| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: me down in a lonely place. Here is the mark of it," and I touched the
little scar upon the side of my forehead.
"That is true; he did so, the stinkcat," shouted the Vrouw Prinsloo, and
was ordered to be silent.
"Do you acknowledge," went on the commandant, "that you sent to warn
your wife and those with her to depart from the camp on the Bushman's
River, because it was going to be attacked, charging them to keep the
matter secret, and that afterwards both you and your Hottentot servant
alone returned safely from Zululand, where all those who went with you
lie dead?"
"I acknowledge," I answered, "that I wrote to tell my wife to come to
Marie |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: Orszay sprang up. His face flushed and then grew livid, and he put
his hand to his forehead. Then he forced a smile and said in a
voice that trembled in spite of himself: "Mr. Muller, your
imagination is wonderful. And which of these two do you think it is
that has committed these crimes - the perpetrator of which you have
come here to find?"
"I will tell you that later. I must speak to No. 302 first, and I
must speak to him in the presence of yourself and Gyuri."
The detective's deep gravity was contagious. Dr. Orszay had
sufficiently controlled himself to remember what he had heard in
former days, and just now recently from the district judge about
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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 Mother by Owen Wister: "Shall we have," he whispered to Mr. Hillard, "a Beckmesser fiasco
to-night, or will it be a Walter success?"
But Mr. Hillard, besides being an author and a critic, cared little for
the too literary cleverness of Mr. Graves. He therefore heavily crushed
that gentleman's allusion to Wagner's opera. "I remember," he said, "the
singing contest between Beckmesser and Walter, and I doubt if we are to
be afflicted with anything so dull in this house."
Richard had settled himself in the easy-chair, and was looking
thoughtfully at various objects in the room, while the small-talk was
subsiding around him.
"Why, Mr. Field," said Mrs. Davenport, "you look as if you could find
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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 La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: " 'No, monsieur.'
" 'Very good; thank you,' said he, flashing a tiger's glare at his
wife. 'Jean,' he added, turning to his confidential valet, 'you can
serve my meals here in Madame de Merret's room. She is ill, and I
shall not leave her till she recovers.'
"The cruel man remained in his wife's room for twenty days. During the
earlier time, when there was some little noise in the closet, and
Josephine wanted to intercede for the dying man, he said, without
allowing her to utter a word, 'You swore on the Cross that there was
no one there.' "
After this story all the ladies rose from table, and thus the spell
La Grande Breteche |
