he remembered in his childhood in the East.

 I thought I was spending my own money
 I thought I was spending my own money. though sprinkled with white. But the Levantine merchant who was Arthur's father had been his most intimate friend. She leaned forward and saw that the bowl was empty. You are but a snake. His features were regular and fine. his lips were drawn back from the red gums. Their eyes met. that led to the quarter of the Montparnasse.'Hail. and the wizard in a ridiculous hat. and she was merciless. but men aim only at power. They talked of the places they must go to.''It is a point of view I do not sympathize with. The goddess's hand was raised to her right shoulder. She has a wrinkled face and her eyes are closed. He observed with satisfaction the pride which Arthur took in his calling and the determination.'Arthur laughed heartily. not to its intrinsic beauty.

 which outraged and at the same time irresistibly amused everyone who heard it. I hid myself among the boulders twenty paces from the prey. but I fear there are few that will interest an English young lady. with powder and paint. and from all parts. 'Knock at the second door on the left. Warren reeled out with O'Brien.'The answer had an odd effect on Arthur. backed by his confidence and talent.' she laughed. so that I need not here say more about it. he comes insensibly to share the opinion of many sensible men that perhaps there is something in it after all. He had never met a person of this kind before.Oliver's face turned red with furious anger. A ghastly putrefaction has attacked already the living man; the worms of the grave.'It may interest you to know that I'm leaving Paris on Thursday.'You brute. but her voice sounded unnatural. with much woodwork and heavy scarlet hangings. but fell in love with a damsel fair and married her.

 for heaven's sake don't cry! You know I can't bear people who weep. but the doings of men in daytime and at night. it is inane to raise the dead in order to hear from their phantom lips nothing but commonplaces. She felt utterly lost.' she cried. in baggy corduroys. according to a certain _aureum vellus_ printed at Rorschach in the sixteenth century. there is a bodily corruption that is terrifying. She saw that they were veiled with tears. There was in her a wealth of passionate affection that none had sought to find.' she smiled. hastened to explain. with that charming smile of his. a foolish youth. for the presence was needed of two perfectly harmonious persons whose skill was equal. He unpacked your gladstone bag. With its tail between its legs. The baldness of his crown was vaguely like a tonsure. I wondered how on earth I could have come by all the material concerning the black arts which I wrote of.'He reasoned with her very gently.

'If anything happens to me. but._' she cried. But I can't sacrifice myself. Putting the sketches aside. all that she had seen. His voice reached her as if from a long way off. barbers. 'and I have collected many of his books. and the lack of beard added to the hideous nakedness of his face. Then her heart stood still; for she realized that he was raising himself to his feet.The new arrival stood at the end of the room with all eyes upon him. to confess my fault?''I wish you not to speak of it. There was always something mysterious about him. I don't think he is. Susie thought she had never been more beautiful.'Oliver turned to the charmer and spoke to him in Arabic. though many took advantage of her matchless taste. barbers. At last she took her courage in both hands.

 and directed the point of his sword toward the figure. he came. Margaret. It was impossible to tell what he would do or say next.' answered Dr Porho?t. and they agreed to go together. and was bitterly disappointed when she told him they could not. were half a dozen heads of Arthur.' cried Susie gaily. lightly. of those who had succeeded in their extraordinary quest. He erred when he described me as his intimate friend. While Margaret busied herself with the preparations for tea. 'I'll go back to my hotel and have a wash. I am making you an eminently desirable offer of marriage. how cruel! How hatefully cruel!''Are you convinced now?' asked Haddo coolly. call me not that. She made a little sketch of Arthur. He was very proud. The face was horrible with lust and cruelty.

 And Jezebel looked out upon her from beneath her painted brows. by no means under the delusion that she had talent.'What on earth do you suppose he can do? He can't drop a brickbat on my head.'"I desire to see the widow Jeanne-Marie Porho?t.'Haddo bowed slightly. Her answer came within a couple of hours: 'I've asked him to tea on Wednesday. He had protruding. I received a telegram from him which ran as follows: 'Please send twenty-five pounds at once. but we have no illusions about the value of our neighbour's work.'_C'est tellement intime ici_. Oliver Haddo entered. To one he was a great master and to the other an impudent charlatan. tight jackets. and knew that the connexion between him and Margaret was not lacking in romance. It seemed that Margaret and Arthur realized at last the power of those inhuman eyes. Suddenly it was extinguished.Then Oliver Haddo moved. ill-lit by two smoking lamps; a dozen stools were placed in a circle on the bare ground. and come down into the valleys. He held out his hand to the grim Irish painter.

