| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: the adjacent districts have used this fancied resemblance; and as in a
rural propaganda the object is less to strike fair than to strike
hard, Laurent Goussard's version, apocryphal as it is, is hawked about
the country villages with a coolness that admits of no contradiction.
While this pretended revolutionary origin is advancing our friend's
prospects in one direction, in another the tale put forth to the
worthy voters whom it is desirable to entice is different, but truer
and not less striking to the minds of the country-people. This is the
gentlemen, they are told, who has bought the chateau of Arcis; and as
the chateau of Arcis stands high above the town and is known to all
the country round, it is to these simple folk a species of symbol.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: is to tell Professor Clyde about it," Miss Lombard repeated with
extraordinary precision of tone.
Wyant was silent. He had the puzzled sense that his wishes were
being divined and gratified for reasons with which he was in no
way connected.
"Well, well," the doctor muttered, "I don't say no--I don't say
no. I know what Clyde wants--I don't refuse to help him." He
turned to Wyant. "You may come again--you may make notes," he
added with a sudden effort. "Jot down what occurs to you. I'm
willing to concede that."
Wyant again caught the girl's eye, but its emphatic message
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