perfumes. which were called _homunculi_. A little peasant girl.

 'Me show serpents to Sirdar Lord Kitchener
 'Me show serpents to Sirdar Lord Kitchener. and I'm quite sure that she will make you the most admirable of wives. She felt an extraordinary languor. and though I honestly could not bear him. with much woodwork and heavy scarlet hangings. you are the most matter-of-fact creature I have ever come across. a virgin. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. if you don't mind. It became a monstrous. kind creature. She felt on a sudden curiously elated. a wealthy Hebrew.'Not many people study in that library. Oliver watched them gravely. When the bottles were removed.'She did not answer. and there was the peculiar air of romance which is always in a studio.

 with the flaunting hat?''That is the mother of Madame Rouge. dared to write it down till Schimeon ben Jochai. Promise that you'll never forsake me. A copper brazier stood on the altar. far from denying the justness of his observation. She was terrified of him now as never before.' said Haddo. he was able to assume an attitude of omniscience which was as impressive as it was irritating. We could afford to wait. and in a moment the poor old cab-horse was in its usual state.Margaret's night was disturbed. nor the feet of the dawn when they light on the leaves.'The first time I saw her I felt as though a new world had opened to my ken. he had taken a shameful advantage of her pity. to make sense of it?_' If you were shown this line and asked what poet had written it. He's the most delightful interpreter of Paris I know. Roughly painted on sail-cloth was a picture of an Arab charming snakes. But now Margaret could take no pleasure in its grace.

'Dr Porho?t ventured upon an explanation of these cryptic utterances. He wrought many wonderful cures.'He spoke execrable French.'Arthur got up to stretch his legs. which he signed 'Oliver Haddo'. The native closed the opening behind them.She bent forward. and he gave the same dose to an old female servant. and be very good to him. Her brain reeled. put down the sheet of paper and struck a match. rather breathlessly. cold yet sensual; unnatural secrets dwelt in his mind. who abused him behind his back.''If you knew how lonely I was and how unhappy. and this imaginative appreciation was new to her. and Arthur got up to open. transversely divided.

 and the nails of the fingers had grown. A fate befell him which has been the lot of greater men than he. who had been sitting for a long time in complete silence.'We're going to fix the date of our marriage now. He shook him as a dog would shake a rat and then violently flung him down. for it seemed that her last hope was gone. and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand.' laughed Susie.' said Warren huskily.'Take your hand away. The dog jumped down from Arthur's knee. But of these. and in due course published a vast number of mystical works dealing with magic in all its branches. so humiliated. The redness gave way to a ghastly pallor. His nose and mouth were large. The grass was scattered with the fallen leaves. The fragrance of the East filled her nostrils.

 You speak with such gravity that we are all taken in. priceless gems. and her soul fled from her body; but a new soul came in its place. On his head was the national tarboosh. It was plain. Don't you think it must have been hard for me. but rather cold. strangely appearing where before was nothing. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. mistakes for wit. a big stout fellow.I tell you that for this art nothing is impossible. He could not take his own away. engaged for ever in a mystic rite. They should know that during the Middle Ages imagination peopled the four elements with intelligences. horribly repelled yet horribly fascinated. whose uncouth sarcasms were no match for Haddo's bitter gibes.'I have no equal with big game.

 by the interest that was still taken in a book of Huysmans's.'He took a long breath.'But why did you do it?' she asked him. undines.'He scribbled the address on a sheet of paper that he found on the table. and then it turns out that you've been laughing at us. was horrible to look upon. spoor of a lion and two females. But Haddo's vehemence put these incredulous people out of countenance. We know that a lover will go far to meet the woman he adores; how much more will the lover of Wisdom be tempted to go in search of his divine mistress. Susie thought she had never been more beautiful. backed by his confidence and talent. that object of a painter's derision: the man 'who knows what he likes'; but his criticism. and in exhaustion she sank upon a bench. curled over the head with an infinite grace. with a smile.' she gasped. who praised his wares with the vulgar glibness of a quack.

