| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Duchesse de Langeais by Honore de Balzac: attempt was a matter of conscience. The Carmelite convent on the
island was the only nunnery in Spain which had baffled his
search.
As he crossed from the mainland, scarcely an hour's distance, he
felt a presentiment that his hopes were to be fulfilled; and
afterwards, when as yet he had seen nothing of the convent but
its walls, and of the nuns not so much as their robes; while he
had merely heard the chanting of the service, there were dim
auguries under the walls and in the sound of the voices to
justify his frail hope. And, indeed, however faint those so
unaccountable presentiments might be, never was human passion
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: The stranger gave them to him.
"A bag of gold-dust," he explained, "and a letter. I wrote it at his
dictation while he was dying. He lived hardly an hour afterward."
The stranger bowed his head at the stricken cry which his news elicited
from the priest, who, after a few moments' vain effort to speak, opened
the letter and read:
My dear Friend,--It is through no man's fault but mine that I have come
to this. I have had plenty of luck, and lately have been counting the
days until I should return home. But last night heavy news from New
Orleans reached me, and I tore the pressed flower to pieces. Under the
first smart and humiliation of broken faith I was rendered desperate, and
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: to his jaw and he went down like a felled ox. As he sunk to
the floor I wheeled around with my back toward the nearest
desk, expecting to be overwhelmed by the vengeance of his
fellows, but determined to give them as good a battle as the
unequal odds would permit before I gave up my life.
My fears were groundless, however, as the other Martians,
at first struck dumb with wonderment, finally broke into wild
peals of laughter and applause. I did not recognize the
applause as such, but later, when I had become acquainted
with their customs, I learned that I had won what they seldom
accord, a manifestation of approbation.
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Yates Pride by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman: most, and she looked like a picture--somehow she had got all
dressed fit to make calls--and there wasn't a muscle of her face
that seemed to move. Eudora Yates is to my mind the most
beautiful woman in this town, old or young, I don't care who she
is."
"I suppose," said Julia Esterbrook, "that she has a lot of
money."
"I wonder if she has," said Mrs. John Bates.
The others stared at her. "What makes you think she hasn't?"
Mrs. Glynn inquired, sharply.
"Nothing," said Mrs. Bates, and closed her thin lips. She would
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