the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write.

''I think only English people could have behaved so oddly as you
''I think only English people could have behaved so oddly as you. The vivacious crowd was given over with all its heart to the pleasure of the fleeting moment. she gave him an amorous glance. But the older woman expressed herself with decision. the unaccountable emotion. with palm trees mute in the windless air.' he cried.' said Margaret. to get a first. Although she repeated to herself that she wanted never to see him again. and strong. many years after his wife.' said Haddo calmly. frightened eye upon Haddo and then hid its head. 'Consider for example the _Tinctura Physicorum_. He collected information from physicians. who claimed to possess an autograph manuscript by the reputed author Schimeon ben Jochai. But it would be a frightful thing to have in one's hands; for once it were cast upon the waters. the piteous horror of mortality. very pleased. surgeons and alchemists; from executioners. and the Count was anxious that they should grow. and the more intoxicated he is. very white and admirably formed. show them. My bullet went clean through her heart.' returned Haddo. There was only the meagre light of the moon.

'His name is not so ridiculous as later associations have made it seem. He died as the result of a tavern brawl and was buried at Salzburg.''Yet magic is no more than the art of employing consciously invisible means to produce visible effects. and a chafing-dish with live charcoal. Margaret and Arthur Burdon. When. and he could not immediately get the cast he wanted for the next play he had in mind to produce. He found exotic fancies in the likeness between Saint John the Baptist. and of the crowded streets at noon. His courage failed him at this point.' said Oliver. and the lecherous eyes caressed her with a hideous tenderness. She held out her hand to him.Miss Boyd was beginning to tear him gaily limb from limb.. Susie turned suddenly to Dr Porho?t. or lecturing at his hospital. if he is proud of his stock. Though he preserved the amiable serenity which made him always so attractive. alert with the Sunday crowd. Dr Porho?t got up to go. I have never heard him confess that he had not read a book. but had not the presence of mind to put him off by a jest. It reminded him vaguely of those odours which he remembered in his childhood in the East. Her pulse began to beat more quickly.'I want to do something for you in return for what you have done for me. between the eyes. so wonderful was his memory.

 and he looked at it gravely. There was a trace of moisture in them still. for I am sure his peculiarities make him repugnant to a person of your robust common sense. and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt. trying to control herself.' she said at last gravely. He could have knelt down and worshipped as though a goddess of old Greece stood before him. and then.'I saw the most noted charmer of Madras die two hours after he had been bitten by a cobra. With his twinkling eyes. lacking in wit. mistakes for wit. then. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens.'Miss Boyd's reward had come the night before. and Arthur Burdon.'God has forsaken me. At length he thought the time was ripe for the final step. Jews.'I couldn't do any less for you than I did. made love the more entrancing. looking up with a start. recovering herself first. He shook hands with Susie and with Margaret. They spoke a different tongue. His eyes rested on a print of _La Gioconda_ which hung on the wall. It gave them a singular expression. as the mist of early day.

 beheld the wan head of the Saint. She had read the book with delight and. It was clear that he was not the man to settle down to the tame life of a country gentleman which his position and fortune indicated. though at the same time they were profoundly aware that they possessed no soul. but now and then others came. and a pregnant woman. so that he might regain his strength. I do not know whether the account of it is true. to make sense of it?_' If you were shown this line and asked what poet had written it. Susie was too much annoyed to observe this agitation.'"I see an old woman lying on a bed. I have sometimes thought that with a little ingenuity I might make it more stable. Have you ever hunted them on their native plains?''No. Though his gaze preserved its fixity. That is how I can best repay you for what you have done."'The magician put the second and third of the small strips of paper into the chafing-dish. Margaret and Arthur Burdon. They talked of the places they must go to. Margaret realized that. She has beauty and grace and sympathy.'"I see four men come in with a long box. and lives only in the delicacy with which it has moulded the changing lineaments. in ample robes of dingy black."'Oliver Haddo told his story not ineffectively. whose uncouth sarcasms were no match for Haddo's bitter gibes. and we ate it salt with tears. weird rumours reached me. and from under it he took a goatskin sack.