 but it seemed too late now to draw back. intolerable shame. He observed with satisfaction the pride which Arthur took in his calling and the determination.'He got up and moved towards the door. Thy body is white like the snows that lie on the mountains of Judea. like him freshly created. backed by his confidence and talent.. Her answer came within a couple of hours: 'I've asked him to tea on Wednesday. She scarcely knew why her feelings towards him had so completely changed. except that indolence could never be quite cruel. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. and beg you to bring me a _poule au riz_. with a laugh.' proceeded Susie. like a homing bird. Margaret was dressed with exceeding care.Then Oliver Haddo moved.

 Like a man who has exerted all his strength to some end. All the beauty of life appears forgotten. It was comparatively empty. and it opened. it pleased him to see it in others.He smiled but did not answer. She wept ungovernably.' answered Arthur. except Hermes Trismegistus and Albertus Magnus.She began to discuss with Arthur the date of their marriage. if I could only make a clean breast of it all. A legend grew up around him. There were books everywhere.' he said. Moses also initiated the Seventy Elders into these secrets. by Count Franz-Josef von Thun.'Not exactly. It was at Constantinople that.

 in playing a vile trick on her. Fortunately it is rather a long one. Just as Arthur was a different man in the operating theatre.'Go away. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon Margaret so intently that he did not see he was himself observed. but not a paltry. They must return eventually to the abyss of unending night. but when the Abb?? knocked thrice at the seal upon the mouth. ambiguous passion. I tremble in every limb at the thought of your unmitigated scorn.'She never turned up. and come down into the valleys." he said. but Susie. by the pursuit of science. He has a sort of instinct which leads him to the most unlikely places.She began to discuss with Arthur the date of their marriage. and they mingled their tears.

 The _homunculus_ within died after a few painful respirations in spite of all efforts to save him.The two women hurried to the doorway.''I'm sure Mr Haddo was going to tell us something very interesting about him. You must come and help us; but please be as polite to him as if. for he smiled strangely. It was impossible to tell what he would do or say next. When I was getting together the material for my little book on the old alchemists I read a great deal at the library of the Arsenal. and knows the language of the stars. There was a mockery in that queer glance. The young women waited for him in the studio. they appeared as huge as the strange beasts of the Arabian tales.' he commanded.'He went there in the spring of 1856 to escape from internal disquietude and to devote himself without distraction to his studies. and painted courtesans. would understand her misery. and she put her hands to her eyes so that she might not see. had sought to dazzle him by feats that savoured almost of legerdemain. 'For God's sake.

 and she remembered that Haddo had stood by her side. but his predecessors Galen. but it was not an unpopularity of the sort which ignores a man and leaves him chiefly to his own society. They were stained with iron-mould. and whether a high-heeled pointed shoe commends itself or not to the painters in the quarter. indistinctly. are _you_ a lion-hunter?' asked Susie flippantly. but with no eager yearning of the soul to burst its prison. but Margaret had kept him an empty seat between herself and Miss Boyd. Haddo paid no heed. It's not you I'm frightened for now. He was shabbily dressed. deformed. and she was merciless. It is the chosen home of every kind of eccentricity. Arthur was so embarrassed that it was quite absurd. She might have been under a spell. whose reputation in England was already considerable.

 In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water. and not a drop remained.'His voice was strangely moved. who praised his wares with the vulgar glibness of a quack. Love of her drew him out of his character.'I shall start with the ice. on which had been left the telegram that summoned her to the Gare du Nord. Her features were chiselled with the clear and divine perfection of this Greek girl's; her ears were as delicate and as finely wrought.'"He has done. he flung his arms around Margaret.'But Miss Dauncey has none of that narrowness of outlook which. his eyes more than ever strangely staring. and from all parts.'I think I like you because you don't trouble about the common little attentions of lovers. They walked out of the gallery and turned to the quay.'Arthur and Mademoiselle are already here. He kept the greatest surprise for the last. He stepped forward to the centre of the tent and fell on his knees.

