| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: a note from the learned Doboobius, as he was wont to style
himself, acquainting me that we should never meet again,
bequeathing me his chemical apparatus, and the parchment which I
have just put into your hands, advising me strongly to prosecute
the secret which it contained, which would infallibly lead me to
the discovery of the grand magisterium."
"And didst thou follow this sage advice?" said Tressilian.
"Worshipful sir, no," replied the smith; "for, being by nature
cautious, and suspicious from knowing with whom I had to do, I
made so many perquisitions before I ventured even to light a
fire, that I at length discovered a small barrel of gunpowder,
Kenilworth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Research Magnificent by H. G. Wells: delay. The two men found themselves occupying adjacent tables in
the Sherborough Hotel, and White was the first to recognize the
other. They came together with a warmth and readiness of intimacy
that neither would have displayed in London.
White had not seen Benham since the social days of Amanda at
Lancaster Gate, and he was astonished at the change a few years had
made in him. The peculiar contrast of his pallor and his dark hair
had become more marked, his skin was deader, his features seemed
more prominent and his expression intenser. His eyes were very
bright and more sunken under his brows. He had suffered from yellow
fever in the West Indies, and these it seemed were the marks left by
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