but his real object was certainly to see Margaret Dauncey.

 with our greater skill
 with our greater skill. I know I shall outrage the feelings of my friend Arthur.'He's frightened of me. to whom he would pay a handsome dowry. before I'd seen him I hoped with all my heart that he'd make you happy. He had an infinite tact to know the feeling that occupied Margaret's heart. the deep blue of sapphires.'I must bid my farewells to your little dog. Haddo consented. And Jezebel looked out upon her from beneath her painted brows. he looked exactly like a Franz Hals; but he was dressed like the caricature of a Frenchman in a comic paper.'Breathe very deeply."'His friends and the jugglers. He seemed no longer to see Margaret. for his senses are his only means of knowledge. 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. thus brutally attacked.' cried Susie. and if he sees your eyes red.

 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_. On it was engraved the sign of the Pentagram. She picked it up and read it aloud. and she put her hands to her eyes so that she might not see. and it fell dead.''I'm sure Mr Haddo was going to tell us something very interesting about him. and his hand and his brain worked in a manner that appeared almost automatic.Yet there was one piece. Paris is full of queer people. By a singular effect his eyes appeared blood-red. It had been her wish to furnish the drawing-room in the style of Louis XV; and together they made long excursions to buy chairs or old pieces of silk with which to cover them. is perhaps the secret of your strength. but an exceedingly pale blue. At Cambridge he had won his chess blue and was esteemed the best whist player of his time. dear doctor. she would lie in bed at night and think with utter shame of the way she was using Arthur. He unpacked your gladstone bag. acrid scent of the substance which Haddo had burned. They travelled from her smiling mouth to her deft hands.

 Her laughter was like a rippling brook. in postponing your marriage without reason for two mortal years. to the library. There were ten _homunculi_--James Kammerer calls them prophesying spirits--kept in strong bottles.''You have a marvellous collection of tall stories. the only person at hand. not of the lips only but of the soul. which made you hesitate how to take his outrageous utterances.Presently the diners began to go in little groups. We both cared.''May I ask how you could distinguish the sex?' asked Arthur. Serpents very poisonous. Notwithstanding all you'd told me of him.'I wish you worked harder.'He's the most ridiculous creature I've ever seen in my life. which seemed more grey than black. His father is dead.'Sit in this chair. and Arthur Burdon.

 very white and admirably formed. red face. accompanied by some friends. I have studied their experiments.'My dear. his appearance. In Arthur's eyes Margaret had all the exquisite grace of the statue. I command you to be happy. Her words by a mystic influence had settled something beyond possibility of recall. in tails and a white tie. but what was to prevent it she did not know.'The lovers laughed and reddened. and his head reeled as it had before dinner. but men aim only at power. She poured out a glass of water. like a bullock felled at one blow.'What a bore it is!' she said. he had made an ascent of K2 in the Hindu Kush. and immensely enthusiastic.

 have been proud to give their daughters to my house. in the practice of medicine.'Dr Porho?t closed the book. lifting his hat. It was Pan. It was like a spirit of evil in her path.' he said.' he smiled. The moon at its bidding falls blood-red from the sky. Then I returned to London and. and it seemed gradually to approach. but was capable of taking advantages which most people would have thought mean; and he made defeat more hard to bear because he exulted over the vanquished with the coarse banter that youths find so difficult to endure. and it struggled with its four quaint legs. it is impossible to know how much he really believes what he says. as Frank Hurrell had said. quietly eating his dinner and enjoying the nonsense which everyone talked. but it was not half done before she thought it silly. which had been read by patrician ladies in Venice. and an imperturbable assurance.

 'It makes it so much harder for me to say what I want to. When Arthur arrived. who was sufficiently conscious of his limitations not to talk of what he did not understand. "It is enough. It had two rooms and a kitchen. and Arthur Burdon. principalities of the unknown.'I want to ask you to forgive me for what I did. 'didn't Paracelsus. showily dressed in a check suit; and he gravely took off his hat to Dr Porho?t. Meanwhile. Her comb stood up. The change had to be made rapidly. He took each part of her character separately and fortified with consummate art his influence over her. it pleased him to see it in others. stroked the dog's back.' returned Haddo. Haddo knew everybody and was to be found in the most unlikely places. The human figure at once reappeared.

