it matter to you if I forgive or not?''You have not pity.

'Dr Porho?t
'Dr Porho?t. I found life pleasant and I enjoyed myself. and I can't put him off. Since I could not afford to take cabs. The door was shut. But of Haddo himself she learned nothing. and she took a first glance at them in general. and converses intimately with the Seven Genii who command the celestial army. curled over the head with an infinite grace. and she did not know if they walked amid rocks or tombs. It turned out that he played football admirably. None had ever whispered in her ears the charming nonsense that she read in books. and this was that he did something out of the common. but probably. Hastily I slipped another cartridge in my rifle.

'You brute.' laughed Arthur. Whenever he could snatch a free day he spent it on the golf-links of Sunningdale. She was like a person drowning. so that I need not here say more about it. my son. For some reason Haddo made no resistance. as if in pursuance of a definite plan. it occurred to her suddenly that she had no reason to offer for her visit. With a little laugh. and was hurriedly introduced to a lanky youth.'If anything happens to me. and now it was Mona Lisa and now the subtle daughter of Herodias.'The pain of the dog's bite was so keen that I lost my temper. He spoke of frankincense and myrrh and aloes.

 and she was filled with delight at the thought of the happiness she would give him. He prepared himself for twenty-one days. must have the greatest effect on the imagination. recognized himself in the creature of my invention. The very plane trees had a greater sobriety than elsewhere. his lips broke into a queer. I must go to bed early. But the daughter of Herodias raised her hands as though. in playing a vile trick on her.' said Arthur.'I've been waiting for you. Shaded lights gave an opulent cosiness to the scene.'Arthur made no reply.'Much. but could not resist his fascination.

 and except for his rather scornful indolence he might easily have got his blue. the garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia.It stood in that fair wide gallery where is the mocking faun. conversation. low laugh and stretched out her hand on the table. They began to speak of trivial things. It is cause for congratulation that my gibes. with a hateful smile on his face. the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes. silent already. He was very tall and had a magnificent figure. I amused myself hugely and wrote a bad novel. Dr Porho?t. Raggles put on his coat with the scarlet lining and went out with the tall Jagson. my son-in-law.

 And the men take off their hats. by the desire to be as God. but he did not wince.' she whispered. His folly and the malice of his rivals prevented him from remaining anywhere for long.'Those about him would have killed the cobra.They had arranged to eat at a fashionable restaurant on the other side of the river. Margaret had never seen so much unhappiness on a man's face. As a rule. something of unsatisfied desire and of longing for unhuman passions. His memory flashed for an instant upon those multi-coloured streets of Alexandria; and then. and Arthur. All about me was the immensity of Africa and the silence. for he was always exceedingly vain. He spoke of unhallowed things.

 since by chance I met the other night at dinner at Queen Anne's Gate a man who had much to tell me of him. He observed with satisfaction the pride which Arthur took in his calling and the determination.''Very well. Was it the celebrated harangue on the greatness of Michelangelo. the day before. and. who is an example of the fact that strength of will and an earnest purpose cannot make a painter. caught sight of Margaret. It was characteristic that. To console himself he began to make serious researches in the occult. rough hewn like a statue in porphyry.' she said. '_Je vous aime tous. and his nose delicately shaped. for he offers the fascinating problem of an immensely complex character.

 'You never saw a man who looked less like a magician. and in due course published a vast number of mystical works dealing with magic in all its branches. Beauty really means as much to her as bread and butter to the more soberly-minded. Her heart was uplifted from the sordidness of earth. They talked of the places they must go to. while Margaret put the tea things away. and we've known one another much too long to change our minds. and she remembered that Haddo had stood by her side. of all the books that treat of occult science.My dear Burdon:It is singular that you should write just now to ask what I know of Oliver Haddo.'With the grace that marked all her movements she walked cross the studio. But he shook himself and straightened his back. and a lust for the knowledge that was arcane. He talked in flowing periods with an air of finality. and he had no fear of failure.

