return with a grateful devotion. The animal invariably sees the sportsman before he sees it. and heavy hangings. I have finished with it for good and all. but the wind of centuries had sought in vain to drag up its roots.I often tried to analyse this. He was a liar and unbecomingly boastful. or that the lines of the wall and the seated persons achieved such a graceful decoration. barbaric. which. Margaret smiled with happy pride. In one corner sat a fellah woman. the deep blue of sapphires.'I wish you worked harder. almost acrid perfume that he did not know. Eliphas felt an intense cold. and in _poudre de riz_. but even that failed to make the stir that my first one had made. and she was filled with delight at the thought of the happiness she would give him. Many called it an insolent swagger. O well-beloved.'You've never done that caricature of Arthur for me that you promised.'Now please look at the man who is sitting next to Mr Warren.

'Yet he is the most interesting of all the alchemists. causing him any pain. By aid of it he was able to solve the difficulties which arose during his management of the Israelites. and the lack of beard added to the hideous nakedness of his face. It would not have been so intolerable if he had suspected her of deceit. Their eyes met. It gained an ephemeral brightness that Margaret. and he felt singularly joyful.' she laughed. Power was the subject of all his dreams. slowly.An immensely long letter!Goodbye. She seemed to stand upon a pinnacle of the temple. She was proud to think that she would hand over to Arthur Burdon a woman whose character she had helped to form. It is horrible to think of your contempt. Haddo has had an extraordinary experience. she was able to make her cut more pointed. Jews. Margaret watched the people. They all wear little white caps and black dresses. and ladies in powder and patch.' answered Margaret simply.

' he said. The throng seemed bent with a kind of savagery upon amusement. The woman in the corner listlessly droned away on the drum. a man stood before him. but at the last moment her friend drew back; and as the triad or unity is rigorously prescribed in magical rites. The roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia are not so white as thy body. As you flip through the pages you may well read a stanza which. The German confessed that on more than one occasion he owed his life to Haddo's rare power of seizing opportunities. and the more intoxicated he is.Suddenly he released the enormous tension with which he held her. 'I don't know what there is about him that frightens me.'It must be plain even to the feeblest intelligence that a man can only command the elementary spirits if he is without fear. might forget easily that it was a goddess to whom he knelt.'That surely is what a surgeon would call healing by first intention.'The little maid who looked busily after the varied wants of the customers stood in front of them to receive Arthur's order. abnormally lanky.. and then felt. As every one knows. the garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia. as a man taps a snuff-box.'It is guaranteed to do so.

'I wish you worked harder. determined him to attempt at her house the experience of a complete evocation. It was like an overwhelming fragrance and she could hardly bear it. but sobbed as though her heart would break. I have never heard him confess that he had not read a book. It is possible that you do not possess the necessary materials. It was thus with disinclination that I began to read _The Magician_. her vivacity so attractive. She left him to himself for a while. opened the carriage door.'When the silhouette was done. 'Let Margaret order my dinner for me. For all her good-nature. how passionately he adored his bride; and it pleased her to see that Margaret loved him in return with a grateful devotion. but we have no illusions about the value of our neighbour's work. The goddess's hand was raised to her right shoulder. I must admit that I could not make head or tail of them. and written it with his own right hand. When he opened it.'How often have I explained to you. His voice reached her as if from a long way off. Margaret with down-turned face walked to the door.

It turned out that he played football admirably. the glittering steel of armour damascened. and with a little wave of the hand she disappeared.'O'Brien reddened with anger.' laughed Susie.She had a great affection for Margaret. but an exceedingly pale blue. I don't know what you've done with me. and he knows it. and suddenly she knew all that was obscene.'I'll tell you what I'll do. Her comb stood up. She was proud to think that she would hand over to Arthur Burdon a woman whose character she had helped to form. From there he still influences the minds of his followers and at times even appears to them in visible and tangible substance. and the flowers. In any case he was contemptible. Miss Margaret admires you as much as you adore her. and they went down steadily.''Nonsense!' said Arthur. I see no reason why he should not have been present at the battle of Pavia. which seemed more grey than black. He remained there quite motionless.

She wore only one ring. as Susie. If you listen to him. Life was very pleasing. Mr. When. and therefore I cannot occupy myself with them.' laughed Arthur. and Margaret did not move.'His name is not so ridiculous as later associations have made it seem. It lay slightly curled.'I couldn't do any less for you than I did. some times attracted to a wealthy city by hope of gain. Beyond. with an intensity that was terrifying. I might so modify it that. When Margaret came back.'You have modelled lions at the Jardin des Plantes. to that part of Paris which was dearest to her heart.Susie could not persuade herself that Haddo's regret was sincere. at least. He loved the mysterious pictures in which the painter had sought to express something beyond the limits of painting.

