| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: loser.'
'Do you not understand my odious position?' cried the Countess.
'Dear Prince, it is upon your fall that I begin my fortune.'
'It was the more like you to tempt me to resistance,' returned Otto.
'But this cannot alter our relations; and I must, for the last time,
lay my commands upon you in the character of Prince.' And with his
loftiest dignity, he forced the deeds on her acceptance.
'I hate the very touch of them,' she cried.
There followed upon this a little silence. 'At what time,' resumed
Otto, '(if indeed you know) am I to be arrested?'
'Your Highness, when you please!' exclaimed the Countess. 'Or, if
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Catherine de Medici by Honore de Balzac: practised, like the Ruggieri, the Cardans, Paracelsus, and others, the
occult sciences. This woman, whose name and life have eluded history,
foretold one year as the length of Francois's reign.
"Give me your opinion on all this," said Catherine to Chiverni.
"We shall have a battle," replied the prudent courtier. "The king of
Navarre--"
"Oh! say the queen," interrupted Catherine.
"True, the queen," said Chiverni, smiling, "the queen has given the
Prince de Conde as leader to the Reformers, and he, in his position of
younger son, can venture all; consequently the cardinal talks of
ordering him here."
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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 At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs: tip of the shaft rested upon the thumb of my left hand,
and then as the great creature darted toward us I let
drive straight for that tough breast.
Hissing like the escape valve of a steam engine,
the mighty creature fell turning and twisting into the
sea below, my arrow buried completely in its carcass.
I turned toward the girl. She was looking past me.
It was evident that she had seen the thipdar die.
"Dian," I said, "won't you tell me that you are not sorry
that I have found you?"
"I hate you," was her only reply; but I imagined
At the Earth's Core |
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 Adventure by Jack London: Sheldon, subdued and silent. At the end of half an hour she turned
to him with a wan smile and said, -
"I don't think I care to visit the head-hunters any more. It's
adventure, I know; but there is such a thing as having too much of
a good thing. Riding around the plantation will henceforth be good
enough for me, or perhaps salving another Martha; but the bushmen
of Guadalcanar need never worry for fear that I shall visit them
again. I shall have nightmares for months to come, I know I shall.
Ugh!--the horrid beasts!"
That night found them back in camp with Tudor, who, while improved,
would still have to be carried down on a stretcher. The swelling
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