| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart: of paper that indicated a concealed room somewhere.
His inherited cupidity was aroused. Eager to get
Halsey and Jack Bailey out of the house, he went up to the
east entry, and in the billiard-room gave the cashier what he had
refused earlier in the evening--the address of Paul Armstrong in
California and a telegram which had been forwarded to the club
for Bailey, from Doctor Walker. It was in response to one Bailey
had sent, and it said that Paul Armstrong was very ill.
Bailey was almost desperate. He decided to go west and find Paul
Armstrong, and to force him to disgorge. But the catastrophe at
the bank occurred sooner than he had expected. On the moment of
The Circular Staircase |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Professor by Charlotte Bronte: "You owe me a debt of gratitude," were his first words.
"Do I?" said I; "I hope it is not a large one, for I am much too
poor to charge myself with heavy liabilities of any kind."
"Then declare yourself bankrupt at once, for this liability is a
ton weight at least. When I came in I found your fire out, and I
had it lit again, and made that sulky drab of a servant stay and
blow at it with the bellows till it had burnt up properly; now,
say 'Thank you!'"
"Not till I have had something to eat; I can thank nobody while I
am so famished."
I rang the bell and ordered tea and some cold meat.
The Professor |