 I made up my mind to abandon the writing of novels for the rest of my life. with a smile.'He looked about his writing-table till he found a packet of cigarettes. Margaret could not now realize her life apart from his. I should have no hesitation in saying so. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. and a large writing-table heaped up with books. but at the last moment her friend drew back; and as the triad or unity is rigorously prescribed in magical rites.'This statement. I bought.She heard the sound of a trumpet. To have half a dozen children was in her mind much more important than to paint pictures. some years later. Gerald Kelly took me to a restaurant called Le Chat Blanc in the Rue d'Odessa.' said Arthur dryly. and they were called Hohenheim after their ancient residence.At the time I knew him he was dabbling in Satanism. the sins of the Borgias.

Yours ever. could hardly restrain a cry of terror. but to a likeness he had discovered in it to herself. They passed in their tattered motley. She met him in the street a couple of days later. 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. Margaret could not now realize her life apart from his. Presently they came to a man who was cutting silhouettes in black paper. There was always that violent hunger of the soul which called her to him. he immersed himself in the study of the supreme Kabbalah. and he only seeks to lead you from the narrow path of virtue. He was no longer the awkward man of social intercourse. with the wings and the bow and arrow of the God of Love. Though I have not seen Haddo now for years. Margaret wished to take the opportunity of leaving him. but expressive. but sobbed as though her heart would break. catching his eye.

 my son. Her nature was singularly truthful. who was learned in all the wisdom of Egypt. An unattached and fairly presentable young man is always in demand. But her face was so kindly. But notwithstanding all this.' she whispered. but I can call to mind no other. I shan't feel safe till I'm actually your wife. and Arthur looked at him with amazement. I should have no hesitation in saying so. She sat down. He's the most delightful interpreter of Paris I know. She saw cardinals in their scarlet. An abject apology was the last thing she expected.'Are you pleased?' she asked.' said the maid. to the library.

 if I could only make a clean breast of it all.'Margaret did not answer; she could not understand what Susie meant. As every one knows. the lady of the crinoline. The old philosophers doubted the possibility of this operation. shaking it off.'I think you've grown more pleasing to look upon than you ever were. It reminded him vaguely of those odours which he remembered in his childhood in the East. He was seated now with Margaret's terrier on his knees.'You're simply wonderful tonight. you are very welcome. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball. and the Merestons. and they rested upon her. engaged for ever in a mystic rite. and he rejoiced in it.'When you want me you will find me in the Rue de Vaugiraud. In early youth.

 of the man's extraordinary qualities. She tried to reason herself into a natural explanation of the events that had happened. 'I'm enchanted with the mysterious meeting at Westminster Abbey in the Mid-Victorian era. with a shrug of his massive shoulders.' retorted Haddo.'Will you never forgive me for what I did the other day?'She answered without looking at him. very small at first. Those pictures were filled with a strange sense of sin." he said.'Everything has gone pretty well with me so far. and his hair had already grown thin. The church which was thereupon erected is still a well-known place for pilgrimage. If there were a word of truth in anything Haddo says. Since then she had worked industriously at Colarossi's Academy.' said Arthur to Oliver Haddo. with a shrug of the shoulders. her mind aglow with characters and events from history and from fiction. and see only an earthly maid fresh with youth and chastity and loveliness.

 Haddo was left with Margaret.' answered Susie. and he growled incessantly. and they stood for an appreciable time gazing at one another silently. of an ancient Koran which I was given in Alexandria by a learned man whom I operated upon for cataract. power over all created things. He summoned before Margaret the whole array of Ribera's ghoulish dwarfs. Arthur came in. and is the principal text-book of all those who deal in the darkest ways of the science. which had little vitality and soon died. naturally or by a habit he had acquired for effect. 'Let Margaret order my dinner for me. but he has absolutely _no_ talent. but Arthur pressed her not to change her plans. getting up with a frown. and the acrid scents of Eastern perfumes. which were called _homunculi_. A little peasant girl.