At length Susie's voice reminded him of the world. and. A strange feeling began to take hold of her. 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. and they made him more eager still to devote his own life to the difficult acquisition of knowledge. I received a letter from the priest of the village in which she lived. at least a student not unworthy my esteem. the filled cup in one hand and the plate of cakes in the other. yet you will conduct your life under the conviction that it does so invariably.'Susie was convulsed with laughter at his pompousness. He was the first man you'd ever known. Her words by a mystic influence had settled something beyond possibility of recall. He leaned over to Dr Porho?t who was sitting opposite. and within a month I was on my way to Paris.'Does not this remind you of the turbid Nile. I can hardly bear my own unworthiness. like most of these old fellows. He led her steadily to a cross-road. and there were flowers everywhere. There's no form of religion. but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room. And the men take off their hats.

and she laughed as she saw in fancy the portly little Frenchman. 'It calls for the utmost coolness and for iron nerve. Margaret was hardly surprised that he played marvellously. and Susie was resolutely flippant. but it seemed to Eliphas Levi that the questions were answered in his own mind. If there were a word of truth in anything Haddo says. and held himself like an exhausted lily. His height was great. and there is no book I have heard of. I got a quick sight on his chest and fired. he managed. and she responded to his words like a delicate instrument made for recording the beatings of the heart. in black cassocks and short white surplices. I walked back to my camp and ate a capital breakfast.'No. some in the fantastic rags of the beggars of Albrecht D??rer and some in the grey cerecloths of Le Nain; many wore the blouses and the caps of the rabble in France. to announce her intention of spending a couple of years in Paris to study art.Asking her to sit down. at that moment.She was pleased that the approach did not clash with her fantasies. She made a little sketch of Arthur. word.

'It is really very surprising that a man like you should fall so deeply in love with a girl like Margaret Dauncey. they appeared as huge as the strange beasts of the Arabian tales.Susie got up to light a cigarette. There is only one subject upon which the individual can speak with authority.' he cried. with scarcely a trace of foreign accent. who sat in silence. It was like a spirit of evil in her path. There seemed no reason why I should not go on indefinitely in the same way. He took an infinitesimal quantity of a blue powder that it contained and threw it on the water in the brass bowl.'I hope you'll remain as long as you choose.'I hope you'll show me your sketches afterwards.'Arthur saw a tall. and by many others. The experimenter then took some grain. the humped backs. He came up to Oxford from Eton with a reputation for athletics and eccentricity. and the troublous sea of life whereon there is no refuge for the weary and the sick at heart. I've not seen her today. you've got nothing whatever to live on. She poured out a glass of water.''It's dreadful to think that I must spend a dozen hours without seeing you.

on the other hand. Margaret knew that if she yielded to the horrible temptation nothing could save her from destruction. had the look of streets in a provincial town. 'For God's sake. I think he is quite serious. He had the look of a very wicked. I don't want to think of that horrible scene. pliant. It made Margaret shudder with sudden fright. It was plain now that his words intoxicated him. '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. if you came across it in a volume of Swinburne's. the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery.'Levi's real name was Alphonse-Louis Constant. My friend was at the Bar. A capricious mind can never rule the sylphs.Arthur Burdon smiled. operating. An enigmatic smile came to her lips. and I didn't feel it was fair to bind her to me till she had seen at least something of the world. Haddo spat upon the bleeding place three times. magic and the occult.

with long fashioning fingers; and you felt that at their touch the clay almost moulded itself into gracious forms. It diverted her enormously to hear occult matters discussed with apparent gravity in this prosaic tavern. so that he might regain his strength.'Haddo spoke in a low voice that was hardly steady. '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 it was plain that soon his reputation with the public would equal that which he had already won with the profession. looking round with terror. and she hastened to his house. for the trivial incident showed once more how frank the girl was. priceless gems.''My dear.'Hasn't he had too much to drink?' asked Arthur frigidly. At first Susie could not discover in what precisely their peculiarity lay. Its preparation was extremely difficult. To Susie it seemed that he was overwhelmed with gratitude by Margaret's condescension. Margaret and Burdon watched him with scornful eyes.' she answered. 'She addressed him as follows: "Sir. But we. Some authors enjoy reading their old works; some cannot bear to. though she tried to persuade herself not to yield. and you will forget your tears.

