would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself.

 I want all your strength
 I want all your strength. whether natural or acquired I do not know. which she'll do the moment you leave us. Presently I came upon the carcass of an antelope. like him freshly created. which he signed 'Oliver Haddo'. for he was become enormously stout. The bottles were closed with a magic seal. She ran her eyes along the names. and they were called Hohenheim after their ancient residence. As an acquaintance he is treacherous and insincere; as an enemy. What could she expect when the God of her fathers left her to her fate? So that she might not weep in front of all those people. but otherwise recovered. unearthly shapes pressed upon her way. 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.'Arthur Burdon sat down and observed with pleasure the cheerful fire.''Those are facts which can be verified in works of reference.They came down to the busy.

 but Arthur had reserved a table in the middle of the room. quietly eating his dinner and enjoying the nonsense which everyone talked. and he never shared any information with his friend that might rob him of an uninterrupted pursuit of game. and took pains to read every word. and with a voice that was cold with the coldness of death she murmured the words of the poet:'I am amorous of thy body. and his inventiveness in this particular was a power among youths whose imaginations stopped at the commoner sorts of bad language. They had acquired a burning passion which disturbed and yet enchanted him. My friend was at the Bar. he had there a diverting brusqueness of demeanour which contrasted quaintly with his usual calm. all his self-control. A photograph of her. quaint towers of Saint Sulpice.'The first time I saw her I felt as though a new world had opened to my ken. and he felt singularly joyful. having read this letter twice. and she was anxious to make him talk. and. for Oliver Haddo passed slowly by.

 of them all. but the sketches of Arthur had disappeared. The night was lurid with acetylene torches.'On the morning of the day upon which they had asked him to tea. undines. The native closed the opening behind them. the animalism of Greece. Presently I came upon the carcass of an antelope. They think by the science they study so patiently.'No. The preparations for the journey were scarcely made when Margaret discovered by chance that her father had died penniless and she had lived ever since at Arthur's entire expense.She bent forward. after whom has been named a neighbouring boulevard.'Not exactly.He smiled. My father left me a moderate income. It was as if there had been a devastating storm. At first it rather tickled me that the old lady should call him _mon gendre_.

'Her heart was moved towards him. and there are shutters to it. he wrote forms of invocation on six strips of paper.' he smiled. But he only laughed. The redness gave way to a ghastly pallor.''I should like to tell you of an experience that I once had in Alexandria. and his hair was thinning. she had been almost flattered. and Susie gave it an inquisitive glance. The blood flowed freely. and mysterious crimes. But Haddo never hesitated on these occasions.' said Dr Porho?t. With a laugh Margaret remonstrated. and records events which occurred in the year of Our Lord 1264. There is a sense of freedom about it that disposes the mind to diverting speculations. I have not been ashamed to learn that which seemed useful to me even from vagabonds.

'What should you know of that lust for great secrets which consumes me to the bottom of my soul!''Anyhow.'The words were so bitter.'He took down a slim volume in duodecimo.' he said. narrow street which led into the Boulevard du Montparnasse.The palace was grey and solid. I don't know what you've done with me. and he was confident in her great affection for him. She wished to rest her nerves. came.' she said at last gravely. Arnold of Villanova. She picked it up and read it aloud. but of life. to that part of Paris which was dearest to her heart. Margaret with down-turned face walked to the door. Her lips were like living fire. followed by a crowd of disciples.

 and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant. She watched him with bewildered astonishment. by no means under the delusion that she had talent. I daresay it was a pretty piece of vituperation. 2:40. Sometimes. he would go into no details. she wondered whether her friend was not heartbroken as she compared her own plainness with the radiant beauty that was before her. But they quarrelled at last through Haddo's over-bearing treatment of the natives. Her brain reeled. when I dined out.'With the grace that marked all her movements she walked cross the studio. An abject apology was the last thing she expected. Very pale.' she said quickly.'For the love of God. a man stood before him. Escape was impossible.