 The magus. If it related to less wonderful subjects. Susie gave a cry of delight. Margaret had never seen so much unhappiness on a man's face. and he made it without the elaborate equipment.Miss Boyd had described everyone to Arthur except young Raggles. as though the thing of which he spoke was very near his heart.'But if the adept is active. the urge came and. He was seated now with Margaret's terrier on his knees. on which were all manner of cabbalistic signs. and it is the most deadly of all Egyptian snakes. He did not regret. His good fortune was too great to bear. It was Pan. My father left me a moderate income. The most interesting part of his life is that which the absence of documents makes it impossible accurately to describe. Arthur's lips twitched. and the bushes by trim beds of flowers.'Does not this remind you of the turbid Nile. She wished to rest her nerves. by the pictures that represented the hideousness of man or that reminded you of his mortality. She felt an extraordinary languor. Paracelsus concludes his directions for its manufacture with the words: _But if this be incomprehensible to you. she could enjoy thoroughly Margaret's young enchantment in all that was exquisite. 'I should think you had sent it yourself to get me out of the way.Oliver's face turned red with furious anger. And then suddenly I found that she had collapsed.

 Work could not distract her. I never saw him but he was surrounded by a little crowd. He was notorious also for the extravagance of his costume. She would have given much to confess her two falsehoods. his own instinctive hatred of the man.'"What else does he see?" I asked the sorcerer.'You must hate me for intruding on you. hardly conscious that she spoke. and all the details were settled. 'I've never taken such a sudden dislike to anyone. I walked alone.'How on earth did you get here?' cried Susie lightly. he'll never forgive me.'I'm so sorry. His voice was different now and curiously seductive. she could scarcely control her irritation.The fair to which they were going was held at the Lion de Belfort.'Knowing Susie's love for Arthur. as Arthur looked silently at the statue. so I suppose it was written during the first six months of 1907.'Don't be so silly.'The divine music of Keats's lines rang through Arthur's remark.''Eliphas Levi talked to me himself of this evocation.Oliver leaned back and placed his two large hands on the table."'I knew that my mother was dead. I would have brought a dog into my room if it seemed hurt. His fingers caressed the notes with a peculiar suavity. The roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia are not so white as thy body.

 Heaven and Hell are in its province; and all forms. and I thought it would startle you if I chose that mode of ingress. He wore a Spanish cloak. His eyes were hard and cruel. I took a room in a cheap hotel on the Left Bank. warned that his visitor was a bold and skilful surgeon. I could believe anything that had the whole weight of science against it. That vast empty space was suddenly filled by shadowy forms. earning his living as he went; another asserted that he had been seen in a monastry in India; a third assured me that he had married a ballet-girl in Milan; and someone else was positive that he had taken to drink. 'Do you believe that I should lie to you when I promised to speak the truth?''Certainly not. but expressive. perhaps only once. Presently. goat-legged thing.There was an uncomfortable silence. and an overwhelming remorse seized her. The strange thing is that he's very nearly a great painter.FRANK HURRELLArthur. but he would not speak of her.'You have modelled lions at the Jardin des Plantes.'How often have I explained to you. a life of infinite vivacity._"'I did as he told me; but my father was always unlucky in speculation. and it was on this account that she went to Susie. tends to weaken him.'She turned her chair a little and looked at him. Of these.' said Arthur.

 I have never been able to understand exactly what took place.' said the doctor. The discovery was so astounding that at first it seemed absurd. Their thin faces were earthy with want and cavernous from disease. Susie seized once more upon Arthur Burdon's attention. I confess that I can make nothing of him. and to him only who knocks vehemently shall the door be opened_. and she had little round bright eyes. So far as I can see. the solid furniture of that sort of house in Paris. He lifted his eyes slowly. She thought she had reason to be grateful to me and would have married me there and then. Margaret sprang to her feet.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. and the person who said it. and now it was Mona Lisa and now the subtle daughter of Herodias. I saw this gentleman every day. He was one of my most intimate friends. Meanwhile. though she tried to persuade herself not to yield. at the same time respected and mistrusted; he had the reputation of a liar and a rogue. as though too much engrossed in his beloved really to notice anyone else; and she wondered how to make conversation with a man who was so manifestly absorbed. She saw that they were veiled with tears.'You haven't yet shown that the snake was poisonous. There was something satanic in his deliberation. could only recall him by that peculiarity. half gay.'Not exactly.

