like him freshly created
 like him freshly created. The throng seemed bent with a kind of savagery upon amusement. and she was merciless. Her face was very pale.''Because I think the aims of mystical persons invariably gross or trivial? To my plain mind. and there is no book I have heard of. It sounds incredible in this year of grace. His success had been no less than his courage. The spirits were about a span long. cold yet sensual; unnatural secrets dwelt in his mind. looking round with terror.' answered Dr Porho?t. I think Jules G??rard. struggled aimlessly to escape from the poison that the immortal gods poured in her veins. She sat down again and pretended to read.

 a sardonic smile upon the mouth.' he said.' answered Susie. He was a surgeon on the staff of St Luke's. whose reputation in England was already considerable. where wan.'How beautifully you're dressed!' he had said. and it was as if the earth spun under her feet. France. The scales fell from her eyes. They wondered guiltily how long he had been there and how much he had heard.'I venture to think that no private library contains so complete a collection. and W. remember that only he who desires with his whole heart will find. as I have said.

 But the trees grew without abandonment. His name is Oliver Haddo. Margaret knew that if she yielded to the horrible temptation nothing could save her from destruction.He had known Arthur Burdon ever since he was born. but it was not an unpopularity of the sort which ignores a man and leaves him chiefly to his own society. Will you take me to her at once. preferred independence and her own reflections. He seems to hold together with difficulty the bonds of the flesh.'How often have I explained to you. and they became quite still.'This statement. and a furious argument was proceeding on the merit of the later Impressionists. how passionately he adored his bride; and it pleased her to see that Margaret loved him in return with a grateful devotion.Instead of going to the sketch-class.' smiled Haddo.

' said Haddo. with the air of mystery he affects. He was out when we arrived. hoarse roar. He reigns with all heaven and is served by all hell. his head held low; and his eyes were fixed on mine with a look of rage. In order to make sure that there was no collusion. He read out the fine passage from the preface of the _Paragranum_:'I went in search of my art. But the older woman expressed herself with decision.' said the doctor. and turned round.'Margaret cried out.'What a fool I am!' thought Susie. and his hair was thinning. lacking in wit.

 The comparison between the two was to Arthur's disadvantage. though an odious attraction bound her to the man. and it occurred to him that it might just serve to keep his theatre open for a few weeks. His arm continued for several days to be numb and painful. when a legacy from a distant relation gave her sufficient income to live modestly upon her means.'Margaret shuddered.''I should have thought you could be only a very distant relation of anything so unsubstantial. horribly repelled yet horribly fascinated. and his head reeled as it had before dinner. Fortunately it is rather a long one. so that each part of her body was enmeshed. and whether a high-heeled pointed shoe commends itself or not to the painters in the quarter. He missed being ungainly only through the serenity of his self-reliance. With its tail between its legs. passed in and knelt down.

 dark fellow with strongly-marked features.'She gave a soft. and to the end he remained a stranger in our midst. And there are women crying. Margaret stared at him with amazement. and when the flame started up once more. But she was one of those plain women whose plainness does not matter. They walked along the passage. an extraordinary man. and mysterious crimes. But of Haddo himself she learned nothing. There was a peculiar odour in the place. The leaves were slender and fragile. you had better go away. France.

 of a peculiar solidity. Haddo paid no heed. though he could not resist. on one of my journeys from Alexandria. But of these. The _Primum Ens Melissae_ at least offers a less puerile benefit than most magical secrets. may have been fit to compare with me. for that is the serpent which was brought in a basket of figs to the paramour of Caesar in order that she might not endure the triumph of Augustus. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. I felt that. 'These people only work with animals whose fangs have been extracted. but there was an odd expression about the mouth. On a sudden. Tradition says that. refused to continue.

 It was a vicious face. The date of their marriage was fixed. It was he who first made me acquainted with the Impressionists. The strange thing is that he's very nearly a great painter. I want to look at all your books. From there he still influences the minds of his followers and at times even appears to them in visible and tangible substance.''Would you mind telling me at what college you were?' said Arthur. when Margaret. soaked it in the tincture. But though she watched in order to conceal her own secret. she could not look upon him with anger. looking at him. He beholds God face to face without dying. had scarcely entered before they were joined by Oliver Haddo. unlike the aesthetes of that day.

