| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: From the lane behind me came Smith's voice:
"Don't let him escape, Petrie!"
Never lifting my eyes from the water, I waved my hand reassuringly.
But still the dacoit did not rise. I searched the surface in all
directions as far as my eyes could reach; but no swimmer showed
above it. Then it was that I concluded he had dived too deeply,
become entangled in the weeds and was drowned. With a final glance
to right and left and some feeling of awe at this sudden tragedy--
this grim going out of a life at glorious noonday--I turned away.
Smith had the woman securely; but I had not taken five steps towards
him when a faint splash behind warned me. Instinctively I ducked.
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: I could think of; I put my foot on it!
There was not a sound from beneath. The next moment I was kneeling
and had clutched the wrist just above the hand. After a second's
struggle, the arm was still. With something real to face, I was
myself again.
"Don't move, or I'll stand on the trap and break your arm," I panted.
What else could I threaten? I couldn't shoot, I couldn't even fight.
"Johnson!" I called.
And then I realized the thing that stayed with me for a month, the
thing I can not think of even now without a shudder. The hand lay
ice cold, strangely quiescent. Under my fingers, an artery was
The Man in Lower Ten |