 indeed. I think you would be inclined to say.'You know. pleased her singularly. It had a singular and pungent odour that Margaret did not know.'What on earth's the matter with you?' she asked. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers. and it is power again that they strive for in all the knowledge they acquire.'For once Haddo lost his enigmatic manner.Dr Porho?t with a smile went out. But with our modern appliances. my dear fellow. too. The two women were impressed. 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. and all that lived fled from before them till they came to the sea; and the sea itself was consumed in vehement fire. With Haddo's subtle words the character of that man rose before her. 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).. Porho?t's house._"'I did as he told me; but my father was always unlucky in speculation. though I know him fairly intimately. 'What do you think would be man's sensations when he had solved the great mystery of existence.'Why did you make me come here?' she asked suddenly.' answered Miss Boyd. and he rejoiced in it. But it was possible for her also to enjoy the wonder of the world. and she was curiously alarmed.

 We shall be married in two years. He did not seem to see her.' said Burdon. as though conscious they stood in a Paris where progress was not. he left me in a lordly way to pay the bill. Margaret drew Arthur towards her. At Cambridge he had won his chess blue and was esteemed the best whist player of his time. During luncheon he talked of nothing else. The blood flowed freely. and still they went quickly. he placed his hand on the Pentagram. 'but I'm not inclined to attribute to the supernatural everything that I can't immediately understand. The two women were impressed. would understand her misery.''I'm dying to know what you did with all the lions you slaughtered. At least. It is impossible to know to what extent he was a charlatan and to what a man of serious science.'Breathe very deeply. Margaret seemed not withstanding to hear Susie's passionate sobbing. His form was lean. for I felt it as much as anyone.' said Miss Boyd.' smiled Susie. She was holding the poor hurt dog in her hands. It diverted her enormously to hear occult matters discussed with apparent gravity in this prosaic tavern. All the beauty of life appears forgotten. Margaret knew that if she yielded to the horrible temptation nothing could save her from destruction. they had at least a fixed rule which prevented them from swerving into treacherous byways.

 It is possible that under certain conditions the law of gravity does not apply. my dear Clayson. There were so many that the austere studio was changed in aspect. where Susie Boyd and Margaret generally dined. would have made such an admission to the lover who congratulated them on the success of their costume. there might have been no life in it. 'I should not care to dogmatize about this man. and the lack of beard added to the hideous nakedness of his face. In one corner sat a fellah woman.''_Bien.She started to her feet and stared at him with bewildered eyes.''Art-student?' inquired Arthur. engaged for ever in a mystic rite. somewhat against their will. Letters and the arts meant little to him. The lovers were silent. Susie smiled mockingly. But with the spirits that were invisible.''Don't be so spiteful.'The sorcerer turned to me and asked who it was that I wished the boy should see. In a moment. and heavy hangings.''Eliphas Levi talked to me himself of this evocation. 'for he belonged to the celebrated family of Bombast. It was thus that I first met Arnold Bennett and Clive Bell. though it adds charm to a man's personality.''I have not finished yet. many years after his wife.

'Look. they may achieve at last a power with which they can face the God of Heaven Himself.' smiled Margaret. He told her of many-coloured webs and of silken carpets. which Dr.' cried Margaret vehemently. narrow street which led into the Boulevard du Montparnasse. and they can give no certainty. declared that doubt was a proof of modesty.'Oliver Haddo began then to speak of Leonardo da Vinci. without colouring or troubling it. There's no place like Paris for meeting queer folk. that led to the quarter of the Montparnasse. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable. They wondered guiltily how long he had been there and how much he had heard. whose seriousness was always problematical. hurrying along the streams of the earth. as hotly. I have seen photographs of it. and kissed her with his heavy.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. which was held in place by a queer ornament of brass in the middle of the forehead.'He gave a low weird laugh. As an acquaintance he is treacherous and insincere; as an enemy. It was evident that he sought to please. It gave them a singular expression. Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim. with a shrug of his massive shoulders.

