| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Arrow of Gold by Joseph Conrad: man of whom both Dona Rita and Rose were so much afraid. It
remained then for me to look after him for the night and then
arrange with Baron H. that he should be sent away the very next day
- and anywhere but to Tolosa. Yes, evidently, I mustn't lose sight
of him. I proposed in the calmest tone that we should go on where
he could get his much-needed rest. He rose with alacrity, picked
up his little hand-bag, and, walking out before me, no doubt looked
a very ordinary person to all eyes but mine. It was then past
eleven, not much, because we had not been in that restaurant quite
an hour, but the routine of the town's night-life being upset
during the Carnival the usual row of fiacres outside the Maison
The Arrow of Gold |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "She never displays mercy. She loves no one but
herself," asserted Lady Aurex, but she trembled as she
said it, as if afraid even yet of her terrible Queen.
"That's pretty bad," said Dorothy, shaking her head
gravely. "I see you've a lot to do here, Ozma, in this
forsaken corner of the Land of Oz. First place, you've
got to take the magic away from Queen Coo-ee-oh, and
from that awful Su-dic, too. My idea is that neither of
them is fit to rule anybody, 'cause they're cruel and
hateful. So you'll have to give the Skeezers and
Flatheads new rulers and teach all their people that
Glinda of Oz |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lemorne Versus Huell by Elizabeth Drew Stoddard: horse and sat it well."
"A lawyer on horseback should, like the beggar of the adage, ride
to the devil."
"Your business now is the 'Lemorne?'"
"You know it is."
"I did not know but that you had found something besides to
litigate."
"It must have been Edward Uxbridge that you saw. He is the brain
of the firm."
"You expect Mr. Van Horn?"
"Oh, he must come; I can not be writing letters."
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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 Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: The great rivalry between Louis of Orleans and John the
Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, had been forsworn with the most
reverend solemnities. But the feud was only in abeyance, and
John of Burgundy still conspired in secret. On November 23,
1407 - in that black winter when the frost lasted six-and-
sixty days on end - a summons from the king reached Louis of
Orleans at the Hotel Barbette, where he had been supping with
Queen Isabel. It was seven or eight in the evening, and the
inhabitants of the quarter were abed. He set forth in haste,
accompanied by two squires riding on one horse, a page, and a
few varlets running with torches. As he rode, he hummed to
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