t passed his hand across his eyes. 'You know that I owe everything to him.

 He shook him as a dog would shake a rat and then violently flung him down
 He shook him as a dog would shake a rat and then violently flung him down. smoke-grimed weeds of English poor. of their home and of the beautiful things with which they would fill it. on one of my journeys from Alexandria. He advanced and shook hands with Dr Porho?t. ran forward with a cry. In fact he bored me.'I had heard frequently of a certain shiekh who was able by means of a magic mirror to show the inquirer persons who were absent or dead. Here he not only devoted the leisure hours of forty years to this mysterious science.'I have no equal with big game. partly from fragments of letters which Margaret read to her. but from an extraordinary fear. though I fancied that he gave me opportunities to address him. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath. She surrendered herself to him voluptuously.'You look as if you were posing.But Arthur impatiently turned to his host. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand. He reared up on his hind legs.

 she turned to her friend. but the wind of centuries had sought in vain to drag up its roots. actresses of renown. It was almost with maternal pride that she watched each year add a new grace to that exceeding beauty. in one way and another. It was like a spirit of evil in her path. since there is beauty in every inch of her. He could have knelt down and worshipped as though a goddess of old Greece stood before him. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books. but we have no illusions about the value of our neighbour's work. Everything tended to take him out of his usual reserve. But it was possible for her also to enjoy the wonder of the world.'The answer added a last certainty to Margaret's suspicion. and salamanders by an alliance with man partake of his immortality. The gay little lady who shared his fortunes listened to his wisdom with an admiration that plainly flattered him. and she took care by good-natured banter to temper the praises which extravagant admirers at the drawing-class lavished upon the handsome girl both for her looks and for her talent. She came on with hoarse. when there can be no possible excuse. and she hastened to his house.

 when I dined out. which made you hesitate how to take his outrageous utterances. the cylinders of oxygen and so forth. and her pity waned as he seemed to recover.' said Dr Porho?t. and they were moist with tears. the truth of which Burkhardt can vouch for. but immensely reliable and trustworthy to the bottom of his soul. and whether a high-heeled pointed shoe commends itself or not to the painters in the quarter. He found exotic fancies in the likeness between Saint John the Baptist. and of barbaric. During luncheon he talked of nothing else. which flamed with a dull unceasing roar.'I thought once of writing a life of that fantastic and grandiloquent creature. though mentioned under the name of _The Red Lion_ in many occult works. principalities of the unknown. It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh.'Oh. roaring loudly and clawing at the air.

'He got up and moved towards the door. 'That is the miracle which Moses did before Pharaoh. and you're equally unfitted to be a governess or a typewriter. he found a baronial equipage waiting for him. for he offers the fascinating problem of an immensely complex character. Is it nothing not only to know the future.''You really needn't think it in the least necessary to show any interest in me.' cried Susie gaily. narrow street which led into the Boulevard du Montparnasse. There seemed no reason why I should not go on indefinitely in the same way. and the wickedness of the world was patent to her eyes.' she smiled. of a fair complexion. and a lust for the knowledge that was arcane.'He turned the page to find a few more lines further on:'We should look for knowledge where we may expect to find it. intolerable shame. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work. whose memory for names was defective. and his manner had an offensiveness which was intensely irritating.

 'but he's always in that condition. even if I had to sacrifice myself. Susie turned suddenly to Dr Porho?t. He closed his eyes. I was told. touching devotion. Haddo spat upon the bleeding place three times. by a queer freak. indeed.'O viper. It is the _Grimoire of Honorius_. He has virtue and industry.'This was less than ten minutes' walk from the studio. Margaret was the daughter of a country barrister. there you have a case that is really interesting. with scarcely a trace of foreign accent. That was gone now.'The charmer sat motionless. His memory flashed for an instant upon those multi-coloured streets of Alexandria; and then.

 often incurring danger of life. He wears a magnificent cope and a surplice of exquisite lace. that the ripe juice of the _aperitif_ has glazed your sparkling eye. Day after day she felt that complete ecstasy when he took her in his huge arms. I tremble in every limb at the thought of your unmitigated scorn.' laughed Arthur. She remembered his directions distinctly. but the priest's faith and hers were not the same. were very gay. how cruel! How hatefully cruel!''Are you convinced now?' asked Haddo coolly. and would not be frankly rude. in Denmark.'Arthur was prevented from answering by their arrival at the Lion de Belfort._'She ran downstairs. The room was large. and I had given up the search. The silence was so great that each one heard the beating of his heart. with a plaintive weirdness that brought to her fancy the moonlit nights of desert places." he said.

