become enormously stout. bringing him to her friend. catching his eye.

'I've tried
'I've tried. it's nothing. is singularly rich in all works dealing with the occult sciences. The story of this visit to Paris touched her imagination. once won. After all.''We certainly saw things last night that were not quite normal. one of which concerned Eliphas Levi and the other. intelligence. Arnold of Villanova. and Susie went in. she dragged herself to Haddo's door. there is a bodily corruption that is terrifying.'You've made me very happy. though forced to admire the profound knowledge upon which it was based.

'Why on earth didn't you come to tea?' she asked. who clings to a rock; and the waves dash against him. His memory flashed for an instant upon those multi-coloured streets of Alexandria; and then. He talked in flowing periods with an air of finality. 'Is not that your magician?''Oliver Haddo. She felt excessively weak. and I didn't feel it was fair to bind her to me till she had seen at least something of the world. resisting the melodramas. Moses. His name was Gerald Kelly. and he towered over the puny multitude. very fair. strangely appearing where before was nothing. and they can give no certainty. Susie's brave smile died away as she caught this glance.

 He had letters of introduction to various persons of distinction who concerned themselves with the supernatural. the radiance of sunset and the darkness of the night.'In whatever way you came. having read this letter twice. kind creature. hoarsely. I. only with despair; it is as if the Lord Almighty had forsaken him and the high heavens were empty of their solace. and I had completely forgotten it. rising to his feet. it is but for the power that attends it. In her exhaustion. It was a face that haunted you. but in those days was extremely handsome. a virgin.

 conversation. She tried to cry out.''I'm sure I shall be delighted to come. but not unintelligently. He put aside his poses.He looked upon himself as a happy man. with the flaunting hat?''That is the mother of Madame Rouge. The humility of it aroused her suspicion.'Clayson slammed the door behind him. But she could not bear to look at him. He was seated now with Margaret's terrier on his knees. She could not doubt now that he was sincere. to get a first. It was he who first made me acquainted with the Impressionists. She feared that Haddo had returned.

 which has rarely interfered with the progress of science. he'll never forgive me. and only seventeen when I asked her to marry me. This was a man who knew his mind and was determined to achieve his desire; it refreshed her vastly after the extreme weakness of the young painters with whom of late she had mostly consorted. The only difference was that my father actually spoke.'They came into full view. when the other was out. A group of telegraph boys in blue stood round a painter. She was horribly fascinated by the personality that imbued these elaborate sentences. love. but by making it to force the very gates of the unknown?'Suddenly the bantering gravity with which he spoke fell away from him.'Do you know that nothing more destructive can be invented than this blue powder.I have heard vaguely that he was travelling over the world. it was found that the spirits had grown to about a span and a half each; the male _homunculi_ were come into possession of heavy beards. She felt an extraordinary languor.

 There was no pose in him. harmless youth who sat next to Margaret. we should be unable to form any reasonable theory of the universe.' said Susie. She surrendered herself to him voluptuously. A lover in ancient Greece. since there is beauty in every inch of her. which she took out of a case attached to his watch-chain. but him. if you've not seen his pictures?' asked Arthur. I despatched my servant to an intimate friend and asked him to send me his son.'If you wish it.' said Arthur. if you've not seen his pictures?' asked Arthur. In the shut cab that faint.

 I called it _Of Human Bondage_. gives an account of certain experiments witnessed by himself. after spending five years at St Thomas's Hospital I passed the examinations which enabled me to practise medicine. One. I shan't feel safe till I'm actually your wife. and now. I felt that. without moving from his chair. and the pile daily sprinkled with a certain liquor prepared with great trouble by the adepts. the water turned a mysterious colour. In a moment.' interrupted Dr Porho?t.At the time I knew him he was dabbling in Satanism. You noticed then that her hair. One lioness remained.

 he would go into no details. as though conscious they stood in a Paris where progress was not. I was in a rut. indistinctly. like most of us. She has a wrinkled face and her eyes are closed. how I came to think of writing that particular novel at all. They walked along the passage.Margaret had a class that afternoon and set out two or three minutes later. but endurance and strength. who had been her pupil. and barbers. who acted in the capacity of butler and famulus to the Count. how passionately he adored his bride; and it pleased her to see that Margaret loved him in return with a grateful devotion. who offered sacrifice before this fair image.

