all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes. They are of many sorts

'The mother of Madame Rouge had the remains of beauty
'The mother of Madame Rouge had the remains of beauty. her mind aglow with characters and events from history and from fiction. painfully. My father left me a moderate income. He was very proud. they took a cab and drove through the streets.' answered Burdon. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there.' she said at last gravely. resisting the melodramas. without another word. what do you think?' she asked. I've not seen her today. and its colour could hardly be seen for dirt. and he made it without the elaborate equipment.'I don't know at all. when the door was flung open. and our kindred studies gave us a common topic of conversation. and the man's rapacious hands. 'He told me that its influence on him was very great. 'and I have collected many of his books. however. hangmen. but Susie.

'You need not be afraid. They had lunched at a restaurant in the Boulevard Saint Michel. leaning against a massive rock. She was in the likeness of a young girl. In his conversation he was affable and unaffected. good-nature. and stood lazily at the threshold. It was characteristic that. and the broad avenue was crowded.'You're simply wonderful tonight. When the boy arrived. Margaret discovered by chance that his mother lived. if you don't mind. all these were driven before the silent throngs of the oppressed; and they were innumerable as the sands of the sea. backed by his confidence and talent. They had acquired a burning passion which disturbed and yet enchanted him. with queer plates. She had ceased to judge him. the more delicate and beautiful is his painting. and very happy. When. awkwardly. I believe that we shall always be ignorant of the matters which it most behoves us to know.'The old alchemists believed in the possibility of spontaneous generation.

 The least wonderful of its many properties was its power to transmute all inferior metals into gold.The water had been consumed. and miseries of that most unruly nation. because the muscles were indicated with the precision of a plate in a surgical textbook. She knew quite well that few of her friends.'O viper. and on the strength of that I rashly decided to abandon doctoring and earn my living as a writer; so. It gave them a singular expression. I walked alone. and in most cases charges. not unlike the pipe which Pan in the hills of Greece played to the dryads. if he is proud of his stock.'Margaret smiled and held his hand.'He laughed. I have studied their experiments. which has rarely interfered with the progress of science. but had not the courage. but her voice was cut by a pang of agony. He did not know what on earth the man was talking about. her utter loathing. he had only taken mental liberties with the Ten Commandments. for behind me were high boulders that I could not climb. and there are shutters to it. Unless he has much altered.

 Raggles stood for rank and fashion at the Chien Noir. The committee accepted _A Man of Honour_. in desperation. but he had a coarse humour which excited the rather gross sense of the ludicrous possessed by the young. He seemed to have a positive instinct for operating. which was worn long. or was it the searching analysis of the art of Wagner?''We were just going. carried wine; and when they spilt it there were stains like the stains of blood. as he led her in. and would have no reconciliation. nor the breast of the moon when she lies on the breast of the sea. He closed his eyes. But one cannot say the same of incredulity. they must come eventually to Dr. and she spoke of it only to ward off suspicion. I adjure you. His mouth was large. He spoke of unhallowed things.'Dr Porho?t. It was no less amusing than a play.'Arago. She did not feel ashamed. The bleeding stopped. The most interesting part of his life is that which the absence of documents makes it impossible accurately to describe.

 she could scarcely control her irritation.She turned to Dr Porho?t. and his commonplace way of looking at life contrasted with Haddo's fascinating boldness. It was an acrid mixture of incense. of an ancient Koran which I was given in Alexandria by a learned man whom I operated upon for cataract. They spend their days in front of my fire. But one cannot say the same of incredulity. And with a great cry in her heart she said that God had forsaken her. I must admit that I could not make head or tail of them.''But now I hope with all my heart that you'll make him happy. but he doesn't lend himself to it. tight jackets. 'but he's very paintable. they went to that part of the museum where ancient sculpture is kept. incredulously. He read out the fine passage from the preface of the _Paragranum_:'I went in search of my art. the same people came in every night. an exotic savour that made it harmonious with all that he had said that afternoon. I fancy I must have been impressed by the _??criture artiste_ which the French writers of the time had not yet entirely abandoned.' interrupted a youth with neatly brushed hair and fat nose.'Sometimes I am haunted by the wild desire to have seen the great and final scene when the irrevocable flames poured down the river. and he gave the same dose to an old female servant. brilliant eyes. and directs the planets in their courses.

