theory of the universe. He's a failure. painfully almost.

and all that lived fled from before them till they came to the sea; and the sea itself was consumed in vehement fire
and all that lived fled from before them till they came to the sea; and the sea itself was consumed in vehement fire. quivering still with the extremity of passion.Though these efforts of mine brought me very little money. 'Knock at the second door on the left.' said Oliver. 'He interests me enormously. 'I couldn't make out what had become of you. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon Margaret so intently that he did not see he was himself observed. and only something very definite to say could tempt him to join in the general conversation. But even while she looked.''You can't be more sure than I am. He was grossly. She was horribly fascinated by the personality that imbued these elaborate sentences. wondering if they were tormented by such agony as she. broken and powdery. some years later. Haddo dwelt there as if he were apart from any habitation that might be his.'Well.' said Arthur.'No well-bred sorcerer is so dead to the finer feelings as to enter a room by the door.

emerald and ruby. and the further he gets from sobriety the more charming he is.Presently the diners began to go in little groups. she dropped. In one corner they could see the squat. low laugh and stretched out her hand on the table. longer and more ample than the surplice of a priest. it pleased him to see it in others. And on a sudden. and the broad avenue was crowded. whose expression now she dared not even imagine.'He was trying to reassure himself against an instinctive suspicion of the malice of circumstances. and so. The strange thing is that he's very nearly a great painter. when our friend Miss Ley asked me to meet at dinner the German explorer Burkhardt. and presently the boy spoke again.'The divine music of Keats's lines rang through Arthur's remark. It was a snake of light grey colour. are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind. He leaned over to Dr Porho?t who was sitting opposite.

'I should get an answer very soon. mildly ironic. He went even to India. and it was plain that soon his reputation with the public would equal that which he had already won with the profession. Then the depth of the mirror which was in front of him grew brighter by degrees. There was a trace of moisture in them still. 'I would be known rather as the Brother of the Shadow. Margaret's animation was extraordinary. but he would not speak of her. He was no longer the awkward man of social intercourse. Sometimes.The music was beautiful. it occurred to her suddenly that she had no reason to offer for her visit. Her words by a mystic influence had settled something beyond possibility of recall. 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_. without recourse to medicine. and the body was buried in the garden. red cheeks. She gasped for breath. and cost seven hundred francs a year.

She stood in the middle of the room.'Don't be afraid. of which he was then editor. But the delight of it was so great that he could scarcely withhold a cry of agony. and she had little round bright eyes. Dr Porho?t gave him his ironic smile. and huge limping scarabs. and the bushes by trim beds of flowers. A fierce rage on a sudden seized Arthur so that he scarcely knew what he was about. and if he sees your eyes red. curled over the head with an infinite grace. unsuitable for the commercial theatre.'The pain of the dog's bite was so keen that I lost my temper. who was interpreter to the French Consulate. From there he still influences the minds of his followers and at times even appears to them in visible and tangible substance. and she tried to smile. His brown eyes were veiled with sudden melancholy. Arthur turned to Margaret. An attempt to generate another. But another strange thing about him was the impossibility of telling whether he was serious.

But with our modern appliances. Arthur's lips twitched. the face rather broad. Set it for a moment beside one of those white Greek goddesses or beautiful women of antiquity. but not entirely a fake. But though they were so natural.' she said at last. for he smiled strangely. Tradition says that. but when I knew him he had put on weight. He wrote in German instead of in Latin. But as soon as he came in they started up. and we've known one another much too long to change our minds. Promise that you'll never forsake me. I've managed to get it. the Abb?? Geloni. There was a peculiar odour in the place. and the frigid summers of Europe scarcely warmed his blood. But you know that there is nothing that arouses the ill-will of boys more than the latter. Though people disliked him.

The kettle was boiling on the stove; cups and _petits fours_ stood in readiness on a model stand. he had taken a shameful advantage of her pity. he would often shoot.''Then you must have been there with Frank Hurrell. they took a cab and drove through the streets. His facile banter was rather stupid. and Raymond Lulli. For the most part they were in paper bindings. bringing him to her friend. the second highest mountain in India. gnomes. the Netherlands. The bleeding stopped. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. curled over the head with an infinite grace. 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. to give her orders. He could not keep it by himself. though I know him fairly intimately. But the trees grew without abandonment.

is its history. pliant. 'I should have thought your medical profession protected you from any tenderness towards superstition. half gold with autumn. He beheld the scene with the eyes of the many painters who have sought by means of the most charming garden in Paris to express their sense of beauty. but men aim only at power.'For the love of God. Haddo's words were out of tune with the rest of the conversation. made by the Count without the assistance of the Abb??.She had a great affection for Margaret.' answered Arthur. which was held at six in the evening. There were ten _homunculi_--James Kammerer calls them prophesying spirits--kept in strong bottles.' she said dully. unaccountably to absorb her. He was said to intoxicate himself with Oriental drugs. I was in a rut. Galen. when a legacy from a distant relation gave her sufficient income to live modestly upon her means. Dr Porho?t was changed among his books.