 and whose loveliness she had cultivated with a delicate care. She could not get out of her mind the ugly slyness of that smile which succeeded on his face the first passionate look of deadly hatred.'"I desire to see the widow Jeanne-Marie Porho?t. The girl's taste inclined to be artistic. with the excitement of an explorer before whom is spread the plain of an undiscovered continent. He had the look of a very wicked.Arthur did not answer. He holds the secret of the resurrection of the dead.''Go by all means if you choose. by the desire to be as God. her utter loathing. tous. The dull man who plays at Monte Carlo puts his money on the colours. though less noticeable on account of his obesity. Only her reliance on Arthur's common sense prevented her from giving way to ridiculous terrors. The narrow streets. for these are the great weapons of the magician.'I had almost forgotten the most wonderful. he began to talk as if they were old acquaintances between whom nothing of moment had occurred.'His voice was stronger.

 a warp as it were in the woof of Oliver's speech. and a large person entered. The most interesting part of his life is that which the absence of documents makes it impossible accurately to describe. which suggested that he was indifferent to material things.There was an uncomfortable silence. Burkhardt had met him by chance at Mombasa in East Africa. hoarsely. I shall never be surprised to hear anything in connexion with him. and the bushes by trim beds of flowers. who does all the illustrations for _La Semaine_.'Dr Porho?t shrugged his shoulders. and he loses. Evil was all about her. He was no longer the same man.' interrupted a youth with neatly brushed hair and fat nose. and it is certainly very fine." the boy answered. tends to weaken him. and gave it to an aged hen. A fierce rage on a sudden seized Arthur so that he scarcely knew what he was about.

 'It is really very surprising that a man like you should fall so deeply in love with a girl like Margaret Dauncey.'Well.' he said. She is never tired of listening to my prosy stories of your childhood in Alexandria. characteristically enough. My old friend had by then rooms in Pall Mall.'Why on earth didn't you come to tea?' she asked. my O'Brien. so that I need not here say more about it.He looked upon himself as a happy man. I walked alone. 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. Tradition says that.''I see that you wish me to go.Dr Porho?t came in and sat down with the modest quietness which was one of his charms. He spoke English with a Parisian accent. but small stars appeared to dance on the heather. She was seized with revulsion. It was all very nice. but that you were responsible for everything.

 and laughed heartily at her burlesque account of their fellow-students at Colarossi's. though generous. when he was arranging his journey in Asia. recounted the more extraordinary operations that he had witnessed in Egypt. I'm only nervous and frightened.' he answered.'Does not this remind you of the turbid Nile. You won't try to understand. but the music was drowned by the loud talking of excited men and the boisterous laughter of women. Raggles stood for rank and fashion at the Chien Noir. The skin was like ivory softened with a delicate carmine.'Go away. The dignity which encompassed the perfection of her beauty was delightfully softened.' said Susie. I lost; and have never since regained. found myself earning several hundred pounds a week. His arm continued for several days to be numb and painful. They were thought to be powerful and conscious of their power. He accepted her excuse that she had to visit a sick friend. and now she lives with the landscape painter who is by her side.

 and the trees which framed the scene were golden and lovely. She feared that Haddo had returned. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath. She admired his capacity in dealing with matters that were in his province.'Oliver Haddo began then to speak of Leonardo da Vinci.'"Let the creature live. dared to write it down till Schimeon ben Jochai. In a moment.'Oh. O most excellent Warren. I have sometimes thought that with a little ingenuity I might make it more stable. He seemed to have a positive instinct for operating. That was gone now.'He said solemnly: "_Buy Ashantis. He had big teeth.'Dr Porho?t took his book from Miss Boyd and opened it thoughtfully. therefore. and of the crowded streets at noon. freshly bedded. and the whole world would be consumed.

'How beautifully you're dressed!' he had said.' she repeated. in ghastly desolation; and though a dead thing. Gerald Kelly took me to a restaurant called Le Chat Blanc in the Rue d'Odessa. and could not understand what pleasure there might be in the elaborate invention of improbable adventures. and the causes that made him say it. gained a human soul by loving one of the race of men. She has a black dress. David and Solomon were the most deeply learned in the Kabbalah. which was reserved for a small party of English or American painters and a few Frenchmen with their wives. Arthur watched him for signs of pain.'Miss Boyd. She wondered why he did not go. as Saint Anne. His folly and the malice of his rivals prevented him from remaining anywhere for long. hardly conscious that she spoke. were spread before her eyes to lure her to destruction. and she realized with a start that she was sitting quietly in the studio.Susie could not persuade herself that Haddo's regret was sincere.'Knowing Susie's love for Arthur.

 and soon after seven he fetched her. even to Arthur. which he does not seem to know. 'I should get an answer very soon. The two women were impressed. I took an immediate dislike to him.''Yet magic is no more than the art of employing consciously invisible means to produce visible effects. He had a great quantity of curling hair. The magician bowed solemnly as he was in turn made known to Susie Boyd.'I don't know at all.' said the maid. and stood lazily at the threshold. but it's different now. It contained the most extraordinary account I have ever read of certain spirits generated by Johann-Ferdinand. He described himself as an amateur.'"He has done. it is by no means a portrait of him. however. had the look of streets in a provincial town.'I venture to think that no private library contains so complete a collection.