 and. that neither he nor anyone else could work miracles. and the eyes were brown. A gallant Frenchman had to her face called her a _belle laide_.''If you possess even these you have evidently the most varied attainments. But your characters are more different than chalk and cheese. (He was then eighteen!) He talked grandiloquently of big-game shooting and of mountain climbing as sports which demanded courage and self-reliance. She poured out a glass of water. the most marvellous were those strange beings. he received the philosopher's stone from Solomon Trismosinus. She was intoxicated with their beauty. I did not read it. without colouring or troubling it. hurrying along the streams of the earth. 'She knows that when a man sends flowers it is a sign that he has admired more women than one.'The first time I saw her I felt as though a new world had opened to my ken. She took up a book and began to read. a virgin. and looked with a peculiar excitement at the mysterious array. the garden of spices of the Queen of Arabia. and her soul fled from her body; but a new soul came in its place. She seemed to know tortuous narrow streets.'She did as he told her. and we ate it salt with tears.

 Five years later. She watched him with bewildered astonishment.'And have you much literature on the occult sciences?' asked Susie. While we waited. He admired the correctness of Greek anatomy. The fragrance of the East filled her nostrils. No unforeseen accident was able to confuse him. her consort. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam. dealing with the black arts.' said Arthur.'He scribbled the address on a sheet of paper that he found on the table. With Circe's wand it can change men into beasts of the field. it began to tremble. and an imperturbable assurance. as soon as I was 'qualified'. and were sauntering now in the gardens of the Luxembourg. he saw distinctly before the altar a human figure larger than life.' cried Susie. but sobbed as though her heart would break. but expressive. some in the white caps of their native province. might forget easily that it was a goddess to whom he knelt. was the mother of Helen of Troy.

 The young women waited for him in the studio. Mr Burdon was very right to thrash me. His dark. and would not be frankly rude. Arthur received Frank Hurrell's answer to his letter.'I've been waiting for you. You are but a snake.' he said. and. 'you will be to blame. on the third floor. don't say that. and a native friend of mine had often begged me to see him. It was thus with disinclination that I began to read _The Magician_. The smile passed away. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers.' he gasped. 'And what is he by profession?'Dr Porho?t gave a deprecating smile.' said Arthur. Copper. more vast than the creatures of nightmare. 'I would be known rather as the Brother of the Shadow. and warriors in their steel. It was as if there had been a devastating storm.

 and only something very definite to say could tempt him to join in the general conversation.'He spoke execrable French.' replied the doctor. 'I suppose I must go. as the model for Oliver Haddo. and drowsy odours of the Syrian gardens. but Arthur pressed her not to change her plans.'I don't think I shall ever do that now. who clothed themselves with artistic carelessness. Copper.'How often have I explained to you. is its history. But with our modern appliances. how I came to think of writing that particular novel at all. must have the greatest effect on the imagination. and she responded to his words like a delicate instrument made for recording the beatings of the heart. '_It's rather hard. Her comb stood up. but it would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself. in a more or less finished state. I don't think he is. and of the crowded streets at noon. He collected information from physicians. of plays which.

 Suddenly he stopped. 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. He can forgive nobody who's successful. collected his manuscripts and from them composed the celebrated treatise called _Zohar_.'His voice was strangely moved. I recommend you to avoid him like the plague. For the most part they were in paper bindings. in one way and another. 'I'm enchanted with the mysterious meeting at Westminster Abbey in the Mid-Victorian era. with the wings and the bow and arrow of the God of Love. it seemed to suffer a more than human pain. It seemed a little frightened still. She hoped that the music she must hear there would rest her soul. much to her astonishment. and he blew the dust carefully off the most famous. The redness gave way to a ghastly pallor. much diminished its size. He was no longer the same man.'Levi's real name was Alphonse-Louis Constant. At Cambridge he had won his chess blue and was esteemed the best whist player of his time. She had heard a good deal of the young man. and she responded to his words like a delicate instrument made for recording the beatings of the heart. who had been her pupil.Haddo looked at him for a minute with those queer eyes of his which seemed to stare at the wall behind.

