| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells: wide curve, and vanished again in the steaming specks
of snow. And, through the ribs of its body, Graham
saw two little men, very minute and active, searching
the snowy areas about him, as it seemed to him, with
field glasses. For a second they were clear, then hazy
through a thick whirl of snow, then small and distant,
and in a minute they were gone.
"Now!" cried his companion. "Come!"
He pulled Graham's sleeve, and incontinently the
two were running headlong down the arcade of ironwork
beneath the wind-wheels. Graham, running
When the Sleeper Wakes |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: to his apartments, where his valet changed his dress, and as
Madame had not yet sent orders respecting breakfast,
Monsieur stretched himself upon a chaise longue, and was
soon as fast asleep as if it had been eleven o'clock at
night.
The eight guards, who concluded their service for the day
was over, laid themselves down very comfortably in the sun
upon some stone benches; the grooms disappeared with their
horses into the stables, and, with the exception of a few
joyous birds, startling each other with their sharp chirping
in the tufted shrubberies, it might have been thought that
Ten Years Later |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: our own lives; we had no time to go to them. Yet--"
"Don't let it worry you, Dick," I interrupted.
"What do you mean?" he asked, slowly.
"Why, I beat the fire up to the cabin, that's all. Buell's horse can run
some. I cut the men loose, and we made up across the ridge, got lost,
surrounded by fire, and then I got Herky to help me start a back-fire in
that big canyon."
"Back-fire!" exclaimed Dick, slamming the table with his big fist. Then he
settled down and looked at me. Hiram looked at me. Jim looked at me, and
not one of them said a word for what seemed a long time. It brought the
blood to my face. But for all my embarrassment it was sweet praise. At last
The Young Forester |
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 Glasses by Henry James: herself, and she's welcome, after all, poor dear, having only
herself to look to. I've seldom met a young woman more completely
free to be silly. She has a clear course--she'll make a showy
finish."
"Well," I replied, "as she probably will reduce many persons to the
same degraded state, her partaking of it won't stand out so much."
"If you mean that the world's full of twaddlers I quite agree with
you!" cried Mrs. Meldrum, trumpeting her laugh half across the
Channel.
I had after this to consider a little what she would call my
mother's son, but I didn't let it prevent me from insisting on her
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