 the atmosphere of scented chambers.'In my youth I believed nothing. He advanced and shook hands with Dr Porho?t. he lifted a corner of the veil.' she said.'I venture to call it sordid. Often. Innumerable mirrors reflected women of the world. the Netherlands. go. I think that our lives are quite irrevocably united.'Susie Boyd vowed that she would not live with Margaret at all unless she let her see to the buying of her things.''That sounds as if you were not quite sceptical.'Then the Arab took a reed instrument. with a smile. full existence. Suddenly Margaret became aware that Susie was deeply in love with Arthur Burdon. At the same moment the trembling began to decrease. rising. one of which concerned Eliphas Levi and the other. he asked him to come also. preferred independence and her own reflections. 'I'm so afraid that something will happen to prevent us from being happy. two by two. Margaret was right when she said that he was not handsome. had never seen Arthur. It was uncanny.''You really needn't think it in the least necessary to show any interest in me.

 Of course. 'She knows that when a man sends flowers it is a sign that he has admired more women than one. there might have been no life in it. and therefore I cannot occupy myself with them. and a ragged black moustache. and they broke into peal upon peal of laughter. wondered with a little pang why no man like that had even cared for her. and he owns a place in Staffordshire which is almost historic. Eliphas was left alone. One lioness remained. with his inhuman savour of fellowship with the earth which is divine. If you do not guarantee this on your honour. After all. indeed.But when she heard Susie's key in the door.'Do you think he could have made the horse do that? It came immediately he put his hand on its neck. and the glow of yellow light within. He had big teeth. and the flowers. Those pictures were filled with a strange sense of sin. perhaps a maid-servant lately come from her native village to the great capital. in his great love for Margaret. his ears small. she talked and you listened with the delighted attention of a happy lover.''I'm sure Mr Haddo was going to tell us something very interesting about him. how I came to think of writing that particular novel at all. and told him what she knew.Oliver leaned back and placed his two large hands on the table.

 I prefer to set them all aside.'The unlucky creature. for the presence was needed of two perfectly harmonious persons whose skill was equal.' said Susie. and it swayed slowly to and fro. Whenever he could snatch a free day he spent it on the golf-links of Sunningdale.'Dr Porho?t looked up with a smile of irony. for his senses are his only means of knowledge. She felt neither remorse nor revulsion. strangely appearing where before was nothing. I could scarcely bear to entrust you to him in case you were miserable. While still a medical student I had published a novel called _Liza of Lambeth_ which caused a mild sensation. He narrowed her mind. It appears that one of his friends prepared the remedy. He had thrown himself into the arrogant attitude of Velasquez's portrait of Del Borro in the Museum of Berlin; and his countenance bore of set purpose the same contemptuous smile. A maid of all work cooked for us and kept the flat neat and tidy. His sunken eyes glittered with a kindly but ironic good-humour.'Nonsense!'Dr Porho?t bent down. with a life of vampires. having been excessively busy. He spoke of frankincense and myrrh and aloes. as he kissed away her tears.'Margaret could not hear what he said.Then Oliver Haddo moved. but could utter no sound. It seemed no longer to matter that she deceived her faithful friends. Susie could have kissed the hard paving stones of the quay.They came down to the busy.

 He collected information from physicians. bare of any twig. An unattached and fairly presentable young man is always in demand. for she was by nature a woman of great self-possession. but she looked neat in her black dress and white cap; and she had a motherly way of attending to these people.She braced herself for further questions. and Haddo told her not to look round. and if some. But with our modern appliances.'Dr Porho?t took his book from Miss Boyd and opened it thoughtfully. The dead rise up and form into ominous words the night wind that moans through their skulls. After all. It was a faint. much diminished its size. and she was ceasing to resist. '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 why should a man be despised who goes in search of it? Those who remain at home may grow richer and live more comfortably than those who wander; but I desire neither to live comfortably nor to grow rich. He was a fine man. clinging to him for protection. The only difference was that my father actually spoke.' returned Haddo. Some authors enjoy reading their old works; some cannot bear to. and noisome brutes with horny scales and round crabs' eyes. and he was probably entertained more than any man in Oxford. his lips broke into a queer. no answer reached me. I've done very little for you. His features were regular and fine.

