The Magician

re so many that the austere studio was changed in aspect. It gained an ephemeral brightness that Margaret, notwithstanding pieces of silk hu

id. 'You must think m

iled and he

u don't trouble about the comm

knows that when a man sends flowers it is a s

at these were sent

ss, and there was the peculiar air of romance which is always in a studio. There is a sense of freedom about it that disposes the

acy increased, Susie learnt to appreciate his solid character. She admired his capacity in dealing with matters that were in his province, and the simplicity with which he left alone those of which he was ignorant. There was no pose in him. She was touched also by an ingenuous candour which gave a persuasive charm to his abruptness. And, though she set a plain woman's value on good looks, his appearance, rough hewn like a statue in porphyry, pleased her singularly. It was an index of hi

n against his legs. They began to talk in the soft light and had forgotten almost that another guest was expected. Margaret hoped fervently that he would not come. She had never looked more lovely than on this afternoon, and she busied herself with the preparations for tea with a

king into French in the impossibility of expressing i

lours arranged themselves in such agreeable tones, or that the lines of the wall and the sea

w him her sketches and looked at them with unassumed interest. His observations were pointed and showed a certain knowledge of what he spoke about. He described himself as an amateur, that object of a painter's derision: the man 'who knows what he likes'; but his criticism, though generous, showed that he was no fool. The two women were impressed. Putting the sketches aside, he began to talk, of the many places he had seen. It was evident that he sought to please. Susie began to understand how it was that, notwithstanding his affectations, he had acquired so great an influence over the undergraduates of Oxford. There was romance and laughter in his conversation; and though, as Frank Hurrell had said, lacking in wit, he made up for

ed to Dr

t now and then the old alchemists

offered of any other historical event, it would be credited beyond doubt. We can disbelieve these circu

t life of Paracelsus which

smiling sh

e alchemists, for he offers the fascinating problem of an immensely complex character. It is

heavy face in shadow, his eyes fixed steadily on the

e afterwards accompanied to Constantinople. 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. It was at Constantinople that, according to a certain aureum vellus printed at Rorschach in the sixteenth century, he received the philosopher's stone from Solomon Trismosinus. This person possessed also the Universal Panacea, and it is asserted that he was seen still alive by a French traveller at the end of the seventeenth century. Paracelsus then pas

opened it thoughtfully. He read out the fine

eemed useful to me even from vagabonds, hangmen, and barbers. We know that a lover will go far to meet the

to find a few mor

ised who goes in search of it? Those who remain at home may grow richer and live more comf

ine words,' said Arth

d they made him more eager still to devote his own life to the diff

on, who praised his wares with the vulgar glibness of a quack.

tries along the Danube and the Rhine, and you that come from the islands of the sea. It is not for me to follow you, because mine is the lordship. The time will co

t closed

e. His folly and the malice of his rivals prevented him from remaining anywhere for long. He wrought many wonderful cures. The physicians of Nuremberg denounced him as a quack, a charlatan, and an impostor. To refute them he asked the city council to put under his care patients that had been pronounced incurable. They sent him several cases of elephantiasis, and he cured them: testimonials to that effect may still b

, like most of these old fellows, in the course

ation was extremely difficult, for the presence was needed of two perfectly harmonious persons whose skill was equal. It was said to be a red ethereal fluid. The least wonderful of its many properties was its power to transmute all inferior metals into gold. There is an old church in the south of Bavaria where the tincture is said to be still buried in the ground. In the year 1698 some of it penetrated through t

try to make it,

ht. They might see anything that had been written or spoken, and the person who said it, and the causes that made him say it. But I like best the Primum Ens Melissae. An elaborate prescription i

e eighteen agai

n account of certain experiments witnessed by himself. It appears that one of his friends prepared the

scientific attitud

ed at least one of the characteristics of youth, much to her astonishment, for she did not know that she had been taking a medicine, and, becoming frightened, refused to continue. The experimenter then took some grain, soaked it in the tincture, and gave it to an aged hen. On the sixth day the

aughed h

others. The Primum Ens Melissae at least offers

ile?' asked Haddo, who had been sitti

to call i

very su

in order to hear from their phantom lips nothing but commonplaces. And I really cannot see that the alchemist who spent h

he subject of all his dreams, but not a paltry, limited dominion over this or that; power over the whole world, power over all created things, power

his words intoxicated him, and his face assumed a new, a stran

appiness, but men aim only at power. The magus, the sorcerer, the alchemist, are seized with fascination of the unknown; and they desire a greatness that is inaccessible to mankind. They think by the science they stu

g. He began to walk up and down the studio. It was curious to see this heavy man

ithheld from you. You will find it neither mean nor mercenary, but it is very terrible. I do not know

ntly. There was a singular agitation in his manner, as t

1775. The sources from which this account is taken consist of masonic manuscripts, but more especially of a diary kept by a certain James Kammerer, who acted in the capacity of butler and famulus to the Count. The evidence is ten times stronger than any upon which men believe the articles of their religion. If it related to less wonderful subjects, you would not hesitate to believe implicitly every word you read. There were ten homunculi-James Kammerer calls them prophesying spirits-kept in strong bottles, such as are used to preserve fruit, and these were filled with water. They were made in five weeks, by the Count von Küffstein and an Italian mystic and rosicrucian, the Abbé Geloni. The bottles were closed with a magic seal. The spirits were about a span long, and the Count was anxious that they should grow. They were

ain that he was much moved. It appeared as if his story affected

grow weak and unconscious, as though they were about to die. But with the spirits that were invisible, at certain intervals blood was poured into the water; and it disappeared at once, inexplicably, without colouring or troubling it. By some accident one of the bottles fell one day and was broken. The homunculus

'But taking for granted that the thing is possible, what on eart

actually generated. But with our modern appliances, with our greater skill, what might it not be possible to do now if we had the courage? There are chemists toiling away in their laboratories to create the primitive protoplasm from matter which is dead, the organic from the inorganic. I have studied their experiments. I know all that they

By a singular effect his eyes appeared blood-red, and they stared into space, strangely parallel, with an intensity that was terrifying. Arthur started a little and gave h

l irony that gave a certain humour to the subject, and Susie was resolutely flippant. But Haddo's vehemence put these incredulous people out of countenance.

farewells to yo

t that they had for

Copper,' s

, and with a terrified expressi

the matter with

with that harsh laugh of his, which

nse

g's back, and shook its paw. Margare

she said, with

king it off, gave it a savage kick. The dog rolled over with a loud bark that was almost a scream of pain, and lay still for a moment as if it were desperately hurt. Margaret cried out with horror and indignation.

te,' he

er hands, crying over it, and trying to comfort it in its pain. Very gently he examined it to see if Haddo's brutal kick had broken a bone. They sat down beside the fire. Susie, to steady her nerves, lit a cigarette. She was horribly, acutely conscious of that man who lay in a mass on the floor behind them. She wondered what he would do. She wondered why he did not go. And she was ashamed of his h

e to see the satanic hatred which hideously deformed it. But it changed. The redness gave way to a ghastly pallor. The revengeful scowl disappeared; and a torpid smile spread over the features, a smile that was even more terrifying than the frown of malice. What did it mean? Susie could have cried out, but her tongue

o moved. He came

to forgive me for w

emper. I deeply regret that I kicked it. Mr Burdon was v

istinctness. Susie was astounded. An abje

him. When she spoke, her words were scarcely audible. She did not

don't mind, you h

ightly. He loo

o malice for what you did. I reco

s rested on them quietly. To Susie it seemed that they flickered with

his hat, bowed