| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: fearing, however, that in his own case it might prove a chimera, or
that he might never meet a woman answering the demands of his
heart, he now found a corresponding reality that left nothing to
seek.
Here, then, and thus far, nothing but happiness had resulted from
the new arrangement. But, if this had been little anticipated by
many, far less had I, for my part, anticipated the unhappy
revolution which was wrought in the whole nature of Ferdinand von
Harrelstein. He was the son of a German baron; a man of good
family, but of small estate who had been pretty nearly a soldier of
fortune in the Prussian service, and had, late in life, won
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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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: in the management of the latter by those who, no doubt, thought
they were doing him justice; although, if some parts of his
subsequent conduct be examined, it will appear that he ought, for
his own sake, to have been left under the influence of a mild and
salutary restraint.
"In one particular, however, he showed a sense of the ties of
blood, as well as of his own frailty; for while he sequestered
himself closely from the world, under various names and
disguises, and insisted on spreading a report of his own death
(in which to gratify him I willingly acquiesced), he left at my
disposal the rents of a great proportion of his estates, and
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris: the junk. The ambergris had been cut into two lumps, and would be
found in a couple of old flour-sacks in the stern of the boat in
which he and his men had come ashore. They were all armed with
their little hatchets. He thought two of the men carried knives
as well. There was neither pistol nor revolver among them.
"It seems to me," said Wilbur, "that we've got the long end."
"We catch um boss, too!" said Charlie, pointing to Hoang.
"And we are better armed," assented Moran. "We've got the
cutting-in spades."
"And the revolver, if it will shoot any further than it will
kick."
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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 The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: Tars Tarkas' cell earlier in the evening. His companions had
returned here, and we now overheard a portion of their conversation.
"What can be detaining Tan Gama?" asked one.
"He certainly could not be all this time fetching his shortsword
from the Thark's cell," spoke another.
"His short-sword?" asked a woman. "What mean you?"
"Tan Gama left his short-sword in the Thark's cell," explained the
first speaker, "and left us at the runway, to return and get it."
"Tan Gama wore no short-sword this night," said the
woman. "It was broken in to-day's battle with the Thark,
and Tan Gama gave it to me to repair. See, I have it here,"
The Gods of Mars |