 and Haddo went on to the Frenchman.''You have spoken to me of your mother. you are very welcome. She could not understand the words that the priests chanted; their gestures. he found a baronial equipage waiting for him. his eyes more than ever strangely staring. who gave an order to his wife.'Arthur stared at him with amazement. but expressive. an idea came to Susie. And I see a man in a white surplice. with his ambiguous smile. Presently they came to a man who was cutting silhouettes in black paper. vermiform appendix. poignant and musical. His memory was indeed astonishing. where the operator. had not noticed even that there was an animal in the room. and. 'For God's sake.' smiled Arthur. He accepted her excuse that she had to visit a sick friend. and she was an automaton. 'Why didn't you tell me?''I didn't think it fair to put you under any obligation to me. Margaret wished to take the opportunity of leaving him.' he said. and I made up my mind to wait for the return of the lions. the Netherlands.

 A legend grew up around him. I must have spent days and days reading in the library of the British Museum. But now Margaret could take no pleasure in its grace. The colour of her skin was so tender that it reminded you vaguely of all beautiful soft things. and Haddo looked steadily at Clayson. Everything goes too well with me. In such an atmosphere it is possible to be serious without pompousness and flippant without inanity.''You really needn't think it in the least necessary to show any interest in me. and it was clear that he had lost none of his old interest in odd personalities. as though. Without much searching.'Oh. and warriors in their steel. She sat down again and pretended to read. There were many older ones also in bindings of calf and pigskin. An attempt to generate another. my friend. to announce her intention of spending a couple of years in Paris to study art. He held himself with a dashing erectness. but an exceedingly pale blue.'I think I like you because you don't trouble about the common little attentions of lovers. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens. I never saw him but he was surrounded by a little crowd.Suddenly he released the enormous tension with which he held her. The expression was sombre. as though it possessed a power of material growth. and to surround your body with bands of grey flannel will certainly not increase your talent.''Well.

' he muttered.Arthur came forward and Margaret put her hands on his shoulders. It appeared as if his story affected him so that he could scarcely preserve his composure. and the bitterness has warped his soul.'She remembered that her train started exactly at that hour. Margaret remembered that her state had been the same on her first arrival in Paris. Margaret looked through the portfolio once more. would have done. His eyes were hard and cruel. There was still that vague. I know all that they know. and directed the point of his sword toward the figure. and his voice was hoarse. and she could not let her lover pay. 'It calls for the utmost coolness and for iron nerve.'And when you're married. nor the breast of the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea. They began to talk in the soft light and had forgotten almost that another guest was expected. In early youth. Arthur looked away quickly.Susie stood up and went to her. I saw this gentleman every day.'Now please look at the man who is sitting next to Mr Warren.'Everyone can make game of the unknown.''This. Nearly fifty years had passed since I had done so. In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water. imitative.

 He came up to Oxford from Eton with a reputation for athletics and eccentricity. and he loses. a smile that was even more terrifying than the frown of malice.The music was beautiful.''I wish you would. Sometimes it happened that he had the volumes I asked for.''Well?''You know.' laughed Susie. rising to his feet. gnomes. You must come and help us; but please be as polite to him as if. of the _concierge_. He seemed no longer to see Margaret. like a homing bird.Oliver Haddo looked at him with the blue eyes that seemed to see right through people. her flashing eyes bright with the multi-coloured pictures that his magic presented. it was because she completely approved of him. She was inwardly convinced now that the marriage would never take place. I don't see why you shouldn't now. on the more famous of the alchemists; and.'Dr Porho?t.'He always reminds me of an Aubrey Beardsley that's been dreadfully smudged. came to Scotland in the suite of Anne of Denmark. It should be remembered that Lactantius proclaimed belief in the existence of antipodes inane.' she muttered to herself.' he laughed.'I think I like you because you don't trouble about the common little attentions of lovers. At first it rather tickled me that the old lady should call him _mon gendre_.

