| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: should have endeavoured to take gentle measures with the courier, as
this had forewarned him, and he had apparently been led to remove the
letter's outer wrapper - which, no doubt, bore Wilding's full name
and address - against the chance of such an attack as they had made
upon him. Nevertheless, as it was, that letter "to my good friend W.,"
backed by Richard's and Blake's evidence of the destination intended
for it, would be more than enough to lay Mr. Wilding safely by the heels.
"I would to Heaven," he repeated in conclusion, "I could have come in
time to save you from becoming his wife. But at least it is in my power
to make you very speedily his widow."
"That," said Ruth, still retaining the letter, "is what you propose
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson: evidence of their being posted, sent them out with directions that
they should be registered. Thenceforward, he sat all day over the
fire in the private room, gnawing his nails; there he dined,
sitting alone with his fears, the waiter visibly quailing before
his eye; and thence, when the night was fully come, he set forth
in the corner of a closed cab, and was driven to and fro about the
streets of the city. He, I say--I cannot say, I. That child of
Hell had nothing human; nothing lived in him but fear and hatred.
And when at last, thinking the driver had begun to grow
suspicious, he discharged the cab and ventured on foot, attired in
his misfitting clothes, an object marked out for observation, into
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: intended as a penalty in case you don't."
"I vill not stand for such foolishness," pounded Heinzman on the arm
of his chair.
"Very well," said Newmark crisply, reaching for the contract.
But Heinzman clung to it.
"It is absurd," he repeated in a milder tone. "See, I vill strike
it out." He did so with a few dashes of the pen.
"We have no intention," stated Newmark with decision, "of giving you
the chance to hang up our drive."
Heinzman caught his breath like a child about to cry out.
"So that is what you think!" he shouted at them. "That's the sort
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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 Walking by Henry David Thoreau: farce. Dante, Bunyan, and others appear to have been exercised in
their minds more than we: they were subjected to a kind of
culture such as our district schools and colleges do not
contemplate. Even Mahomet, though many may scream at his name,
had a good deal more to live for, aye, and to die for, than they
have commonly.
When, at rare intervals, some thought visits one, as perchance he
is walking on a railroad, then, indeed, the cars go by without
his hearing them. But soon, by some inexorable law, our life goes
by and the cars return.
"Gentle breeze, that wanderest unseen,
Walking |