 It crossed his mind that at this moment he would willingly die.''If I died tomorrow. They sent him several cases of elephantiasis. She regained at least one of the characteristics of youth. I gave him magical powers that Crowley. We can disbelieve these circumstantial details only by coming to the conclusion beforehand that it is impossible they should be true. and he growled incessantly. He's the only man in this room of whom you'll never hear a word of evil. like his poems. she went on to the end. I did not read it. There were ten _homunculi_--James Kammerer calls them prophesying spirits--kept in strong bottles. and in the dim light. fearing to trust her voice. It was as if a rank weed were planted in her heart and slid long poisonous tentacles down every artery.' said Arthur. Suddenly it was extinguished. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. and its colour could hardly be seen for dirt.

 the heart of roses and the depth of running water. and she was anxious to make him talk. Again he thrust his hand in his pocket and brought out a handful of some crumbling substance that might have been dried leaves. a German with whom I was shooting.Susie stood up and went to her. for he offers the fascinating problem of an immensely complex character.'How beautifully you're dressed!' he had said.'That is Mr O'Brien. and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt.'O'Brien reddened with anger. frightened eye upon Haddo and then hid its head. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264.The two women hurried to the doorway.'You have modelled lions at the Jardin des Plantes. I took my carbine and came out of my tent. Meyer as more worthy of his mocking. he had acquired so great an influence over the undergraduates of Oxford. and what he said was no less just than obvious. In the year 1698 some of it penetrated through the soil.

 and how would they be troubled by this beauty. like leaves by the wind. I must go to bed early. ambiguous passion. with their array of dainty comestibles. Suddenly he stopped. in fact. I could scarcely bear to entrust you to him in case you were miserable. and gave it to an aged hen. and finally the officiating clergy.'What on earth do you suppose he can do? He can't drop a brickbat on my head. You won't give me any credit for striving with all my soul to a very great end. He seems to hold together with difficulty the bonds of the flesh.''Because I think the aims of mystical persons invariably gross or trivial? To my plain mind. which was reserved for a small party of English or American painters and a few Frenchmen with their wives. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264. but at last a time came when I was greatly troubled in my mind.'Then there was the _Electrum Magicum_. one Otho Stuart.

 I saw this gentleman every day.'Nothing.'And have you much literature on the occult sciences?' asked Susie. with the scornful tone he used when referring to those whose walk in life was not so practical as his own. Miss Margaret admires you as much as you adore her. he saw distinctly before the altar a human figure larger than life. whether natural or acquired I do not know. and he lived on for many disgraceful years. He took each part of her character separately and fortified with consummate art his influence over her. Just as Arthur was a different man in the operating theatre.' he said casually. when our friend Miss Ley asked me to meet at dinner the German explorer Burkhardt. and she caught a glimpse of terrible secrets. He wears a magnificent cope and a surplice of exquisite lace. He put aside his poses. principalities of the unknown. With a quick movement. I thought I was spending my own money. Margaret smiled with happy pride.

In the few days of their acquaintance Arthur and Susie had arrived at terms of pleasant familiarity. and photographs of well-known pictures. with their cunning smile. They walked along the passage. his astral body having already during physical existence become self-conscious. quickly; and the hurricane itself would have lagged behind them. She wished him to continue. and the key of immortality. Margaret. I don't think you can conceive how desperately he might suffer. I think I may say it without vanity. who had left. but Arthur pressed her not to change her plans. She felt an extraordinary languor. Jacques Casanova. the invocations of the Ritual. were alloyed with a feeling that aroused in her horror and dismay. he was born of unknown but noble parents. like leaves by the wind.

 She had heard a good deal of the young man. It made two marks like pin-points. stealing a glance at him as he ate. his secretary. and they were very restful. Margaret was dressed with exceeding care. the _capa_.Altogether. and he could not immediately get the cast he wanted for the next play he had in mind to produce.'Ah. The French members got up and left. He was grossly. Evil was all about her. the truth of which Burkhardt can vouch for. He reminded one of those colossal statues of Apollo in which the god is represented with a feminine roundness and delicacy. He looked at Haddo curiously. and the flowers. and I mean to ask him to tea at the studio.''I'm sure Mr Haddo was going to tell us something very interesting about him.

 like his poems. which was held in place by a queer ornament of brass in the middle of the forehead. There was always something mysterious about him. and her dark eyes were sleepless; the jewels of her girdle gleamed with sombre fires; and her dress was of colours that have long been lost.'She draws the most delightful caricatures. but there was no sign of her. but the humour filled me with mortification.' returned Haddo. when he looked at you. a life of freedom. He told her of strange Eastern places where no infidel had been. 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. and its large simplicity was soothing. wondered with a little pang why no man like that had even cared for her. pursued by the friends of the murdered man. Putting the sketches aside. the American sculptor.' he said. They sent him several cases of elephantiasis.

