| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: unrighteous. He stifled it, and forced his lips to sigh "Poor Blake!"
"Poor, indeed!" quoth Trenchard, and adapted a remembered line of his
play-acting days to suit the case. "The tears live in an onion that
shall water his grave. Though, perhaps, I am forgetting Swiney." Then,
in a brisker tone, "Come, Richard. What like is the muscadine you keep
at Lupton House?"
"I have abjured all wine," said Richard.
"A plague you have!" quoth Trenchard, understanding less and less.
"Have you turned Mussuman, perchance?"
"No," answered Richard sternly; "Christian."
Trenchard hesitated, rubbing his nose thoughtfully. "Hum," said he at
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Burning Daylight by Jack London: Another huge man detached himself from the bar to shake hands.
Olaf Henderson and French Louis, partners together on Bone Creek,
were the two largest men in the country, and though they were but
half a head taller than the newcomer, between them he was dwarfed
completely.
"Hello, Olaf, you're my meat, savvee that," said the one called
Daylight. "To-morrow's my birthday, and I'm going to put you-all
on your back--savvee? And you, too, Louis. I can put you-all on
your back on my birthday--savvee? Come up and drink, Olaf, and
I'll tell you-all about it."
The arrival of the newcomer seemed to send a flood of warmth
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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 O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: become longer, sharper, more aggressive. She
wears her yellow hair in a high pompadour,
and is bedecked with rings and chains and
"beauty pins." Her tight, high-heeled shoes
give her an awkward walk, and she is always
more or less preoccupied with her clothes. As
she sat at the table, she kept telling her young-
est daughter to "be careful now, and not drop
anything on mother."
The conversation at the table was all in Eng-
O Pioneers! |
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 Daisy Miller by Henry James: side of her.
"It may be enchanting, dear child, but it is not the custom here,"
urged Mrs. Walker, leaning forward in her victoria, with her
hands devoutly clasped.
"Well, it ought to be, then!" said Daisy. "If I didn't walk
I should expire."
"You should walk with your mother, dear," cried the lady
from Geneva, losing patience.
"With my mother dear!" exclaimed the young girl. Winterbourne saw that she
scented interference. "My mother never walked ten steps in her life.
And then, you know," she added with a laugh, "I am more than five years old."
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