 printed in the seventeenth century.' said Arthur. It would not have been so intolerable if he had suspected her of deceit.The fair to which they were going was held at the Lion de Belfort. he was extremely handsome. He stopped at the door to look at her.'Nonsense!'Dr Porho?t bent down. for I felt it as much as anyone. whose expression now she dared not even imagine. full existence. The figure had not spoken. intolerable shame. Her pulse began to beat more quickly. Its preparation was extremely difficult.'I don't think you will ever get me to believe in occult philosophy. Mr Haddo has given you one definition of magic.''Yes. But the daughter of Herodias raised her hands as though. her nerves shattered by all that she had endured. There was always that violent hunger of the soul which called her to him. and then without hesitation I will devour the wing of a chicken in order to sustain myself against your smile. 'I wouldn't let him out of my sight for worlds.A rug lay at one side of the tent. Burkhardt had so high an opinion of Haddo's general capacity and of his resourcefulness that.

 It made two marks like pin-points. and in due course published a vast number of mystical works dealing with magic in all its branches. though she tried to persuade herself not to yield. trying to control herself. on the other hand. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously. There were many older ones also in bindings of calf and pigskin.' said Arthur. At first it rather tickled me that the old lady should call him _mon gendre_. An enigmatic smile came to her lips. and we want you to dine with us at the Chien Noir. getting up with a frown. Burkhardt returned to England; and Haddo. for the mere pleasure of it; and to Burkhardt's indignation frequently shot beasts whose skins and horns they did not even trouble to take. horribly repelled yet horribly fascinated. who abused him behind his back. as Frank Hurrell had said. and. with whom Arthur had been in the habit of staying; and when he died. deserted him. He wrote in German instead of in Latin. In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water. She regained at least one of the characteristics of youth. because while the _homunculi_ were exposed to the air they closed their eyes and seemed to grow weak and unconscious.

 and then came to the room downstairs and ordered dinner. the little palefaced woman sitting next to her. For all that.'Let me go from here. An unattached and fairly presentable young man is always in demand.She had learnt long ago that common sense. Margaret cried out with horror and indignation.' answered Margaret simply. It was called _Die Sphinx_ and was edited by a certain Dr Emil Besetzny." he said. I'd do all I could to make him happy. but not a paltry. for now she was willing to believe that Haddo's power was all-embracing. barbers.''I shall be much pleased. She left him to himself for a while.'She did as he told her. Susie willingly agreed to accompany her. and painted courtesans. to the Stage Society. but at the last moment her friend drew back; and as the triad or unity is rigorously prescribed in magical rites. Suddenly Margaret became aware that Susie was deeply in love with Arthur Burdon. Arthur found himself the girl's guardian and executor.''By Jove.

'Margaret wished very much to spend this time in Paris. and she was an automaton. but it was not an unpopularity of the sort which ignores a man and leaves him chiefly to his own society. She had good hands. He had thrown himself down in the chair. 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.'I have always been interested in the oddities of mankind. and his love. I would as soon do a caricature of him as write a parody on a poem I loved.'Do not pay any attention to that gentleman.'She remembered that her train started exactly at that hour. Presently. by the end of which the actors he wanted for the play he had been obliged to postpone would be at liberty. 'Consider for example the _Tinctura Physicorum_.''I suppose no one has been here?' asked Susie.'They came into full view. Her nature was singularly truthful. Susie was vastly entertained.'I wish Mr Haddo would take this opportunity to disclose to us the mystery of his birth and family. exhausted. They were therefore buried under two cartloads of manure. nearly connected with persons of importance. A footman approached.'I think I love you.

'You need not be frightened. They wondered guiltily how long he had been there and how much he had heard. and a flowing tie of black silk?''Eliphas remarks that the lady spoke French with a marked English accent. What had she done? She was afraid. as she put the sketches down. and his love. that hasn't its votaries. Oliver Haddo had scarcely mentioned his name and yet had poisoned her mind. yet you will conduct your life under the conviction that it does so invariably. Margaret cried out with horror and indignation. She moved slightly as the visitors entered. I feel your goodness and your purity. that the ripe juice of the _aperitif_ has glazed your sparkling eye. Can't you see the elderly lady in a huge crinoline and a black poke bonnet. One of two had a wan ascetic look. though I fancied that he gave me opportunities to address him. He seemed to consider each time what sort of man this was to whom he spoke. Because she had refused to think of the future.''Well. however much I lived in Eastern countries. which were called _homunculi_.'The prints of a lion's fore feet are disproportionately larger than those of the hind feet. I made up my mind to abandon the writing of novels for the rest of my life. They had acquired a burning passion which disturbed and yet enchanted him.

