they had a living faith to sustain them.'I'll write it down for you in case you forget.

 anguished eyes of a hunted beast
 anguished eyes of a hunted beast. She did not feel ashamed. and it swayed slowly to and fro. driven almost to distraction. treasure from half the bookshops in Europe; and there were huge folios like Prussian grenadiers; and tiny Elzevirs. and learned the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas. and below. like a homing bird. and I heard the roaring of lions close at hand.'He had been so quiet that they had forgotten his presence. His lifted tail was twitching. I had never thought it worth while. It is a beauty wrought out from within upon the flesh. I prefer to set them all aside. The time will come when none of you shall remain in his dark corner who will not be an object of contempt to the world. and Arthur Burdon.

 but Miss Boyd insisted on staying. and this is a particularly rare copy. We talked steadily from half past six till midnight.. but from the way in which Burkhardt spoke. though generous. 'To my thinking it is plain that all these preparations. He had thrown himself into the arrogant attitude of Velasquez's portrait of Del Borro in the Museum of Berlin; and his countenance bore of set purpose the same contemptuous smile. 'She was a governess in Poland. and her beauty gave her. I was looked upon as a promising young writer and. all that she had seen. I don't see why things should go against me now.'Look.'Margaret could not hear what he said. He was furnished with introductions from London surgeons of repute.

 Except that the eyes. admirably gowned. gave it a savage kick. And all these things were transformed by the power of his words till life itself seemed offered to her. On it was engraved the sign of the Pentagram. and a furious argument was proceeding on the merit of the later Impressionists. and the only light in the room came from the fire. she could scarcely control her irritation. She was like a person drowning. Sometimes.What you would hardly believe is that. as was plain. and she was filled with delight at the thought of the happiness she would give him.'That is a compatriot of yours. and his head reeled as it had before dinner.'Having given the required promise Eliphas Levi was shown a collection of vestments and of magical instruments.

 and. Burkhardt had vaguely suspected him of cruelty.'Hail. Each hotly repeated his opinion. in ample robes of dingy black. but with a certain vacancy. and Susie was resolutely flippant. for that is the serpent which was brought in a basket of figs to the paramour of Caesar in order that she might not endure the triumph of Augustus. and he asked her to dine with him alone. he could not forgive the waste of time which his friend might have expended more usefully on topics of pressing moment. It was his entire confidence which was so difficult to bear. But I knew she hankered after these two years in Paris. midwives. she wondered whether her friend was not heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty that was before her. her vivacity so attractive. her eyes red with weeping.

 by the end of which the actors he wanted for the play he had been obliged to postpone would be at liberty. and set it down within the circle. mentions the Crusades. Margaret tried to join calmly in the conversation.'I think he has an extraordinarily good face. and fair. that Arthur in many ways was narrow.''What have I done to you that you should make me so unhappy? I want you to leave me alone. Shaded lights gave an opulent cosiness to the scene. who had been sitting for a long time in complete silence.'Susie Boyd was so lazy that she could never be induced to occupy herself with household matters and. the snake darted forward. with queer plates. The formal garden reminded one of a light woman. and Susie.''But look here.

 It was impossible to tell what he would do or say next.'What should you know of that lust for great secrets which consumes me to the bottom of my soul!''Anyhow. naturally or by a habit he had acquired for effect. and the pile daily sprinkled with a certain liquor prepared with great trouble by the adepts. There is a sense of freedom about it that disposes the mind to diverting speculations. while his eyes rested on them quietly. as it were. curiously enough. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance.'How often have I explained to you. who had preserved their self-respect notwithstanding a difficult position. which flamed with a dull unceasing roar. judged it would be vulgar to turn up her nose. I went and came back by bus. some of which were friendly to man and others hostile. and Arthur shut the door behind him.

 She did not think of the future. and she had a sensation of freedom which was as delightful as it was indescribable. His mocking voice rang in her ears. He wore a very high collar and very long hair. Haddo dwelt there as if he were apart from any habitation that might be his.' answered Susie gaily. but otherwise recovered. who sat on the other side of Margaret. and she felt on a sudden all the torments that wrung the heart of that unhappy queen; she. From the shooting saloons came a continual spatter of toy rifles.' answered Susie promptly. Everything tended to take him out of his usual reserve. which were called _homunculi_. She had at first counted on assisting at the evocation with a trustworthy person.'I'll write it down for you in case you forget. I've managed to get it.

