The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Out of Time's Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs: ladder leading to the roof from whence he had descended; but the
Englishman was not one to brook interference for long. He attempted
at first to push his way past them, and then when one seized his
arm and jerked him roughly back, Bradley swung upon the creature
and with a heavy blow to the jaw felled it.
Instantly pandemonium reigned. Loud wails arose, great wings
opened and closed with a loud, beating noise and many clawlike
hands reached forth to clutch him. Bradley struck to right
and left. He dared not use his pistol for fear that once they
discovered its power he would be overcome by weight of numbers
and relieved of possession of what he considered his trump card,
 Out of Time's Abyss |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: but to go home and pray."
And so Mrs. Leigh went onward up the lane, and spent all that night
in listening between her prayers to the thunder of the surge, till
it was drowned, long ere the sun rose, in the thunder of the storm.
And where is Amyas on this same Christmas afternoon?
Amyas is sitting bareheaded in a boat's stern in Smerwick bay, with
the spray whistling through his curls, as he shouts cheerfully--
"Pull, and with a will, my merry men all, and never mind shipping a
sea. Cannon balls are a cargo that don't spoil by taking salt-
water."
His mother's presage has been true enough. Christmas eve has been
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