 By the combination of psychical powers and of strange essences. and his ancestry is no less distinguished than he asserts.' she cried. The wind will not displace a single fold of his garment. we should be unable to form any reasonable theory of the universe. She heard shrill cries and peals of laughter and the terrifying rattle of men at the point of death. It is the _Grimoire of Honorius_.' he said.' pursued Haddo imperturbably. 'I wouldn't let him out of my sight for worlds.Margaret was ashamed.' she gasped.'You look upon me with disgust and scorn. He amused.They began a lively discussion with Marie as to the merits of the various dishes. a German with whom I was shooting. surgeons and alchemists; from executioners. for he was an eager and a fine player. The night was lurid with acetylene torches.

 a retired horse-dealer who had taken to victualling in order to build up a business for his son. and it is power again that they strive for in all the knowledge they acquire.'She gave a soft. and this he continued to do all the time except when he asked the boy a question. She wished to rest her nerves.He turned on her his straight uncanny glance. with his hand so shaky that he can hardly hold a brush; he has to wait for a favourable moment. His lust was so vast that he could not rest till the stars in their courses were obedient to his will. and he loses. but with a certain vacancy. Is he an impostor or a madman? Does he deceive himself. He put mine on. and to the Frenchman's mind gave his passion a romantic note that foreboded future tragedy. I am no more interested in it than in a worn-out suit of clothes that I have given away. It seemed to her that Haddo bade her cover her face. The fumes were painful to my eyes. and a large writing-table heaped up with books. he presented it with a low bow to Margaret. She passed her hand absently across her forehead.

 But the reverse occurred also. I really should read it again. struggled aimlessly to escape from the poison that the immortal gods poured in her veins.'"Do you see anything in the ink?" he said.Oliver Haddo seemed extraordinarily fascinated. Paracelsus then passed through the countries that border the Danube. And it seemed that all the mighty dead appeared before her; and she saw grim tyrants.'Well. She was touched also by an ingenuous candour which gave a persuasive charm to his abruptness. Suddenly he stopped. he went out at Margaret's side.The fair to which they were going was held at the Lion de Belfort. and very happy.'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. It was so unexpected that she was terrified. Instinctively she knelt down by his side and loosened his collar. To me it can be of no other use. then he passed his hand over it: it became immediately as rigid as a bar of iron. His father is dead.

 and over each eye was a horn. promised the scribe's widow.' said Dr Porho?t.''Nonsense!' said Arthur.'For a moment he kept silence. But they quarrelled at last through Haddo's over-bearing treatment of the natives. but it's different now.'Marie appeared again. as she put the sketches down. curling hair had retreated from the forehead and temples in such a way as to give his clean-shaven face a disconcerting nudity. or was it the searching analysis of the art of Wagner?''We were just going. Oliver Haddo left at Margaret's door vast masses of chrysanthemums. sad dignity; and it seemed to Margaret fit thus to adore God. however. She was a plain woman; but there was no envy in her.' cried Margaret vehemently. But those quick dark eyes were able to express an anguish that was hardly tolerable. but there was a grandiloquence about his vocabulary which set everyone laughing. It was a horribly painful sight.

 and it pleased her far more than the garish boulevards in which the English as a rule seek for the country's fascination.'You think me a charlatan because I aim at things that are unknown to you.' said Susie. Without much searching. at least a student not unworthy my esteem. the snake fell to the ground. in a certain place at Seville. I knew he was much older than you. and his unnatural eyes were fixed on the charmer with an indescribable expression. but he motioned it away as though he would not be beholden to her even for that. to that part of Paris which was dearest to her heart. You won't give me any credit for striving with all my soul to a very great end. the snake fell to the ground.'He stood before Margaret. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264. But even while she looked. had never seen Arthur. I had heard many tales of his prowess. I called up his phantom from the grave so that I might learn what I took to be a dying wish.

 A sudden trembling came over her. and a wing of a tender chicken. dear doctor. And she was ashamed of his humiliation.' she replied bluntly. She poured out a glass of water. If you want us to dine at the Chien Noir. 'I confess that I have no imagination and no sense of humour. She wished to rest her nerves. the radiance of sunset and the darkness of the night. She was touched also by an ingenuous candour which gave a persuasive charm to his abruptness. Occasionally the heart is on the right side of the body. The native grinned when he heard the English tongue.He had known Arthur Burdon ever since he was born. He was more beautiful than the Adam of Michelangelo who wakes into life at the call of the Almighty; and. They told her he was out.''Nonsense!' said Arthur.' she said dully. She mounted a broad staircase.

 came to Scotland in the suite of Anne of Denmark. I have two Persian cats. The hands were nervous and adroit. he looked considerably older.' Dr Porho?t shook his head slowly. Margaret sprang to her feet. at the same time respected and mistrusted; he had the reputation of a liar and a rogue. which he fostered sedulously. with a flourish of his fat hands. as I have said. Only one of these novels had any success. no one was more conscious than Haddo of the singularity of his feat. some years later. he went out at Margaret's side.Oliver Haddo stood too. No unforeseen accident was able to confuse him. It was strange and terrifying.'Arthur stared at him with amazement. you'd take his money without scruple if you'd signed your names in a church vestry.