 It was burning as brilliantly. another on Monday afternoon. and fashionable courtesans. He seemed to put into the notes a troubling. Her contempt for him. my dear Clayson. He spoke English with a Parisian accent. power over the very elements. to invoke outlandish gods. curled over the head with an infinite grace. but I doubt if it is more than a name to you. She is never tired of listening to my prosy stories of your childhood in Alexandria. but with a certain vacancy. and winged serpents. his lips were drawn back from the red gums.

 but he staggered and with a groan tumbled to his knees."'The magician put the second and third of the small strips of paper into the chafing-dish. mingling with his own fantasies the perfect words of that essay which. and the travellers found themselves in a very dangerous predicament.''Your friend seems to have had as little fear of spooks as you have of lions. The baldness of his crown was vaguely like a tonsure. There was always something mysterious about him. and tinged the eyelids and the hands. some in the fantastic rags of the beggars of Albrecht D??rer and some in the grey cerecloths of Le Nain; many wore the blouses and the caps of the rabble in France. she has been dead many times. She reproached Arthur in her heart because he had never understood what was in her. and. The style is lush and turgid.''I'm glad that I was able to help you. and her consciousness of the admiration she excited increased her beauty.

 Meissen. It's not you I'm frightened for now. It was a feather in my cap. and he made life almost insufferable for his fellow-traveller in consequence. roaring loudly and clawing at the air. What had she done? She was afraid. He had the neck of a bullock. carried wine; and when they spilt it there were stains like the stains of blood.'This statement.'Go home. though it adds charm to a man's personality. but could utter no sound.' said the maid. he was extremely handsome. contemned.

 The long toil in which so many had engaged. She felt an extraordinary languor.'"He has done. To console himself he began to make serious researches in the occult. 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. She was seized with revulsion. Mr Haddo has given you one definition of magic.' said Margaret. _The Magician_ was published in 1908.' he said. however. the mysticism of the Middle Ages. Nearly fifty years had passed since I had done so. low tones mysteriously wrung her heartstrings. Margaret looked through the portfolio once more.

 I had hit her after all. which I called _A Man of Honour_. the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery. or that the lines of the wall and the seated persons achieved such a graceful decoration. He could not keep it by himself. She understood how men had bartered their souls for infinite knowledge. It struck Arthur that he should say something polite. I felt that. showed that he was no fool. He put his arm around her waist. While still a medical student I had published a novel called _Liza of Lambeth_ which caused a mild sensation. I think you would be inclined to say.Burdon was astonished. It was irritating to be uncertain whether. because while the _homunculi_ were exposed to the air they closed their eyes and seemed to grow weak and unconscious.

 It was at Constantinople that.I have heard vaguely that he was travelling over the world. like a man racked by torments who has not the strength even to realize that his agony has ceased. but secretly she was not displeased. show them. Oliver Haddo proceeded to eat these dishes in the order he had named. and clattered down the stairs into the street. I waited till the train came in. Her heart gave a great beat against her chest. and yet your admiration was alloyed with an unreasoning terror. recovering herself first. he had only taken mental liberties with the Ten Commandments.Though these efforts of mine brought me very little money. He desired the boy to look steadily into it without raising his head. and you were kept perpetually on the alert.

 take me in for one moment. and all besought her not to show too hard a heart to the bald and rubicund painter.'Madam. But they quarrelled at last through Haddo's over-bearing treatment of the natives. The bottles were closed with a magic seal.''But now I hope with all my heart that you'll make him happy. they claim to have created forms in which life became manifest. low laugh and stretched out her hand on the table.' she cried. you may have heard. But the delight of it was so great that he could scarcely withhold a cry of agony. and he kissed her lips.Susie knew.He turned on her his straight uncanny glance. and spiritual kingdoms of darkness.

' she said. the Netherlands. Susie was enchanted with the strange musty smell of the old books. I'm perfectly delighted to meet a magician.''I have not finished yet. Of course.Haddo looked round at the others. He seemed neither disconcerted nor surprised. and she looked older. dreadfully afraid. and made a droning sound. and this is a particularly rare copy.Margaret was ashamed. of the _concierge_.'Can it matter to you if I forgive or not?''You have not pity.