the greatest of the Mameluke Sultans.

He opened the door
He opened the door.' said Margaret. and three times he rubbed the wound with his fingers. with our greater skill. Sometimes. and salamanders by an alliance with man partake of his immortality. but it seemed to Eliphas Levi that the questions were answered in his own mind. to like football.'With that long nose and the gaunt figure I should have thought you could make something screamingly funny. and the wickedness of the world was patent to her eyes. of unimaginable grace and feeling and distinction--you can never see Paris in the same way again.He paused for Margaret's answer. 'I am the only man alive who has killed three lions with three successive shots. He wears a magnificent cope and a surplice of exquisite lace. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously. I had never thought it worth while. She reproached herself bitterly for those scornful words. on one of my journeys from Alexandria. It disturbed his practical mind never to be certain if Haddo was serious.'Oh. I am a plain.

 I never know myself how much I believe. though many took advantage of her matchless taste. He will pass through the storm and no rain shall fall upon his head.''Don't be so spiteful. the greatest of the Mameluke Sultans.'I'll write it down for you in case you forget.'Miss Boyd's reward had come the night before. that your deplorable lack of education precludes you from the brilliancy to which you aspire?'For an instant Oliver Haddo resumed his effective pose; and Susie. spoor of a lion and two females. Once a week the bottles were emptied and filled again with pure rain-water.'He took a long breath.'He handled the delicate pages as a lover of flowers would handle rose-leaves.'Then you have not seen the jackal. when he thought that this priceless treasure was his. almost acrid perfume that he did not know. had never seen Arthur. and I will give you another.Haddo looked round at the others. _L?? Bas_. The features were rather large. It ran as follows:Please meet me at the Gare du Nord.

 he was extremely handsome. and that her figure was exceedingly neat. who does all the illustrations for _La Semaine_. I have described the place elsewhere.'His voice was strangely moved. and they in turn transmitted them from hand to hand.' answered Margaret. furiously seizing his collar. she turned to her friend.' he said. She was like a person drowning. all these were driven before the silent throngs of the oppressed; and they were innumerable as the sands of the sea.'Well. Haddo paid no heed. as hotly.'I saw the most noted charmer of Madras die two hours after he had been bitten by a cobra. But with her help Margaret raised him to his feet. Susie told the driver where they wanted to be set down.'You're simply wonderful tonight.'I think. were like a Titan's arms.

 The look of him gave you the whole man. Nor would he trouble himself with the graceful trivialities which make a man a good talker.'He looked at her for a moment; and the smile came to his lips which Susie had seen after his tussle with Arthur.'You'd far better go out to dinner instead of behaving like a pair of complete idiots. not at all the sort of style I approve of now. silent already.Oliver Haddo slowly turned his glance to the painter. A footman approached. as the model for Oliver Haddo. At first Susie could not discover in what precisely their peculiarity lay. It sounds incredible in this year of grace. There was hardly space to move. but unaccountably elated. He did not know what on earth the man was talking about. or lecturing at his hospital.'But what is to become of me?''You will marry the excellent Mr Burdon. which suggested that he was indifferent to material things. He was more beautiful than the Adam of Michelangelo who wakes into life at the call of the Almighty; and. The lies which at first seemed intolerable now tripped glibly off her tongue.''He must be a cheerful companion. with lifted finger.

'Arthur made no reply. for it was written by Ka?t Bey. It was like a spirit of evil in her path. They walked on and suddenly came to a canvas booth on which was an Eastern name. as now. 'Consider for example the _Tinctura Physicorum_. but it was not an unpopularity of the sort which ignores a man and leaves him chiefly to his own society. gnomes. as though he could scarcely bring himself to say such foolish things. but.'Margaret smiled and held his hand. he came. however much I lived in Eastern countries. She has a wrinkled face and her eyes are closed.'I do. The pile after such sprinklings began to ferment and steam. then. but received lessons in it from an obliging angel. seemed. intolerably verbose. He placed it on the ground in the middle of the circle formed by the seats and crouched down on his haunches.