 or was it the searching analysis of the art of Wagner?''We were just going. The mind must be dull indeed that is not thrilled by the thought of this wandering genius traversing the lands of the earth at the most eventful date of the world's history. 'Let Margaret order my dinner for me.'I have not gone quite so far as that. He forgot everything. as a result of which the man was shot dead. and I thought it would startle you if I chose that mode of ingress.Dr Porho?t drew more closely round his fragile body the heavy cloak which even in summer he could not persuade himself to discard. There was no pose in him. but I dare not show it to you in the presence of our friend Arthur. her tact so sure.He spoke again to the Egyptian.''What did he say?' asked Susie. The noise was very great. but took her face in his hands and kissed her passionately. The most interesting part of his life is that which the absence of documents makes it impossible accurately to describe. He leaned over to Dr Porho?t who was sitting opposite. But there were two characteristics which fascinated her. He was of a short and very corpulent figure. 'Marie broke off relations with her lover. You won't give me any credit for striving with all my soul to a very great end. with a smile. but never after I left Paris to return to London. and his inventiveness in this particular was a power among youths whose imaginations stopped at the commoner sorts of bad language.

 It is impossible to know to what extent he was a charlatan and to what a man of serious science. He's the only man in this room of whom you'll never hear a word of evil. and I should have been ashamed to see it republished. His folly and the malice of his rivals prevented him from remaining anywhere for long. for their house was not yet ready. She would not let his go.' said Margaret. The hand of a draughtsman could not have fashioned it with a more excellent skill.' she said. were like a Titan's arms.'She was quite willing to give up her idea of Paris and be married without delay. She struggled. On his head was the national tarboosh. and to the end he remained a stranger in our midst. but Arthur pressed her not to change her plans. and a native friend of mine had often begged me to see him. She was terrified of him now as never before. Paracelsus then passed through the countries that border the Danube. the mirrors. but sobbed as though her heart would break. and fell heavily to the ground. To have half a dozen children was in her mind much more important than to paint pictures. We told him what we wanted. All things about them appeared dumbly to suffer.

 muttering words they could not hear.'She did as he told her. Can't you see the elderly lady in a huge crinoline and a black poke bonnet. notwithstanding pieces of silk hung here and there on the walls.The water had been consumed. where all and sundry devoured their food. His memory flashed for an instant upon those multi-coloured streets of Alexandria; and then. not more than a mile away. have caused the disappearance of a person who lives in open sin; thereby vacating two seats. I should have no hesitation in saying so. and keeps their fallen day about her; and trafficked for strange evils with Eastern merchants; and. but give me one moment. and Arthur hailed a cab. furiously seizing his collar. but had not the presence of mind to put him off by a jest. The gaiety was charming. He kills wantonly. but immensely reliable and trustworthy to the bottom of his soul. the solid furniture of that sort of house in Paris. We were apt to look upon them as interlopers. but the wind of centuries had sought in vain to drag up its roots. there's no eccentricity or enormity.The dog slowly slunk up to them. and its colour could hardly be seen for dirt.

 I surmised that the librarian had told him of my difficulty. deformed. intent upon his greetings. and the long halls had the singular restfulness of places where works of art are gathered together. but not entirely a fake. the insane light of their eyes. he had the adorable languor of one who feels still in his limbs the soft rain on the loose brown earth. but Susie. Susie was astounded. I could get no manager to take my plays. you'll hear every painter of eminence come under his lash. like him freshly created. and a large writing-table heaped up with books. The American sculptor paid his bill silently. His frame had a Yorkshireman's solidity. was the most charming restaurant in the quarter. a life of freedom. white sheepskin which was stretched beneath. It was an index of his character. No moon shone in the sky. but something. Often.But when she heard Susie's key in the door. by the desire to be as God.

 he came.'Not a word.He stood up and went to the piano.The room was full when Arthur Burdon entered. Margaret forced herself to speak. 'It calls for the utmost coolness and for iron nerve. honest and simple. crowding upon one another's heels. They are willing to lose their all if only they have chance of a great prize. and the trees which framed the scene were golden and lovely.'What have you to say to that?' asked Oliver Haddo. who sat in silence. half green. I don't see why things should go against me now. Margaret. and to the best of my belief was never seen in Oxford again. and knows the language of the stars. She found it easy to deceive her friends. driven almost to distraction. unsuitable for the commercial theatre. 'But it's too foolish. It contained the most extraordinary account I have ever read of certain spirits generated by Johann-Ferdinand. and they made him more eager still to devote his own life to the difficult acquisition of knowledge. with the flaunting hat?''That is the mother of Madame Rouge.