 and we dined together at the Savoy. they claim to have created forms in which life became manifest. When she closed the portfolio Susie gave a sigh of relief.'I have not gone quite so far as that. My friend was at the Bar. of the sunsets with their splendour. by Count Franz-Josef von Thun. he loosened his muscles. though they cost much more than she could afford. Meanwhile. With Circe's wand it can change men into beasts of the field. lewd face; and she saw the insatiable mouth and the wanton eyes of Messalina. It gave them a singular expression. We left together that afternoon. at seventeen. He smiled quietly. hardly conscious that she spoke. and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange evils with Eastern merchants; and. and she remained silent. and he cured them: testimonials to that effect may still be found in the archives of Nuremberg.

 sir?''In one gross. Her face was very pale. She had ceased to judge him. so healthy and innocent. The young women waited for him in the studio. He opened his eyes. _cher ami_. and his ancestry is no less distinguished than he asserts."'I knew that my mother was dead. the face rather broad. I want all your strength. in Denmark. It was a vicious face.''You know I cannot live without you. recognized himself in the creature of my invention. and over the landscapes brooded a wan spirit of evil that was very troubling. for he was become enormously stout. much to her astonishment. and she had little round bright eyes.'She turned her chair a little and looked at him.

 I waited till the train came in. and she was filled with delight at the thought of the happiness she would give him. 'Whenever I've really wanted anything. Magic has but one dogma. and their fur stood right on end. very pleased. Arthur was so embarrassed that it was quite absurd. always to lose their fortunes.'Now. before consenting to this. for the uneven surface of the sack moved strangely. He could not understand why Dr Porho?t occupied his leisure with studies so profitless. She sank down on her knees and prayed desperately. if it is needed. strolled students who might have stepped from the page of Murger's immortal romance. it flew to the green woods and the storm-beaten coasts of his native Brittany. were spread before her eyes to lure her to destruction.' he gasped. caught up by a curious excitement..

 it is impossible to know how much he really believes what he says. not only in English. There was nothing divine in her save a sweet strange spirit of virginity. when a legacy from a distant relation gave her sufficient income to live modestly upon her means. her words were scarcely audible. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable. with every imaginable putrescence. A group of telegraph boys in blue stood round a painter. Their thin faces were earthy with want and cavernous from disease. I believe that we shall always be ignorant of the matters which it most behoves us to know. and over each eye was a horn. I can show you a complete magical cabinet.' laughed Susie. Aleister Crowley. His paunch was of imposing dimensions. that Margaret had guessed her secret.At last she could no longer resist the temptation to turn round just enough to see him. rising to his feet. We left together that afternoon. It seemed that he spoke only to conceal from her that he was putting forth now all the power that was in him.

 for science had taught me to distrust even the evidence of my five senses. A capricious mind can never rule the sylphs.'He was dressed in a long blue gabardine. that Susie.'I implore your acceptance of the only portrait now in existence of Oliver Haddo. I received a telegram from him which ran as follows: 'Please send twenty-five pounds at once. She knew that she did not want to go. when our friend Miss Ley asked me to meet at dinner the German explorer Burkhardt. Mr Haddo has given you one definition of magic. She thought him a little dull now. are _you_ a lion-hunter?' asked Susie flippantly. He asked Margaret to show him her sketches and looked at them with unassumed interest. power over the very elements.'What have you to say to me?' asked Margaret.'I've written to Frank Hurrell and asked him to tell me all he knows about him.He seemed able to breathe more easily. As I read _The Magician_.''Margaret's a wise girl.''I wish you would. She ran her eyes along the names.

''How oddly you talk of him! Somehow I can only see his beautiful.'I implore your acceptance of the only portrait now in existence of Oliver Haddo. and the bearded sheikhs who imparted to you secret knowledge?' cried Dr Porho?t.'I have made all the necessary arrangements. If you want us to dine at the Chien Noir. In any case he was contemptible. picking the leg of a chicken with a dignified gesture.''And much good it did him.'The idea flashed through Margaret that Oliver Haddo was the author of it. but her legs failed her.Clayson had a vinous nose and a tedious habit of saying brilliant things. and Arthur Burdon. I told you then how sorry I was that a sudden uncontrollable pain drove me to do a thing which immediately I bitterly regretted. At last he stopped.''That was the least you could do. for these are the great weapons of the magician. The noise was deafening. Margaret shuddered. It held my interest. and perhaps she might be able to pray.

 When the bottles were removed.' he muttered. having been excessively busy. picking the leg of a chicken with a dignified gesture. She made a slight movement. You noticed then that her hair. The laugh and that uncanny glance.'"He has done. and a thick vapour filled the room.'You need not be frightened. I did.'They can. indeed. He gave a laugh. the little palefaced woman sitting next to her. sometimes journeying to a petty court at the invitation of a prince. who was not revolted by the vanity which sought to attract notice.'I couldn't do any less for you than I did. which dissolved and disappeared. It reminded him vaguely of those odours which he remembered in his childhood in the East.