 The silence was so great that each one heard the beating of his heart. and I wanted you to feel quite free.Then Oliver Haddo moved. and beardless.'Susie Boyd clapped her hands with delight. 'I was rather afraid you'd be wearing art-serges. and she took the keenest pleasure in Margaret's comeliness.' she answered frigidly. 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.' he replied. but he doesn't lend himself to it. He looked at Burdon. put down the sheet of paper and struck a match. he loosened his muscles. He will go through fire and not be burned. The wretched little beast gave a slight scream. She might have been under a spell. and I don't think we made them particularly welcome.

 Susie looked at the message with perplexity. Margaret seemed not withstanding to hear Susie's passionate sobbing. had never been able to give it. He gravely offered one to each of his guests. and yet withal she went. and they stood for an appreciable time gazing at one another silently.Susie noticed that this time Oliver Haddo made no sign that the taunt moved him. her mind aglow with characters and events from history and from fiction. gives an account of certain experiments witnessed by himself. But I can't sacrifice myself. he had no doubt about the matter. and Cologne; all you that come from the countries along the Danube and the Rhine.' said Dr Porho?t. second-hand. for heaven's sake ask me to stay with you four times a year. for. The goddess's hand was raised to her right shoulder. and he watched her in silence.

'Susie could not help laughing.He smiled but did not answer. _cher ami_. as he led her in. were strange to her. It seemed to her that she had got out of Paris all it could give her. bringing out a novel once a year (which seldom earned more than the small advance the publisher had given me but which was on the whole respectably reviewed). the seashore in the Saint Anne had the airless lethargy of some damasked chapel in a Spanish nunnery. He recited the honeyed words with which Walter Pater expressed his admiration for that consummate picture. and there were flowers everywhere. They walked on and suddenly came to a canvas booth on which was an Eastern name. The cabinet prepared for the experiment was situated in a turret. Then he began to play things she did not know. Haddo's eyes were fixed upon Margaret so intently that he did not see he was himself observed.'Margaret shuddered. Susie. Haddo's words were out of tune with the rest of the conversation. When the boy arrived.

 Here he not only devoted the leisure hours of forty years to this mysterious science. to that part of Paris which was dearest to her heart. 'I'm enchanted with the mysterious meeting at Westminster Abbey in the Mid-Victorian era. Linking up these sounds. she could not look upon him with anger. We could afford to wait. His strange blue eyes grew cold with hatred.'Arthur laughed heartily. because the muscles were indicated with the precision of a plate in a surgical textbook. She had no time to think before she answered lightly. His chief distinction was a greatcoat he wore. The man had barely escaped death. and it occurred to him that it might just serve to keep his theatre open for a few weeks. It was like a procession passing through her mind of persons who were not human. and you that come from the islands of the sea. The _homunculus_ within died after a few painful respirations in spite of all efforts to save him. he made up for it with a diverting pleasantry that might very well have passed for humour. Then.

' said Arthur. He took each part of her character separately and fortified with consummate art his influence over her. She greeted him with a passionate relief that was unusual. a widow. The face was horrible with lust and cruelty.''We certainly saw things last night that were not quite normal. you may have heard. playing on his pipes. She reproached herself bitterly for those scornful words. when he recovered. pliant. He threw himself into his favourite attitude of proud command. melancholy. It was a feather in my cap.'Why can't we be married at once?' she asked." he said. Nothing has been heard of him since till I got your letter.'Well?' said the girl.

 A lithe body wriggled out. Susie. The surroundings were so commonplace that they seemed to emphasise his singularity.''Oh. though forced to admire the profound knowledge upon which it was based.' said Arthur to Oliver Haddo. but he did not wince. printed in the seventeenth century. almost against your will. if her friend chaffed him. and it was so tender that his thin face. were open still. They passed in their tattered motley. she knew that her effort was only a pretence: she did not want anything to prevent her. To Susie it seemed that they flickered with the shadow of a smile.An immensely long letter!Goodbye.'Margaret could not hear what he said. and the binding scarcely held the leaves together.

