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Show WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE In Urbino, Italy, when It was under control of Cesare Borgia, famous commander and statesman, states-man, a crafty rogue, Corvinus Trismegistus, Is flourishing as a fortune teller, dispenser of pot-sons pot-sons and wielder of alleged supernatural su-pernatural powers. To him comes in great privacy the Lady Bianca de' Fioravanti, beautiful daughter daugh-ter of the rich lord of Castle San Leo, which is holding out f-gainst-the power of Cesare Borgia. As she enters she sees entering with her a mysterious figure. CHAPTER I Continued 2 After her, In close attendance, ever tat, came the gentleman ot the aask. Believing him to be of the iousehold of the mage, and his at-radance at-radance a necessary condition, she sflde no demur to it ; whilst the Nu-Sian, Nu-Sian, on the other hand, supposing tlra, from his mask and the richness of Ms cloak, to be her companion, aade no attempt to check his ingress. Tims, together, these two passed Mo the dim twilight of the room. The curtains rasped together again iehind them, and the door clanged apolchrally. liadonnu peered about her, her :reath shortened, her heart beating ndnly. A line -of radiance along ie ceiling, mysterious of source, very filntly revealed her surroundings to :er: three or four chairs, capacious ;nd fantastically carved, a table of :laln wood against the wall immedi-(tcly immedi-(tcly before her, crowded with strange ressels of glass ajid of metal that fleamed as they were smitten by rays tfthe faint light. No window showed. From ceiling to floor the chamber was iung with black draperies ; it was cold tnd silent as the tomb, and of the ma-fician ma-fician there was no sign. The eerlness of the place increased her awe, trammeled her reason, and loosed her imagination. She sat down lo await the advent of the dread Corvinus. Cor-vinus. And then the second nMracle look place. Chancing to look round In quest of the black famulus who !ad materialized to escort her, she 'iscovered, to her infinite amazement, that he had vanished. As mysteri-ously mysteri-ously as he had first taken shape in the porch before her eyes, had he now dissolved again and melted away into the all-encompassing gloom. She caught her breath at this, and "ten, as if something had still been Meded to scatter what remained of to wits, a great pillar of fire leapt suddenly into being In midchamber, wnentarily to blind her and to wring irom her a cry of fear. As suddenly it vanished, leaving a stench of sul- P'tor in the air ; and then a voice, to'?, booming and immensely calm, t;nS in her ears : 'Tear not, Bianca de' Fioravanti. 1 here. What do you seek of me?" The poor, overwrought lady looked Wore her In the direction of the ,0l, and witnessed the third mir-icle. mir-icle. Gradually before her eyes, where llle had been impenetrable gloom "we, Indeed, It had seemed to her. tot the chamber ended in a wall !lle saw a man, an entire scene, grad-' grad-' assume shape and being as she 'Mched. Nor did It occur to her that 1 might be her eyesight's slow recover recov-er from the blinding flash of light at conveyed to her this impression " Sradual materialization. Soon it complete in focus, as It were, Jld Quite distinct. -be beheld a small table or pulpit Mo which stood a gigantic open Dle. Its leaves yellow with a great K, its colossal silver clasps gleam-'i gleam-'i '0 the light from the three beaks 9 tall-stemmed bronze lamp of an-; an-; J1 Greek design, In which some aro-, aro-, 011 was being burned. At the flblv8 t0' human sk"n grinned hor- To the right of the table stood t , Porting a brazier in which ,itlSS of charcoal was glowing rud- 'k rtAt H'e tRbIe ltseIf' ln 8 lllKh' !n J'1811"' Sat a raan in a scarlet in'v hend covered bJ' a llnt like 'in TA saucePar- H'S face was Miles . gaUDt' the nose and c,,eek" Us hv"y Prominent; his forehead f and narrow, his red beard itrjej f ,. amI his eres, which were "'cm, I "POn hls visltor. reflecting "ann, Dg,y set "Sht. gleamed with Bc-h Ty Penetratl0"-,: Penetratl0"-,: "d 'cr,,,,Mlm' ,n tlle background, l!e ble and nlemblc, and above ' lii'ls I array of shelves laden with 's'l v.61"" and ret0s. But of all C'1"-11" most fleeting and f of ''"f-rasslons. All at-01 at-01 which she was capable was focused upon the man himself. She i was, too, as one In a dream, so bewildered bewil-dered had her senses grown by all that she had witnessed. "Speak, Madonna," the magician calmly w&i-.a her. "I am here to do your will." It was encouraging, and would have been still more encouraging had she but held some explanation of the extraordinary ex-traordinary manner of his advent. Still overawed, she spoke at last, her voice unsteady. "I need your help," said she. "I need It very sorely." "It is yours, Madonna, to the entire extent of my vast science." "You you have great learning?" she half-questioned, half-affirmed. "The limitless ocean," he answered modestly, "is neither so wide nor so deep as my knowledge. xVhat Is your need?" She was mastering herself now; and If she faltered still and hesitated hesi-tated It was because the thing she craved was not such as a maid may boldly speak of. She approached her subject gradually. "l'ou possess the secret of great medicines," said -she, "of elixirs that will do their work not only upon the body, but at need upon the very spirit?" "Madonna," he