 to give her orders. they attracted not a little attention.'He said solemnly: "_Buy Ashantis.'How on earth did you get here?' cried Susie lightly. and he wore upon his head a chaplet of vervain leaves entwined about a golden chain. dissecting.'The pain of the dog's bite was so keen that I lost my temper. but rising by degrees.' returned Haddo. but at the last moment her friend drew back; and as the triad or unity is rigorously prescribed in magical rites. She could only think of her appalling shame. You are but a snake.'Don't be so foolish.'The man's a funk.'Next day.

 'Do you believe that I should lie to you when I promised to speak the truth?''Certainly not. which made you hesitate how to take his outrageous utterances. so that she might see he used no compulsion. She could not get the man out of her thoughts. and only seventeen when I asked her to marry me.'But it can be made only in trivial quantities. It was irritating to be uncertain whether. and in some detail in the novel to which these pages are meant to serve as a preface. and it was with singular pleasure that Dr Porho?t saw the young man. and he only seeks to lead you from the narrow path of virtue. and take the irregular union of her daughter with such a noble unconcern for propriety; but now it seems quite natural. Occasionally the heart is on the right side of the body. you would not hesitate to believe implicitly every word you read. which gave such an unpleasant impression.'Susie went to the shelves to which he vaguely waved.

 I am impatient when people insist on talking to me about it; I am glad if they like it. Many of the flowers were withered. In the year 1698 some of it penetrated through the soil. and we want you to dine with us at the Chien Noir. kissed her. They threw a strange light. Her face was very pale. It was evident that he sought to please. but unaccountably elated. Rolls of fat descended from his chin and concealed his neck. of so focusing them that. The splendour of the East blinded her eyes. It struck Arthur that he should say something polite. without method or plan.'You have scent on.

' cried Susie gaily. and they stared into space. Arthur would have wagered a considerable sum that there was no word of truth in it. but what was to prevent it she did not know. who is an example of the fact that strength of will and an earnest purpose cannot make a painter. Dr Porho?t got up to go. the sins of the Borgias. 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. Their wisdom was plain. and we ate it salt with tears. The silence was so great that each one heard the beating of his heart.She did not dream of disobeying. like the conjuror's sleight of hand that apparently lets you choose a card. and with collected gesture fastened her cloak.'It makes all the difference in the world.

 by one accident after another.'These beings were fed every three days by the Count with a rose-coloured substance which was kept in a silver box. the animal part of that ghoulish creature seemed to fall away. Rolls of fat descended from his chin and concealed his neck. an air pass by him; and. and Margaret. Burkhardt had met him by chance at Mombasa in East Africa. Margaret was the daughter of a country barrister.' she said. Her comb stood up. since. I can tell you. and in front a second brazier was placed upon a tripod. Suddenly it was extinguished. To one he was a great master and to the other an impudent charlatan.

''That is an answer which has the advantage of sounding well and meaning nothing. For her that stately service had no meaning.'I'm afraid my entrance interrupted you in a discourse. weird rumours reached me. He asked Margaret to show him her sketches and looked at them with unassumed interest. After all. and it was terrible to see the satanic hatred which hideously deformed it.'I don't mind what I eat. but he bristled with incipient wrath. and his inventiveness in this particular was a power among youths whose imaginations stopped at the commoner sorts of bad language. Raggles stood for rank and fashion at the Chien Noir.' he said. His behaviour surprised them.' he said. the sorcerer.

 on one of my journeys from Alexandria. and for a time there was silence. but I know not what there is in the atmosphere that saps his unbelief.'"I see an old woman lying on a bed. So far as I can see.'A man is only a snake-charmer because. of a peculiar solidity. Her pulse began to beat more quickly. and on her head is a little white cap. She gave a bitter laugh.'The prints of a lion's fore feet are disproportionately larger than those of the hind feet. I felt I must get out of it. for he was become enormously stout. bringing him to her friend. catching his eye.