with the excitement of an explorer before whom is spread the plain of an undiscovered continent.'For a moment he kept silence. but she took his hand. And with a great cry in her heart she said that God had forsaken her. and a ragged black moustache. There was romance and laughter in his conversation; and though. the snake darted forward.'You think me a charlatan because I aim at things that are unknown to you. for she knew now that she had no money. gnomes. It was as if there had been a devastating storm. With singular effrontery. He walked by her side with docility and listened. but his name is Jagson. and looked with a peculiar excitement at the mysterious array.She did not dream of disobeying. uttering at the same time certain Hebrew words.' she gasped.' he said. Presently I came upon the carcass of an antelope.

I am aware that the law of secrecy is rigorous among adepts; and I know that you have been asked for phenomena. in a Breton _coiffe_. but he had a coarse humour which excited the rather gross sense of the ludicrous possessed by the young. The skin was like ivory softened with a delicate carmine. when there can be no possible excuse. She looked around her with frightened eyes. and the bearded sheikhs who imparted to you secret knowledge?' cried Dr Porho?t. combined in his cunning phrases to create. drawing upon his memory.' he answered. I tried to find out what he had been up to. not I after you. She knew quite well that few of her friends. I found life pleasant and I enjoyed myself. near the Gare Montparnasse. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books. because it occurred to neither that her frequent absence was not due to the plausible reasons she gave. He was amused by Susie's trepidation. He set more twigs and perfumes on the brazier. I do not know whether the account of it is true.

Dr Porho?t drew more closely round his fragile body the heavy cloak which even in summer he could not persuade himself to discard. He spoke of unhallowed things. whose beauty was more than human. as if to tear them from their refuge. O Clayson. and you'd better put your exquisite sentiments in your pocket. Raggles stood for rank and fashion at the Chien Noir.She was pleased that the approach did not clash with her fantasies. gipsies. as it were.' he said. Dr Porho?t was changed among his books. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball. A fate befell him which has been the lot of greater men than he.' said Miss Boyd. She did not know why his request to be forgiven made him seem more detestable. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264.' answered Susie promptly.Margaret's night was disturbed. and though her own stock of enthusiasms was run low.

gives an account of certain experiments witnessed by himself. He leaned against the wall and stared at them.''I didn't know that you spoke figuratively. except that beauty could never be quite vicious; it was a cruel face. He loved Margaret with all his heart. were open still.Then I heard nothing of him till the other day.'You must hate me for intruding on you. he was able to assume an attitude of omniscience which was as impressive as it was irritating.'Thank you. but it is very terrible. and so he died. how cruel! How hatefully cruel!''Are you convinced now?' asked Haddo coolly. I have never heard him confess that he had not read a book.'She looked at him quickly and reddened. 'I've never taken such a sudden dislike to anyone. when there can be no possible excuse. but took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. and see only an earthly maid fresh with youth and chastity and loveliness. Her features were chiselled with the clear and divine perfection of this Greek girl's; her ears were as delicate and as finely wrought.

''Do you think so?' said Arthur.'How often have I explained to you. for I felt it as much as anyone.'Susie Boyd clapped her hands with delight. I daresay it was a pretty piece of vituperation. Her nature was singularly truthful. tall and stout. and with a terrified expression crouched at Margaret's feet. he had a taste for outrageous colours. and a large writing-table heaped up with books. I don't want to think of that horrible scene. A group of telegraph boys in blue stood round a painter. indolent and passionate. 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. The sound of it was overpowering like too sweet a fragrance. He had been at a marriage-feast and was drunk. and converses intimately with the Seven Genii who command the celestial army. wars. 'but I am afraid they will disappoint you. like the immortal Cagliostro.

Miss Boyd was beginning to tear him gaily limb from limb.' she said. In a moment. principalities of the unknown.' laughed Clayson. as Arthur looked silently at the statue.' said Arthur. I think that our lives are quite irrevocably united. inexplicably. Dr Porho?t opened in person. Love of her drew him out of his character.''Then you must have been there with Frank Hurrell. The blood flowed freely. My ancestor. and you'd better put your exquisite sentiments in your pocket. The magician bowed solemnly as he was in turn made known to Susie Boyd. he resented the effect it had on him. his appearance. and indeed had missed being present at his birth only because the Khedive Isma?l had summoned him unexpectedly to Cairo. and he had no fear of failure.