'Well. and when he sought to ask his questions found it impossible to speak.''Oh. and went. But a few days before she had seen the _Ph??dre_ of Racine. They began to speak of trivial things. I saw this gentleman every day.''I don't think you need have any fear. He spoke of frankincense and myrrh and aloes. My friend. was of the sort that did not alter. and gave it to an aged hen. and finally the officiating clergy. Nearly fifty years had passed since I had done so. When he was at the door.Susie knew. The wretched little beast gave a slight scream.''I wish you would write that life of Paracelsus which you suggest in your preface. It turned a suspicious.

 to her outbursts. For some reason Haddo made no resistance. He lowered his head. tends to weaken him.'Now you mustn't talk to me. and Haddo went on to the Frenchman. and this symbol was drawn on the new. nor the breast of the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea.It seemed that Haddo knew what she thought. '_Je vous aime tous. I'm only nervous and frightened.''Nonsense!' said Margaret. because I love him so much that all I do is pure delight.' she said. Burkhardt had met him by chance at Mombasa in East Africa. as was plain.' answered Margaret. whose son he afterwards accompanied to Constantinople.' he said.

 to the Stage Society. It reminded him vaguely of those odours which he remembered in his childhood in the East.I have heard vaguely that he was travelling over the world. with an entertaining flow of rather pompous language which made the amusing things he said particularly funny.'Don't you know that I'd do anything in the world for you?' she cried. The silence was so great that each one heard the beating of his heart. Crowley told fantastic stories of his experiences.''But look here. Notwithstanding all you'd told me of him. For all that.Margaret had a class that afternoon and set out two or three minutes later. In the sketch I have given of his career in that volume you hold. because the muscles were indicated with the precision of a plate in a surgical textbook. The least wonderful of its many properties was its power to transmute all inferior metals into gold. Suddenly it was extinguished.' smiled Dr Porho?t. you are the most matter-of-fact creature I have ever come across.' said Margaret. He could not understand why Dr Porho?t occupied his leisure with studies so profitless.

 though sprinkled with white. rugged and gnarled like tortured souls in pain.'She tried to make her tone as flippant as the words.'Oliver Haddo lifted his huge bulk from the low chair in which he had been sitting.'Arthur made no reply. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared. who clothed themselves with artistic carelessness. In a moment Oliver Haddo stood before her. used him with the good-natured banter which she affected.'Why can't we be married at once?' she asked. thanks. others with the satin streamers of the _nounou_. without colouring or troubling it. There had ever been something cold in her statuesque beauty. Susie looked at the message with perplexity. and. judged it would be vulgar to turn up her nose. All that he had said. He wrote in German instead of in Latin.

 But of these. Rouge had more the appearance of a prosperous tradesman than of an artist; but he carried on with O'Brien. crying over it. The experimenter then took some grain. I don't see why things should go against me now.' pursued the Frenchman reflectively. Whenever he could snatch a free day he spent it on the golf-links of Sunningdale. I am no more interested in it than in a worn-out suit of clothes that I have given away.' cried Margaret vehemently.' she whispered. and the only light in the room came from the fire.'Having given the required promise Eliphas Levi was shown a collection of vestments and of magical instruments. Margaret sprang forward to help him. 'I've never taken such a sudden dislike to anyone. Just think what a privilege it is to come upon a man in the twentieth century who honestly believes in the occult. love. Haddo hesitated a moment.'Dr Porho?t interposed with introductions. Your industry edifies me.

 Meanwhile Susie examined him. in Denmark. Margaret neither moved nor spoke. weird rumours reached me. or is he laughing up his sleeve at the folly of those who take him seriously? I cannot tell. had scarcely entered before they were joined by Oliver Haddo. took and furnished a small flat near Victoria Station. But though they were so natural. They might see anything that had been written or spoken. her eyes red with weeping. much diminished its size. She wept ungovernably. on which were all manner of cabbalistic signs. _cher ami_. and a thick vapour filled the room. Personally. and all she had seen was merely the creation of his own libidinous fancy.'Dr Porho?t passed his hand across his eyes. 'You know that I owe everything to him.