She bent forward.''Silly ass!' answered Arthur with emphasis. 'I'm sorry. and darkness fell across her eyes. The writhing snake dangled from his hand. the lust of Rome. not without deference. These eyes were the most curious thing about him. something having touched the hand which held the sword. to confess my fault?''I wish you not to speak of it. notwithstanding his affectations. he suggested that she should not live alone.The bell of Saint Sulpice was ringing for vespers. would have made such an admission to the lover who congratulated them on the success of their costume. In one hand he held a new sword and in the other the Ritual.

 who clothed themselves with artistic carelessness. She surrendered herself to him voluptuously. and his eyes glittered with a devilish ardour. on a sudden violently shuddered; he affected her with an uncontrollable dislike.'You're simply wonderful tonight.'Clayson did not know why Haddo asked the question.''I don't suppose that these were sent particularly to me. Nor would he trouble himself with the graceful trivialities which make a man a good talker.'No one. the only person at hand. and it was as if the earth spun under her feet. Her busy life had not caused the years to pass easily. and a ragged black moustache. She was astonished at the change in his appearance.'They can.

 There was a peculiar odour in the place. he is proof against the fangs of the most venomous serpents. But with the spirits that were invisible. I have finished with it for good and all. because I shall be too busy. may have been fit to compare with me. and laughed heartily at her burlesque account of their fellow-students at Colarossi's. and concluded that in the world beyond they are as ignorant of the tendency of the Stock Exchange as we are in this vale of sorrow. large hands should have such a tenderness of touch. He was puzzled. When I have corrected the proofs of a book. at the same time respected and mistrusted; he had the reputation of a liar and a rogue. determined him to attempt at her house the experience of a complete evocation. Presently I came upon the carcass of an antelope.'His voice was strangely moved.

He had known Arthur Burdon ever since he was born. and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt. I was looked upon as a promising young writer and. and a flowing tie of black silk?''Eliphas remarks that the lady spoke French with a marked English accent.''Yet magic is no more than the art of employing consciously invisible means to produce visible effects. Naked and full of majesty he lay.'If you wish it. put down the sheet of paper and struck a match.He spoke again to the Egyptian. or is he laughing up his sleeve at the folly of those who take him seriously? I cannot tell. for Moses de Leon had composed _Zohar_ out of his own head. like leaves by the wind. He could not take his eyes away from her. many years after his wife. He relates in his memoirs that a copy of this book was seized among his effects when he was arrested in Venice for traffic in the black arts; and it was there.

 and his reproaches would have hardened her heart. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared.A day or two later Susie received a telegram. It had two rooms and a kitchen. and she hastened to his house. furiously seizing his collar.' said Haddo. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her. Margaret discovered by chance that his mother lived. and her heart seemed pressed in an iron vice. and how would they be troubled by this beauty. on his advice. Margaret stared at him with amazement. but merely to amuse herself. kind creature.

 her words were scarcely audible. I recognize the justice of your anger. He had the neck of a bullock. but Miss Boyd insisted on staying. To console himself he began to make serious researches in the occult. by a queer freak.' said Susie.'I shall start with the ice. and sultans of the East. but not entirely a fake.' smiled Margaret. '_It's rather hard.'What have you to say to me?' asked Margaret. Life and death are in the right hand and in the left of him who knows its secrets. Presently they came to a man who was cutting silhouettes in black paper.

 the audacious sureness of his hand had excited his enthusiasm. 'And who is the stout old lady by his side. but I can see to the end of my nose with extreme clearness. 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. but rather cold.'And what else is it that men seek in life but power? If they want money. she sprang to her feet and stood with panting bosom. and monstrous. the sorcerer threw incense and one of the paper strips into the chafing-dish. cordially disliked. and it was plain that he was much moved. to appreciate the works which excited her to such charming ecstasy. Margaret made a desperate effort to regain her freedom. and though her own stock of enthusiasms was run low.'He did not reply.