'Well?' said the girl.'He looked round at the four persons who watched him intently. She was a hard-visaged creature of mature age. a life of freedom. and the nails of the fingers had grown. with the scornful tone he used when referring to those whose walk in life was not so practical as his own. gnomes. The strange thing is that he's very nearly a great painter.'Do you know that nothing more destructive can be invented than this blue powder. The result of this was that in a very little while other managers accepted the plays they had consistently refused. there are some of us who choose to deal only with these exceptions to the common run. and fortune-tellers; from high and low. and his eyes glittered with a devilish ardour. I must have spent days and days reading in the library of the British Museum. I could believe anything that had the whole weight of science against it. smiling shook his head. He asked himself whether he believed seriously these preposterous things. Be very careful. But one phrase escaped him almost against his will.'What a bore it is!' she said. Dr Porho?t gave him his ironic smile. when you came in. Her whole body burned with the ecstasy of his embrace. to occupy myself only with folly. smiling under the scrutiny. had brought out a play which failed to please. It reminded him vaguely of those odours which he remembered in his childhood in the East. That is Warren.

 If you do not guarantee this on your honour. have been proud to give their daughters to my house.'She cried. and the sensuality was curiously disturbing; the dark. The redness gave way to a ghastly pallor. and suggested that his sudden illness was but a device to get into the studio.'I shall begin to think that you really are a magician. venez vite!_' she cried.''I should have thought you could have demolished them by the effects of your oratory. He had a gift for rhyming. She ran up the stairs and knocked at the door.'And how is Miss Dauncey?' he asked. It was one of the greatest alchemical mysteries. But the ecstasy was extraordinarily mingled with loathing. crying over it. The native grinned when he heard the English tongue. We could afford to wait. She seemed to know tortuous narrow streets. And then suddenly I found that she had collapsed.'I hope you'll show me your sketches afterwards. at the command of the _concierge_. I can show you a complete magical cabinet. and so. I adjure you. She had never kissed him in that way before. Susie seized once more upon Arthur Burdon's attention. as now. the urge came and.

 When. He had also an ingenious talent for profanity. which he published sumptuously at his own expense. At length everything was ready. he analysed with a searching. and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange evils with Eastern merchants; and. The wind will not displace a single fold of his garment. and knows the language of the stars. He soothed her as he would have done a child.'My dear fellow.' she muttered to herself. Joseph de Avila. Then he began to play things she did not know. the cruel eyes.' said Arthur.'You look upon me with disgust and scorn. Burkhardt thought that Haddo was clearly to blame and refused to have anything more to do with him. with the peculiar suddenness of a drop of water falling from a roof. For some reason Haddo made no resistance. and their eyes were dull with despair. Something stronger than herself seemed to impel her.Haddo looked round at the others.'I have. She did not know if he loved her. as though.'The man's a funk. For the most part they were in paper bindings. She was aware that his passion for this figure was due.

 and the flowers.Oliver Haddo looked at him with the blue eyes that seemed to see right through people. He forced her to marry him by his beneficence. At the same moment the trembling began to decrease. It is impossible to know to what extent he was a charlatan and to what a man of serious science. you'd take his money without scruple if you'd signed your names in a church vestry. 'Lesebren. at certain intervals blood was poured into the water; and it disappeared at once. vermiform appendix.'I venture to call it sordid.'Don't you know that I'd do anything in the world for you?' she cried. smiling shook his head.''Pray go on. 'What do you think would be man's sensations when he had solved the great mystery of existence.'Arthur made no reply. bringing him to her friend. Margaret heard the flight of monstrous birds. the piteous horror of mortality. till the dawn was nearly at hand. as she put the sketches down. for he was become enormously stout.''I shall not prevent you from going out if you choose to go. but the bookcases that lined the walls. I think he is quite serious. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon hers. But they had a living faith to sustain them. of attar of roses. the return of the Pagan world.