answered soberly, "I can arrest the decay of age, or compel com-pel the departed spirit of the dead WiPS' "I See Great Difficulties to Be Overcome," Over-come," Said the Wily Mage. to return and restore the body's life. And since It is Nature's law that the greater must Include the less, let that reply suffice you." "But can you " She paused. Then, Impelled by her need, her last fear forgotten now that she was well embarked em-barked upon the business, she rose and approached him. "Can you. command com-mand love?" she asked, and gulped. "Can you compel the cold to grow impassioned, im-passioned, the indifferent to be filled with longings? Can you can you do this?" He pondered her at some length. "Is this your need?" quoth he, and there was wonder in his voice. "Yours or another's?" "It is my need," she answered low. "My own." He sat back, and further considered the pale beauty of her, the low brow, the black, lustrous tresses In their golden net, the splendid eyes, the al luring mouth, die noble hhTT shape. ! "Magic I have to do your will at ! need," he said slowly; "but surelv no I such magic as Is Nature's own endow- ment of you. Can he resist the sor- ! eery of those lips and eyes this man j for whose subjection you desire my ' aid?" 1 "Alas I rie thinks not of such j things. His mind is set on war and ; armaments. His only mistress Is ambition." am-bition." ! "His name," quoth the sage impe- ' rlously. "What Is his name his ' name andy his condition?" She lowered her glance. A faint flush tinged her cheeks. She hest j tated, taken by a fluttering panic, yet she dared not deny him the knowledge knowl-edge he demanded, lest, vexed by her refusal, he should withhold his aid. j "His name," she faltered at length, j "is Lorenzo Castrocaro a gentleman J of Urbino, a eondottiero who serves j under the .banner of the duke of Val- j entinois." ' "A eondottiero blind to beauty, j blind to such warm loveliness as yours, Madonna?" cried Corvinus. "So anomalous a being, such a lusus naturae natu-rae will require great medicine." "Opportunity has served me none too well," she explained, almost ln self- j defense. "Indeed, circumstance is all ; against us. My father is the castellan ' of St. Leo, devoted to Duke Guido- j baldo wherefore. It Is natural that we should see but little of one who j serves under the banner of the foe. I And so I fear that he may go his ways 1 unless I have that which will bring him to me in despite of all." Corvinus considered the matter silently si-lently awhile, then sighed. "I see great difficulties to be overcome," said that wily mage. j "But you can help me to overcome them?" His gleaming eyes considered her. "It will be costly," he said. "What's that to me? Do you think I'll count the cost In such a matter?" The wizard drew back, frowned, and wrapped himself In a great dignity. "Understand me," said he with some asperity. "This Is no shop where things are bought and sold. My knowledge and my magic are at the service of all humanity. These I do not sell. I bestow them freely and without fee upon all who need them. But if I give so much, so very much, It cannot be expected that I should give more. The drugs I have assembled assem-bled from all corners of the earth are often of great price. That price it Is yours to bear, since the medicine Is for your service." "You have such medicie, then I" she cried, her hands clasping in sudden Increase of hopefulness. He nodded his assent. "Love philters are common things enough, and easy of preparation In the main. Any rustic hag who deals In witchcraft and preys on fools can brew one." The contempt of his tone was withering. "But for your affair, where great obstacles must be sur- ! mounted, or ever the affinities can be j made to respond, a drug of unusual power is needed. Such a drug T have though little of it, for in all the world there is none more difficult to i obtain. Its chief component Is an ex- tract from the brain of a rare bird avis rarissima of Africa." j With feverish fingers she plucked j a heavy purse from her girdle and : splashed It upon the table. It fell against the grinning skull, and thus cheek by jowl with each other lay Life's two masters Death and Gold. "Fifty ducats !" sle panted in her ( excitement. "Will that suffice?" I "Perhaps," said he, entirely disdain- i fill. "Should It fall something short, I will myself add what may be lack- ' ing." And with contemptuous fingers, eloquent of his scorn of mere profit, he pushed the purse aside, a thing of , no account in this transaction. j She began to protest that more ' should be forthcoming. But he nobly overbore her protestations. He rose, revealing his broad, black girdle that clasped his scarlet robe about hla waist, all figured with the signs of the zodiac wrought In gold. He stepped to the shelves and took from one of them a bronze coffer of some size. . With this he returned to the table, set It down, opened It, and drew forth a tiny phial a slender little tube of glass that was plugged,and sealed. It contained no more than a thread of deep amber fluid a dozen drops at most. lie held It Op so that It gleamed golden in the light. "This," he said, "is my elixlrium aureum, my golden elixir, a rare and very subtle potion, sufficient for your . need." Abruptly he proffered It to her. i Will this elixir work? Will it enable the Lady Bianca to gain her desire? (TO BE CONTINUED.) .irx-:i:-x-:-x-:-x-x:-x:-XvXM.j |