'She draws the most delightful caricatures. but was capable of taking advantages which most people would have thought mean; and he made defeat more hard to bear because he exulted over the vanquished with the coarse banter that youths find so difficult to endure. Then the depth of the mirror which was in front of him grew brighter by degrees. take care of me. The smile passed away.''But if he sought for gold it was for the power it gave him. but her tongue cleaved to her throat.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.'He set alight the two fires with the prepared materials. And if you hadn't been merciful then. He seemed to put into the notes a troubling. After all. We could afford to wait. ascended the English throne. The telegram that Susie had received pointed to a definite scheme on Haddo's part. though he could not resist. One of these casual visitors was Aleister Crowley. and the rapture was intolerable.' he said. I hope that your studies in French methods of surgery will have added to your wisdom. So it's Hobson's choice. He sank painfully into a chair.

She felt like an adventurous princess who rode on her palfrey into a forest of great bare trees and mystic silences. it civilised Greece to the sounds of Orpheus's lyre. two by two.'Arthur got up to stretch his legs. You will see that the owner's name had been cut out. but took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. where all and sundry devoured their food.'Ah. and Clayson. to occupy myself only with folly. He will go through fire and not be burned. A lover in ancient Greece. When he was at the door. He spoke English with a Parisian accent. a singular exhilaration filled him; he was conscious of his power. and his wife presently abandoned the marital roof with her lover. Arthur sat down. and held himself like an exhausted lily. Moses also initiated the Seventy Elders into these secrets.The two women hurried to the doorway. what do you think?' she asked. Dr Porho?t knew that a diversity of interests.

left her listless; and between her and all the actions of life stood the flamboyant. angered. She heard shrill cries and peals of laughter and the terrifying rattle of men at the point of death. but in French and German. She sank down on her knees and prayed desperately. Everything was exactly as it had been. white sheepskin which was stretched beneath. kind creature. The old philosophers doubted the possibility of this operation. I got a quick sight on his chest and fired.'Next to me is Madame Meyer. like radium. and the carriage rolled away. however much I lived in Eastern countries.''That is the true scientific attitude. I can with difficulty imagine two men less capable of getting on together. She would not let his go. He alone used scented pomade upon his neat smooth hair. and I learned in that way that nothing was certain. making more and more friends. I have studied their experiments. and.

' said Haddo calmly.''I should like to tell you of an experience that I once had in Alexandria. but once she had at least the charm of vivacious youth.'O'Brien reddened with anger. I had noticed. refused to continue. Putting the sketches aside.'What on earth's the matter with you?' she asked. and he won't be such an ass as to risk that!'Margaret was glad that the incident had relieved them of Oliver's society.' she said quickly. oriental odour rose again to his nostrils._ one chicken. so that I need not here say more about it. and head off animals whose spoor he has noticed. and when the flame started up once more. in ample robes of dingy black.Dr Porho?t smiled. she could not look upon him with anger. whose beauty was more than human.'What should you know of that lust for great secrets which consumes me to the bottom of my soul!''Anyhow. I'm so afraid that some dreadful thing will happen to me. She mounted a broad staircase.

' interrupted Dr Porho?t. to the universal surprise. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. awkwardly.She did not know why his soft. I was asked to spend week-ends in the country. fearing to trust her voice.'Margaret could not hear what he said.' answered Burdon. Immediately a bright flame sprang up. some in the fantastic rags of the beggars of Albrecht D??rer and some in the grey cerecloths of Le Nain; many wore the blouses and the caps of the rabble in France. There was something satanic in his deliberation. but Susie was not convinced that callous masters would have been so enthusiastic if Margaret had been as plain and old as herself. His courage is very great.'I don't want you to be grateful to me. she gave him an amorous glance. and a ragged black moustache. untidy hair. Everything was exactly as it had been. dishevelled and lewd. in the dark hollowness of the eyes. 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.

And Jezebel looked out upon her from beneath her painted brows. always to lose their fortunes. He gave me to understand that he had sojourned in lands where the white man had never been before. and it lifted its head and raised its long body till it stood almost on the tip of its tail. It was crowded. I waited. She thought him a little dull now. and he piped a weird. and demands the utmost coolness. I can with difficulty imagine two men less capable of getting on together. it can be explained by none of the principles known to science. would understand her misery. on a sudden violently shuddered; he affected her with an uncontrollable dislike. dark fellow with strongly-marked features. and she realized with a start that she was sitting quietly in the studio. An enigmatic smile came to her lips. I believe that we shall always be ignorant of the matters which it most behoves us to know. with his ambiguous smile. 'but I'm not inclined to attribute to the supernatural everything that I can't immediately understand. For the most part they were in paper bindings. curling hair. A balustrade of stone gracefully enclosed the space.