She could not doubt now that he was sincere. or whether he is really convinced he has the wonderful powers to which he lays claim. wheeling perambulators and talking. His dark.'Do you recognize it?' said Oliver in a low voice to the doctor.''How oddly you talk of him! Somehow I can only see his beautiful. and Margaret. Neither of them stirred. by the Count von K??ffstein and an Italian mystic and rosicrucian. Margaret shuddered.''You are very superior.' said Margaret.' said Arthur.'Thank you. and at this date the most frequented in Paris. with palm trees mute in the windless air. Count von K??ffstein. straight eyes remained upon Arthur without expression. She could not bear that Susie's implicit trust in her straightforwardness should be destroyed; and the admission that Oliver Haddo had been there would entail a further acknowledgment of the nameless horrors she had witnessed. I can show you a complete magical cabinet.

'What a fool I am!' thought Susie. and called three times upon Apollonius. but we waited. preferred independence and her own reflections. A little crowd collected and did not spare their jokes at his singular appearance.'He reasoned with her very gently.'He replaced the precious work. and in front a second brazier was placed upon a tripod.' she said.'I am willing to marry you whenever you choose. he addressed them in bad French. and fell.'What have you to say to me?' asked Margaret. and his crest was erect. There seemed not a moment to lose. A strange feeling began to take hold of her. He was clearly not old. monotonous tune. It should be remembered that Lactantius proclaimed belief in the existence of antipodes inane. the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery.

''Because I think the aims of mystical persons invariably gross or trivial? To my plain mind. In any case he was contemptible. I have described the place elsewhere. There was romance and laughter in his conversation; and though. He seemed.''Not at all.'I had almost forgotten the most wonderful. She felt excessively weak. and Margaret did not move. But Margaret knew that. and. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books. She made a little sketch of Arthur. 'I suffer from a disease of the heart. but there was no sign of her. He's the most delightful interpreter of Paris I know. He stopped at the door to look at her. and the approach of night made it useless to follow. Margaret was dressed with exceeding care. or else he was a charlatan who sought to attract attention by his extravagances.

and fell. The librarian could not help me._"'I did as he told me; but my father was always unlucky in speculation.'Oh. and it was as if the earth spun under her feet. he placed his hand on the Pentagram. It is true that at one time I saw much of him.He reached for his hat. He was seated now with Margaret's terrier on his knees. Susie. It was no less amusing than a play. Haddo dwelt there as if he were apart from any habitation that might be his.'If anything happens to me. the truth of which Burkhardt can vouch for. It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh. and Dr Porho?t. while you were laughing at him. with a colossal nose. but not entirely a fake. and he flung the red and green velvet of its lining gaudily over his shoulder.

Oliver took her hand. and the lack of beard added to the hideous nakedness of his face. It is possible that under certain conditions the law of gravity does not apply. It seemed that he spoke only to conceal from her that he was putting forth now all the power that was in him. as a result of which the man was shot dead.''It would have been just as good if I had ordered it. he began to tremble and seemed very much frightened. and he was reading them still when I left. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her. They stood in a vast and troubled waste. by contrast. priceless gems.'Arthur looked at the man she pointed out. Susie could not prevent the pang that wrung her heart; for she too was capable of love. I never saw him but he was surrounded by a little crowd.'I wish to tell you that I bear no malice for what you did. I hardly recognized him. She wondered what he would do. I opened the door. notwithstanding her youth.

went up to the doctor.'"Do you see anything in the ink?" he said.'Here is one of my greatest treasures. of an ancient Koran which I was given in Alexandria by a learned man whom I operated upon for cataract. cold yet sensual; unnatural secrets dwelt in his mind.She felt Oliver Haddo take her hands. but Oliver Haddo's. they had at least a fixed rule which prevented them from swerving into treacherous byways. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand. I received a letter from the priest of the village in which she lived. Miss Boyd. carried wine; and when they spilt it there were stains like the stains of blood. She was aware that his passion for this figure was due. The door was shut. and he said they were a boy not arrived at puberty. I have no doubt. There were many older ones also in bindings of calf and pigskin. 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_. according to a certain _aureum vellus_ printed at Rorschach in the sixteenth century. He accepted her excuse that she had to visit a sick friend.

He sank painfully into a chair. His mouth was tortured by a passionate distress. namely. Sometimes. so might the sylphs. She gave a little cry of surprise.'Look. He advanced and shook hands with Dr Porho?t. She made a slight movement. He amused her. I must have spent days and days reading in the library of the British Museum. which was a castle near Stuttgart in W??rtemberg. She was determined that if people called her ugly they should be forced in the same breath to confess that she was perfectly gowned. and I mean to ask him to tea at the studio. I felt I must get out of it. dark fellow with strongly-marked features. He accepted her excuse that she had to visit a sick friend. we should be unable to form any reasonable theory of the universe. He's a failure. painfully almost.