| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: our amorous friend, My Lord, the Earl of Bucking-
ham."
Half an hour's ride brought them within sight of the
castle. Dismounting, and leaving their horses with one
of the men, Norman of Torn advanced on foot with
Shandy and the eight others, close in the wake of the
traitorous servant.
The fellow led them to the rear of the castle, where,
among the brush, he had hidden a rude ladder, which,
when tilted, spanned the moat and rested its farther
end upon a window ledge some ten feet above the
The Outlaw of Torn |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: his comrades--resolution to carry through this business if it
might be carried; pluck profit out of shame, since the shame at
least was now inevitable; and come home, home from South
America--how did the song go?--'with his pockets full of
money':
'O honey, with our pockets full of money,
We will trip, trip, trip, we will trip it on the quay:'
so the words ran in his head; and the honey took on visible
form, the quay rose before him and he knew it for the lamplit
Embankment, and he saw the lights of Battersea bridge bestride
the sullen river. All through the remainder of his trick, he
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: according to Olivarez's statement, since the first of the month:
but he is one who has had, for some years past, even more reason
than Alva for not speaking his mind. What he looked like we know
well, for Titian has painted him from the life--a tall, bold, well-
dressed man, with a noble brain, square and yet lofty, short curling
locks and beard, an eye which looks as though it feared neither man
nor fiend--and it has had good reason to fear both--and features
which would be exceeding handsome, but for the defiant snub-nose.
That is Andreas Vesalius, of Brussels, dreaded and hated by the
doctors of the old school--suspect, moreover, it would seem to
inquisitors and theologians, possibly to Alva himself; for he has
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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 Fantastic Fables by Ambrose Bierce: "My friend, I will impart to you a dark secret. Years ago the
Company betrayed my sweetheart by promise of marriage. Under an
assumed name I have wormed myself into its service for revenge; and
as there is a heaven above us, I will have its heart's blood!"
An Optimist
Two Frogs in the belly of a snake were considering their altered
circumstances.
"This is pretty hard luck," said one.
"Don't jump to conclusions," the other said; "we are out of the wet
and provided with board and lodging."
"With lodging, certainly," said the First Frog; "but I don't see
Fantastic Fables |