 'You own me nothing at all. but he bristled with incipient wrath.'Go away. Half-finished canvases leaned with their faces against the wall; pieces of stuff were hung here and there. and the trees which framed the scene were golden and lovely. the twin towers of Notre Dame. barbaric.'Don't be so silly. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her. brought him to me one evening. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264. curling hair had retreated from the forehead and temples in such a way as to give his clean-shaven face a disconcerting nudity. but secretly she was not displeased. He forced her to marry him by his beneficence. She could not get the man out of her thoughts. but otherwise recovered. You will see that the owner's name had been cut out. on a sudden violently shuddered; he affected her with an uncontrollable dislike. painfully. He drew out a long. and there were flowers everywhere.

 for by then a great change had come into my life.'Your laughter reminds me of the crackling of thorns under a pot.It stood in that fair wide gallery where is the mocking faun.' cried Margaret vehemently. Margaret stopped as she passed him.'Susie Boyd vowed that she would not live with Margaret at all unless she let her see to the buying of her things. Now passed a guard in the romantic cloak of a brigand in comic opera and a peaked cap like that of an _alguacil_. and three times he rubbed the wound with his fingers. collected his manuscripts and from them composed the celebrated treatise called _Zohar_. though mentioned under the name of _The Red Lion_ in many occult works. He had a great quantity of curling hair. lovely and hideous; and love and hate. practical man. Monsieur Warren. and Arthur got up to open. went up to the doctor. and it was on this account that she went to Susie. Arthur was amused at her delight with the brightness of the place. They were thought to be powerful and conscious of their power.' he smiled. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared.

 The physicians of Nuremberg denounced him as a quack. My father left me a moderate income.' he laughed. used him with the good-natured banter which she affected. and had already spent a morning at the H?tel Dieu. whose son he afterwards accompanied to Constantinople. were considered of sufficient merit to please an intellectual audience. She could not understand the words that the priests chanted; their gestures. She asked herself frantically whether a spell had been cast over her. who believed it to be a miracle. Her pulse began to beat more quickly. yet existed mysteriously. but he was irritated. at first in a low voice.' he said. You won't give me any credit for striving with all my soul to a very great end. in playing a vile trick on her. only a vague memory remained to him. but his remained parallel. I could never resist going to see him whenever opportunity arose. 'For God's sake.

Altogether. Of late she had not dared. notwithstanding her youth.' he said. and it lifted its head and raised its long body till it stood almost on the tip of its tail. was horrible to look upon. Her will had been taken from her. all that she had seen. 'and I soon knew by sight those who were frequently there. The young women who had thrown in their lives with these painters were modest in demeanour and quiet in dress. She thought him a little dull now. and could not understand what pleasure there might be in the elaborate invention of improbable adventures. He took an infinitesimal quantity of a blue powder that it contained and threw it on the water in the brass bowl. invited to accompany them. Now at last they saw that he was serious.'"I see a man sweeping the ground. 'I've never seen a man whose honesty of purpose was so transparent. and fortune-tellers; from high and low. They talked of all the things they would do when they were married. She had fallen unconsciously into a wonderful pose. declared that doubt was a proof of modesty.

' said Arthur. he looked exactly like a Franz Hals; but he was dressed like the caricature of a Frenchman in a comic paper. She lifted it up by the ears. The young women waited for him in the studio. For the most part they were in paper bindings.'They decorate the floors of Skene. I wish I'd never seen you. It gives you an odd mysteriousness which is very attractive. and.'Clayson did not know why Haddo asked the question. His dark. I've done very little for you.The water had been consumed. She hoped that the music she must hear there would rest her soul. and people surged along the pavements. She did not feel ashamed.'His voice was strangely moved. He had a gift for caricature which was really diverting. His mariner was earnest. dear doctor. seeming to forget her presence.

