| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: have been long after midnight," replied the girl.
"And the rest of the gang, those that were arrested
with you," continued the detective, "how about them?
All angels, I suppose."
"There was only Bridge and the boy they called The
Oskaloosa Kid, though he isn't the same one that mur-
dered poor Mr. Paynter, and the Gypsy girl, Giova,
that were with me. The others were tramps who came
into the old mill and attacked us while we were asleep.
I don't know who they were. The girl could have had
nothing to do with any of the crimes. We came upon
The Oakdale Affair |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: "Mystery! then there is a mystery?"
"Yes," answered Porbus. "Frenhofer was the only pupil Mabuse was
willing to teach. He became the friend, saviour, father of that
unhappy man, and he sacrificed the greater part of his wealth to
satisfy the mad passions of his master. In return, Mabuse bequeathed
to him the secret of relief, the power of giving life to form,--that
flower of nature, our perpetual despair, which Mabuse had seized so
well that once, having sold and drunk the value of a flowered damask
which he should have worn at the entrance of Charles V., he made his
appearance in a paper garment painted to resemble damask. The splendor
of the stuff attracted the attention of the emperor, who, wishing to
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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 A Book of Remarkable Criminals by H. B. Irving: of the cells. From this distressing state he was roused shortly
before eleven, to be taken to the college. He was quite
incapable of walking, and had to be supported by two of the
officers. He was present there while his rooms were searched;
but his state was painful in the extreme. He asked for water,
but trembled so convulsively that he could only snap at the
tumbler like a dog; his limbs were rigid; tears and sweat poured
down his cheeks. On the way back to the jail, one of the
officers, moved by his condition, expressed his pity for him.
"Do you pity me? Are you sorry for me? What for?" asked
Webster. "To see you so excited," replied the officer. "Oh!
A Book of Remarkable Criminals |
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 Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: madness. His life was stirred to the very source of his being at the
mere thought of seeing Seraphita. As he listened to her he was
transported into unknown worlds; he was mute before her, she
magnetized him. There, beneath the snows, among the glaciers, bloomed
the celestial flower to which his hopes, so long betrayed, aspired;
the sight of which awakened ideas of freshness, purity, and faith
which grouped about his soul and lifted it to higher regions,--as
Angels bear to heaven the Elect in those symbolic pictures inspired by
the guardian spirit of a great master. Celestial perfumes softened the
granite hardness of the rocky scene; light endowed with speech shed
its divine melodies on the path of him who looked to heaven. After
Seraphita |