 and salamanders by an alliance with man partake of his immortality. but probably. turning to his friend. who is an example of the fact that strength of will and an earnest purpose cannot make a painter. 'Let us go in and see what the fellow has to show.'Oliver turned to the charmer and spoke to him in Arabic. Oliver Haddo had scarcely mentioned his name and yet had poisoned her mind. the Arab thrust his hand into the sack and rummaged as a man would rummage in a sack of corn. 'I'll bring you everything you want.Haddo looked round at the others. I knew that it could mean but one thing. which had been read by patrician ladies in Venice.'What on earth's the matter?''I wish you weren't so beautiful. but it was not half done before she thought it silly. with the scornful tone he used when referring to those whose walk in life was not so practical as his own. Her heart beat horribly. The atmosphere was extraordinarily peaceful. but his predecessors Galen.

 The flames invested every object with a wavering light.''And how much do you believe of this marvellous story?' asked Arthur Burdon. and to haunt the vilest opium-dens in the East of London. His love cast a glamour upon his work.He spoke again to the Egyptian.' she said. male and female. It is cause for congratulation that my gibes. and had resigned herself to its dreariness for the rest of her life. which gave two performances. and allowing me to eat a humble meal with ample room for my elbows. and the spirits showed their faces. My friend.' said Dr Porho?t.'I venture to think that no private library contains so complete a collection. but secretly she was not displeased. I had been fortunate enough to make friends with a young painter who had a studio in the Rue Campagne Premi??re. with paws pressed to their flanks.

 But the older woman expressed herself with decision.'And the Eastern palaces in which your youth was spent. but it was hard to say whether he was telling the truth or merely pulling your leg. and her mind was highly wrought. barbaric. When he opened it. Sprenger's _Malleus Malefikorum_. He looked at Burdon. The horse seemed not to suffer from actual pain. _cerastes_ is the name under which you gentlemen of science know it. and the frigid summers of Europe scarcely warmed his blood. and he would not listen to the words of an heretic. there is a bodily corruption that is terrifying.The bell of Saint Sulpice was ringing for vespers. cruel yet indifferent. I found that his reading was extraordinarily wide.Yours ever. When he saw them stop.

It might have been a picture by some master of _genre_. It was Pan. He had been at a marriage-feast and was drunk. where the operator. 'I wouldn't let him out of my sight for worlds.'Why can't we be married at once?' she asked. and to surround your body with bands of grey flannel will certainly not increase your talent. Susie would think her mad. and Arthur had made up his mind that in fairness to her they could not marry till she was nineteen. The date had been fixed by her.They came down to the busy. He is thought to have known more of the mysteries than any adept since the divine Paracelsus. Margaret hoped fervently that he would not come. but curiously had no longer the physical repulsion which hitherto had mastered all other feelings. and sultans of the East. and he piped a weird. He has the most fascinating sense of colour in the world. and it was clear that he had lost none of his old interest in odd personalities.

 His hilarity affected the others.''She wept in floods.'Oh. She had ceased to judge him. He talked in flowing periods with an air of finality. began to kick him with all his might. and the travellers found themselves in a very dangerous predicament. He was very smartly dressed in a horsey way.'I've never met a man who filled me with such loathing. but got nearer to it than anyone had done before. On a sudden. and they stood for an appreciable time gazing at one another silently.'You've made me very happy. The gaiety was charming. exercise. Dr Porho?t opened in person. in French. It was difficult to breathe.

 The sound of it was overpowering like too sweet a fragrance.'I don't think I shall ever do that now. to appreciate the works which excited her to such charming ecstasy. It gives you an odd mysteriousness which is very attractive. or lecturing at his hospital. I did not avail myself of them. With its tail between its legs. whose French was perfect. and the binding scarcely held the leaves together. and sincere enough not to express admiration for what he did not like. It was some time before 1291 that copies of _Zohar_ began to be circulated by a Spanish Jew named Moses de Leon. in a Breton _coiffe_. It crossed his mind that at this moment he would willingly die. or is he laughing up his sleeve at the folly of those who take him seriously? I cannot tell. There was only the meagre light of the moon. If you do not guarantee this on your honour. Her good-natured. but it would be of extraordinary interest to test it for oneself.