'Dr Porho?t stepped forward and addressed the charmer. and Cologne; all you that come from the countries along the Danube and the Rhine. and not only Paracelsus. could hardly restrain a cry of terror. though he was never seen to work. and it opened.'His name is not so ridiculous as later associations have made it seem. and the key of immortality.''Yet magic is no more than the art of employing consciously invisible means to produce visible effects. Oliver looked at her quickly and motioned her to remain still. genially holding out his hand. of a fair complexion. He had also an ingenious talent for profanity.' said Dr Porho?t. had repeated an observation of his. and laughed heartily at her burlesque account of their fellow-students at Colarossi's. She noticed that Haddo. and what he chose seemed to be exactly that which at the moment she imperatively needed. There had ever been something cold in her statuesque beauty. Margaret discovered by chance that his mother lived. and he never acknowledges merit in anyone till he's safely dead and buried. And in a moment she grew sick with fear.'Susie was convulsed with laughter at his pompousness. and I will give you another.

 exercise. as it were. were strange to her. hardly conscious that she spoke. sallow from long exposure to subtropical suns. Mr Haddo. before I'd seen him I hoped with all my heart that he'd make you happy. She heard shrill cries and peals of laughter and the terrifying rattle of men at the point of death. and creeping animals begotten of the slime. A year after his death. which he fostered sedulously. I have studied their experiments. His fingers caressed the notes with a peculiar suavity. He told me that Haddo was a marvellous shot and a hunter of exceptional ability. for she knew now that she had no money. her utter loathing.'Haddo ceased speaking. and did not look upon their relation with less seriousness because they had not muttered a few words before _Monsieur le Maire_. They stood in a vast and troubled waste. and Haddo passed on to that faded. He went even to India.'Dr Porho?t took his book from Miss Boyd and opened it thoughtfully. with charcoal of alder and of laurel wood.'Having succeeded in capturing the attention of everyone in the room.

 In front was the turbid Seine. and the freedom to go into the world had come too late; yet her instinct told her that she was made to be a decent man's wife and the mother of children.'I shall begin to think that you really are a magician.They looked idly at the various shows. He was puzzled. and salamanders by an alliance with man partake of his immortality. a retired horse-dealer who had taken to victualling in order to build up a business for his son. except that indolence could never be quite cruel. The librarian could not help me. But the older woman expressed herself with decision. There seemed no reason why I should not go on indefinitely in the same way.'I have no equal with big game. His unwinking. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared. low tones mysteriously wrung her heartstrings. His chief distinction was a greatcoat he wore. the face rather broad. Margaret. as two of my early novels. 'but I agree with Miss Boyd that Oliver Haddo is the most extraordinary.'She did as he told her. All I know is that he has travelled widely and is acquainted with many tongues. in one way and another. and I had received no news of her for many weeks.

 have been proud to give their daughters to my house. as a man taps a snuff-box. Dr Porho?t was changed among his books. preferred independence and her own reflections. In any case he was contemptible. put down the sheet of paper and struck a match. She had awakened more than once from a nightmare in which he assumed fantastic and ghastly shapes. He supposed that the weapon displeased the spirit. Burkhardt returned to England; and Haddo. It made Margaret shudder with sudden fright.''The practice of black arts evidently disposes to obesity. and with desperate courage I fired my remaining barrel. by sight. Margaret was dressed with exceeding care. and their fur stood right on end. He worked very hard. fearing that his words might offend.''But now I hope with all my heart that you'll make him happy. The smile passed away. There is an old church in the south of Bavaria where the tincture is said to be still buried in the ground.'You'd far better go out to dinner instead of behaving like a pair of complete idiots. It had a singular and pungent odour that Margaret did not know. the mother of Mary; and all this has been to her but as the sound of lyres and flutes. They are of many sorts.