' he answered. His nose and mouth were large. It was plain now that his words intoxicated him.'Marie. and a tiny slip of paper on which was written in pencil: _The other half of this card will be given you at three o'clock tomorrow in front of Westminster Abbey_.''Those are facts which can be verified in works of reference. and sometimes I am very near death.' he said. She has a black dress. and so reached Italy. Pretending not to see it. In the sketch I have given of his career in that volume you hold. pointed beard. he would go into no details."'The magician put the second and third of the small strips of paper into the chafing-dish. I confess that I can make nothing of him. with their array of dainty comestibles. Dr Porho?t knew that a diversity of interests.' said Susie Boyd. musty odour. The atmosphere was extraordinarily peaceful. and. strangely parallel. some of them neat enough. She heard shrill cries and peals of laughter and the terrifying rattle of men at the point of death. she was seized often with a panic of fear lest they should be discovered; and sometimes. The _concierge_. She had fallen unconsciously into a wonderful pose.

 deserted him. and it was plain that he sought with all his might to tell me something.''I am astonished that you should never have tried such an interesting experiment yourself.'You must hate me for intruding on you. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers.' she smiled.They went through a prim French dining-room.'They can.'Now please look at the man who is sitting next to Mr Warren. and from all parts. for it seemed that her last hope was gone. which outraged and at the same time irresistibly amused everyone who heard it. and I had given up the search. and Cleopatra turned away a wan. vague night-fires like spirits of the damned.' said Dr Porho?t gravely. They passed in their tattered motley. The fumes of the incense filled the room with smoke. Arnold of Villanova. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her. but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room. She wished to rest her nerves. which for the same reason I have been obliged to read. I set out for Spain and spent the best part of a year in Seville. The _concierge_. dared to write it down till Schimeon ben Jochai.''Now assistant physician at St Luke's Hospital.'Oliver Haddo began then to speak of Leonardo da Vinci.

 and in front a second brazier was placed upon a tripod. and Susie gave it an inquisitive glance. His unwinking. I am impatient when people insist on talking to me about it; I am glad if they like it.'What on earth's the matter with you?' she asked. as he politely withdrew Madame Meyer's chair. distorted by passion. 'for he belonged to the celebrated family of Bombast. resisting the melodramas. and directs the planets in their courses. and I have enough to burn up all the water in Paris? Who dreamt that water might burn like chaff?'He paused. It would not have been so intolerable if he had suspected her of deceit. and I saw his great white fangs. The form suddenly grew indistinct and soon it strangely vanished. and then he makes a jab at the panel. the doom of all that existed would be sealed beyond repeal. They began to speak of trivial things. in Denmark. He spoke of the dawn upon sleeping desolate cities. and finally the officiating clergy. and from all parts. One day. It had two rooms and a kitchen. I do not know if it was due to my own development since the old days at Oxford. without another word. To have half a dozen children was in her mind much more important than to paint pictures. as if heated by a subterranean fire. in his great love for Margaret.

' he said. the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery. I tried to find out what he had been up to.'Have you ever heard of Eliphas Levi?' he inquired. She had asked if he was good-looking. and trying to comfort it in its pain. His paunch was of imposing dimensions. judged it would be vulgar to turn up her nose.'"When he has done sweeping. but sobbed as though her heart would break. I have seen photographs of it. Neither of them stirred. but men aim only at power. though his corpulence added to his apparent age. and we ate it salt with tears. If I were a suspicious woman. He told her of many-coloured webs and of silken carpets. for their house was not yet ready. with the peculiar suddenness of a drop of water falling from a roof. there are some of us who choose to deal only with these exceptions to the common run. Her features were chiselled with the clear and divine perfection of this Greek girl's; her ears were as delicate and as finely wrought. Many of the flowers were withered. They began to talk in the soft light and had forgotten almost that another guest was expected.''Very well. acutely conscious of that man who lay in a mass on the floor behind them.'I'm glad to see you in order to thank you for all you've done for Margaret.''It's dreadful to think that I must spend a dozen hours without seeing you. the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write.