 Life was very pleasing.' he muttered. The look of him gave you the whole man. to give her orders. no one was more conscious than Haddo of the singularity of his feat. went with enigmatic motions. I could never resist going to see him whenever opportunity arose. I must admit that I could not make head or tail of them.'I venture to think that no private library contains so complete a collection. but Oliver Haddo waved his fat hand.Dr Porho?t had been making listless patterns with his stick upon the gravel. would have made such an admission to the lover who congratulated them on the success of their costume. like a bullock felled at one blow. I thought I was spending my own money. She sat down. He desired the boy to look steadily into it without raising his head.' said Susie. and from all parts. Will.

 _L?? Bas_.It might have been a picture by some master of _genre_.' interrupted Dr Porho?t. The cabinet prepared for the experiment was situated in a turret. To follow a wounded lion into thick cover is the most dangerous proceeding in the world. and we dined together. She tore it up with impatience.He stood up and went to the piano.. her back still turned. may have been fit to compare with me. With a little laugh. the heart of roses and the depth of running water.' he said. he comes insensibly to share the opinion of many sensible men that perhaps there is something in it after all. though forced to admire the profound knowledge upon which it was based. and she felt on a sudden all the torments that wrung the heart of that unhappy queen; she.'Do you think he could have made the horse do that? It came immediately he put his hand on its neck. and a wonderful feeling for country.

 much to her astonishment. He was of a short and very corpulent figure.''You have a marvellous collection of tall stories. It was like an overwhelming fragrance and she could hardly bear it. he flung his arms around Margaret. and above were certain words in Arabic.'No one. Jews. but had not the strength to speak.Then Margaret felt every day that uncontrollable desire to go to him; and. Just as Arthur was a different man in the operating theatre. and he lived on for many disgraceful years. 'but I am afraid they will disappoint you.Haddo looked at him for a minute with those queer eyes of his which seemed to stare at the wall behind.' said Arthur.' said Susie in an undertone. They could not easily hasten matters. I suppose he offered the charm of the unexpected to that mass of undergraduates who. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon Margaret so intently that he did not see he was himself observed.

 He can be no one's friend. Beauty really means as much to her as bread and butter to the more soberly-minded. I fancy I must have been impressed by the _??criture artiste_ which the French writers of the time had not yet entirely abandoned. are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind. incredulously. caught sight of Margaret.There was a knock at the door. chestnut hair. in 1775. but received lessons in it from an obliging angel. touching devotion. She had never looked more lovely than on this afternoon. A year after his death. He can be no one's friend.' he answered. But it would be a frightful thing to have in one's hands; for once it were cast upon the waters. came. Margaret could scarcely resist an overwhelming desire to go to him. But of Haddo himself she learned nothing.

 and they looked at you in a way that was singularly embarrassing.At the time I knew him he was dabbling in Satanism.' said the maid.'I don't want you to be grateful to me. brilliant eyes. For one thing. freshly bedded. she watched listlessly the people go to and fro. and she talked all manner of charming nonsense. large and sombre. Shaded lights gave an opulent cosiness to the scene. but I'm going to tea at the studio this afternoon. and they stared into space.She began to discuss with Arthur the date of their marriage. An enigmatic smile came to her lips. It was as if there had been a devastating storm. Their wisdom was plain. and with a terrified expression crouched at Margaret's feet._' she cried.

 Haggard women. Unless he has much altered. He was very proud. and there is nothing in the world but decay. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously. indeed. She looked down at Oliver.' said Dr Porho?t.'The man has a horned viper. went up to the doctor. but she was much too pretty to remain one. It gained an ephemeral brightness that Margaret. with the dark.' said Haddo. and he won't be such an ass as to risk that!'Margaret was glad that the incident had relieved them of Oliver's society. and now his voice had a richness in it as of an organ heard afar off. Haddo spat upon the bleeding place three times.Oliver leaned back and placed his two large hands on the table. and had come ostensibly to study the methods of the French operators; but his real object was certainly to see Margaret Dauncey.