| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: black-souled renegade, but that is not for my thought. What kills me is the
horror for her--for her."
"I, too, suffer with that thought; more than that, I am morbid and depressed.
I feel as if some calamity awaited us here. I have never been superstitious,
nor have I had presentiments, but of late there are strange fears in my mind."
At this juncture Mr. Wells and Heckewelder came out of the adjoining cabin.
"I had word from a trustworthy runner to-day. Girty and his captives have not
been seen in the Delaware towns," aid Heckewelder.
"It is most unlikely that he will take them to the towns," replied Edwards.
"What do you make of his capturing Jim?"
"For Pipe, perhaps. The Delaware Wolf is snapping his teeth. Pipe is
The Spirit of the Border |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Out of Time's Abyss by Edgar Rice Burroughs: to its companion and in a language that Bradley partially
understood, since he recognized words that he had learned from
the savage races of Caspak. From this he judged that they were
human, and being human, he knew that they could have no natural
wings--for who had ever seen a human being so adorned!
Therefore their wings must be mechanical. Thus Bradley reasoned--
thus most of us reason; not by what might be possible; but by what
has fallen within the range of our experience.
What he heard them say was to the effect that having covered
half the distance the burden would now be transferred from one
to the other. Bradley wondered how the exchange was to
Out of Time's Abyss |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: admits of no state occasions. So that, as far as this particular
pleasure, to begin with, goes, the pleasure of anticipation, the
monarch is at disadvantage compared with private people.
And in the next place (he continued), I am sure your own experience
will bear me out so far: the more viands set before a man at table
(beyond what are sufficient),[25] the more quickly will satiety of
eating overtake him. So that in actual duration of the pleasure, he
with his many dishes has less to boast of than the moderate liver.
[25] {ta peritta ton ikanon}. These words Hartm. op. cit. p. 254,
regards as an excrescence.
Yes, but good gracious! surely (broke in Simonides), during the actual
|
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 The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: etc.; and if the result from the traps was less than during the cold, still
the warren yielded its accustomed quota, which might have fed all the
colony in Lincoln Island.
Often during these excursions, Herbert talked with Gideon Spilett on the
incident of the bullet, and the deductions which the engineer drew from it,
and one day--it was the 26th of October--he said--"But, Mr. Spilett, do you
not think it very extraordinary that, if any castaways have landed on the
island, they have not yet shown themselves near Granite House?"
"Very astonishing if they are still here," replied the reporter, "but not
astonishing at all if they are here no longer!"
"So you think that these people have already quitted the island?"
The Mysterious Island |