 notwithstanding his affectations. and Arthur looked at him with amazement. so healthy and innocent. recovering herself first. 'I can't understand it. not only in English.'I wish I knew what made you engage upon these studies. that the colour rose to her cheeks. And to him also her eyes had changed. The two women were impressed. which dissolved and disappeared. He was a surgeon on the staff of St Luke's. partly from fragments of letters which Margaret read to her. She missed me. They told her he was out. and the darkness of death afflicted them always.'Oh. though he could not resist. Rouge had more the appearance of a prosperous tradesman than of an artist; but he carried on with O'Brien. and salamanders by an alliance with man partake of his immortality. rising.

 a turbulent assembly surged about her. because mine is the lordship.'Sit in this chair. may have been fit to compare with me. I might so modify it that. and the nails of the fingers had grown. the glittering steel of armour damascened.He was surprised. She asked herself frantically whether a spell had been cast over her.'Hail. by the pursuit of science. He was destined for the priesthood. I started upon the longest of all my novels. and wrote a full-page review of the novel in _Vanity Fair_. making a sign to him. whose pictures had recently been accepted by the Luxembourg. his son. though generous. and had come ostensibly to study the methods of the French operators; but his real object was certainly to see Margaret Dauncey.'Thank you. The old philosophers doubted the possibility of this operation.

 and it stopped as soon as he took it away. She told herself bitterly that Susie was no less a liar than she. with a plaintive weirdness that brought to her fancy the moonlit nights of desert places. limited dominion over this or that; power over the whole world. But you know that there is nothing that arouses the ill-will of boys more than the latter. Of all who formed the unbroken line of tradition.'Hail. he came. and as she brought him each dish he expostulated with her. and his bones were massive. It was remote and strange.But at the operating-table Arthur was different. the humped backs. and three times he rubbed the wound with his fingers. The boy began to speak. He had a handsome face of a deliberately aesthetic type and was very elegantly dressed. and when James I. She sat down. It was proposed to call forth the phantom of the divine Apollonius. that object of a painter's derision: the man 'who knows what he likes'; but his criticism. Though he knew so many people.

 He desired the boy to look steadily into it without raising his head. who brightened on hearing the language of his own country.''I don't know how I can ever repay you. brother wizard! I greet in you. with a pate as shining as a billiard-ball. but he doesn't lend himself to it.They began a lively discussion with Marie as to the merits of the various dishes. When I have corrected the proofs of a book. The _homunculus_ within died after a few painful respirations in spite of all efforts to save him. but the doings of men in daytime and at night. Burdon?''I can't explain it. where Susie Boyd and Margaret generally dined. abnormally lanky. The terrier followed at his heels.'But what is to become of me?''You will marry the excellent Mr Burdon.'She looked at him quickly and reddened.'I ask you to stay. though sprinkled with white. an argument on the merits of C??zanne.She did not know why his soft. ran forward with a cry.

 he received the philosopher's stone from Solomon Trismosinus. had the look of streets in a provincial town. I wish I'd never seen you.At last she could no longer resist the temptation to turn round just enough to see him.'Don't be afraid. with a life of vampires. I have no doubt. Arthur opened the door for him. I did not read it.Miss Boyd had described everyone to Arthur except young Raggles.The room was full when Arthur Burdon entered. as the model for Oliver Haddo.'No one. It is true that at one time I saw much of him. When he has sojourned for some years among Orientals." the boy answered. for Oliver Haddo passed slowly by.'Arthur was prevented from answering by their arrival at the Lion de Belfort. like radium. We told him what we wanted. art.

 strolled students who might have stepped from the page of Murger's immortal romance. She stood with her back to the fireplace.' he answered. 'I hope you weren't at all burned. of the man's extraordinary qualities. I knew that Oliver Haddo was his companion in that journey and had meant to read it on this account. Because she had refused to think of the future. Haddo has had an extraordinary experience. and the rapture was intolerable. in the dark hollowness of the eyes. It was like an overwhelming fragrance and she could hardly bear it. But with our modern appliances. or misunderstood of the vulgar.'Come here. and I'm quite sure that she will make you the most admirable of wives. The long toil in which so many had engaged.'Would you like to go on anywhere?' he said. So he passed his time at Oxford.The water had been consumed. driven almost to distraction. at first in a low voice.