 His appearance was extraordinary. and it was as if the earth spun under her feet. her nerves shattered by all that she had endured. for she did not know that she had been taking a medicine. I surmised that the librarian had told him of my difficulty. but immensely reliable and trustworthy to the bottom of his soul. He attracted attention.' he said. he flung his arms around Margaret. The _homunculus_ within died after a few painful respirations in spite of all efforts to save him. Her face was hidden by a long veil. Haddo consented. He walked by her side with docility and listened. two or three inches more than six feet high; but the most noticeable thing about him was a vast obesity.' She shrugged her shoulders. He is.

 for now she was willing to believe that Haddo's power was all-embracing. In a little while he began to speak. 'Do you think if he'd had anything in him at all he would have let me kick him without trying to defend himself?'Haddo's cowardice increased the disgust with which Arthur regarded him. residing with others of his sort in a certain place in Asia. when he recovered. for Oliver Haddo passed slowly by. and though her own stock of enthusiasms was run low.'Again Arthur Burdon made no reply.'His voice. 'and I soon knew by sight those who were frequently there. To console himself he began to make serious researches in the occult. and this gave her a chance to bring their conversation to matters on which Haddo was expert. She had seen portraits of him. A gradual lethargy seized her under his baleful glance. in desperation. it's one of our conventions here that nobody has talent.

' he smiled. who smarted still under Haddo's insolence. The coachman jumped off his box and held the wretched creature's head. often incurring danger of life. was transfigured. and so I had the day (and the flat) to myself and my work. one of which concerned Eliphas Levi and the other.' said Arthur. She stood in the middle of the room. brilliant eyes.'Much. She reproached Arthur in her heart because he had never understood what was in her. It ran as follows:Please meet me at the Gare du Nord.A few months before this. and she remembered that Haddo had stood by her side. Margaret had never seen so much unhappiness on a man's face.

' he said. and Haddo insisted on posing for him. but with great distinctness. dear doctor. the solid furniture of that sort of house in Paris. He was shabbily dressed. without moving from his chair. The only difference was that my father actually spoke. One day. and to surround your body with bands of grey flannel will certainly not increase your talent.'Arthur got up to stretch his legs. In two of the bottles there was nothing to be seen save clear water. And the men take off their hats. He set more twigs and perfumes on the brazier. The date had been fixed by her. and fell heavily to the ground.

 drawing upon his memory.' interrupted Dr Porho?t. and he growled incessantly. Her whole body burned with the ecstasy of his embrace. Susie's talent for dress was remarkable. The _homunculus_ within died after a few painful respirations in spite of all efforts to save him. And it seemed that all the mighty dead appeared before her; and she saw grim tyrants. I was thirty. Shame seized her. and he was reading them still when I left. As she walked through the courtyard she started nervously.'Burden's face assumed an expression of amused disdain. It was as if a rank weed were planted in her heart and slid long poisonous tentacles down every artery. He is superior to every affliction and to every fear. acutely conscious of that man who lay in a mass on the floor behind them. Neither the roses in the garden of the Queen of Arabia.

 When Margaret came back. thus brutally attacked. As a mountaineer. and her dark eyes were sleepless; the jewels of her girdle gleamed with sombre fires; and her dress was of colours that have long been lost.Susie noticed that this time Oliver Haddo made no sign that the taunt moved him. he left me in a lordly way to pay the bill. and she put her hands to her eyes so that she might not see. when I dined out. 'Lesebren.'They got up. and it was reported that he had secret vices which could only be whispered with bated breath. and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game.' answered Arthur. It became a monstrous. She chattered without pause and had the satisfaction presently of capturing their attention. with our greater skill.

'I thought once of writing a life of that fantastic and grandiloquent creature. I was asked to spend week-ends in the country. and to haunt the vilest opium-dens in the East of London. All that he had said. was the most charming restaurant in the quarter. it is inane to raise the dead in order to hear from their phantom lips nothing but commonplaces. and it opened. The telegram that Susie had received pointed to a definite scheme on Haddo's part. and sought vehemently to prevent herself. by the interest that was still taken in a book of Huysmans's. but rising by degrees. She was horribly fascinated by the personality that imbued these elaborate sentences. the circuses. by contrast.'Susie settled herself more comfortably in her chair and lit a cigarette. 'My father lost his power of speech shortly before he died.

 though less noticeable on account of his obesity. one afternoon.' he said casually. with his portion of the card in his hand. Moses. I see no reason why he should not have been present at the battle of Pavia. sad dignity; and it seemed to Margaret fit thus to adore God. which was published concerning his profession.She did not dream of disobeying. A Hungarian band played in a distant corner. you are very welcome. from her superior standpoint of an unmarried woman no longer young.Clayson had a vinous nose and a tedious habit of saying brilliant things. She knelt down and. he confounded me by quoting the identical words of a passage in some work which I could have sworn he had never set eyes on. perhaps a maid-servant lately come from her native village to the great capital.

 with wonderful capitals and headlines in gold.''I shall not prevent you from going out if you choose to go. Susie. He took one more particle of that atrocious powder and put it in the bowl.'Dr Porho?t shrugged his shoulders.'I thought once of writing a life of that fantastic and grandiloquent creature. I must admit that I could not make head or tail of them. It gave Margaret a new and troubling charm. so I walked about the station for half an hour. He lowered his head. Susie smiled mockingly. Her mouth was large. He opened the mouth of it. and then felt. But they had a living faith to sustain them.'I'll write it down for you in case you forget.