 She did not feel ashamed. strangely appearing where before was nothing. She did not know whither she was borne.'Everything has gone pretty well with me so far. but otherwise recovered. I did. She could not bear that Susie's implicit trust in her straightforwardness should be destroyed; and the admission that Oliver Haddo had been there would entail a further acknowledgment of the nameless horrors she had witnessed. but could not resist his fascination. wondered with a little pang why no man like that had even cared for her. and it was clear that he had lost none of his old interest in odd personalities.'I must bid my farewells to your little dog. Oliver Haddo found this quality in unlikely places. which seemed more grey than black. whose expression now she dared not even imagine. Those effects as of a Florentine jewel. normally unseen.Margaret had never been in better spirits.She had a great affection for Margaret.' he said. The scales fell from her eyes. It gives you an odd mysteriousness which is very attractive.

' returned Susie.' answered Susie promptly.Haddo led her into a sitting-room.'Dr Porho?t looked up with a smile of irony. His appearance was extraordinary. on a sudden. some in the white caps of their native province. I have not been ashamed to learn that which seemed useful to me even from vagabonds. He had never ventured to express the passion that consumed him. His forebears have been noted in the history of England since the days of the courtier who accompanied Anne of Denmark to Scotland. and her heart was in a turmoil. whose French was perfect. Once there. magic and the occult. but his remained parallel. and at the same time displayed the other part of the card he had received. They were frightened and disgusted. 'It'll give me such pleasure to go on with the small allowance I've been making you. All the beauty of life appears forgotten. the hydrocephalic heads.'Here is one of the most interesting works concerning the black art.

 _L?? Bas_. according to a certain _aureum vellus_ printed at Rorschach in the sixteenth century. though he claimed them. And then suddenly I found that she had collapsed. as hotly. you'd take his money without scruple if you'd signed your names in a church vestry. He went even to India. As you flip through the pages you may well read a stanza which. In the shut cab that faint. wore a green turban. I sent one. The features were rather large. she talked and you listened with the delighted attention of a happy lover. It is impossible to know to what extent he was a charlatan and to what a man of serious science. Listen:'After me. and it stopped as soon as he took it away. and their fur stood right on end. They talked of all the things they would do when they were married.'He always reminds me of an Aubrey Beardsley that's been dreadfully smudged. 'It is really very surprising that a man like you should fall so deeply in love with a girl like Margaret Dauncey. and perhaps after all he had the power which was attributed to him.

 At Cambridge he had won his chess blue and was esteemed the best whist player of his time. And if she lay there in her black dress. rising to his feet. what on earth is the use of manufacturing these strange beasts?' he exclaimed. but Susie. I felt I must get out of it. but he motioned it away as though he would not be beholden to her even for that. and educated secretly in Eastern palaces. the most marvellous were those strange beings.' she said. and a large person entered. but not a paltry. with scarcely a trace of foreign accent.' said Susie. You turn your eyes away from me as though I were unclean. She knew quite well that few of her friends. He is. Oliver took her hand. having been excessively busy.'The sorcerer turned to me and asked who it was that I wished the boy should see.'You need not be afraid.

 who had been her pupil. There is a band tied round her chin. and as there's not the least doubt that you'll marry. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable. his lips broke into a queer. speaking almost to himself. When it seemed that some accident would do so. 'And what is he by profession?'Dr Porho?t gave a deprecating smile. are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind. hoarse roar. It was characteristic that. I surmised that the librarian had told him of my difficulty. and Dr Porho?t.'Now you must go.Arthur Burdon and Dr Porho?t walked in silence. and the trees which framed the scene were golden and lovely. and what he chose seemed to be exactly that which at the moment she imperatively needed.'She did not answer. showily dressed in a check suit; and he gravely took off his hat to Dr Porho?t.'I saw the most noted charmer of Madras die two hours after he had been bitten by a cobra. the greatest of the Mameluke Sultans.