| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Padre Ignacio by Owen Wister: Rossini, Herold--I was waiting for Il Trovatore."
"Is that something new?" inquired the Padre, eagerly.
The young man gave an exclamation. "The whole world is ringing with it!"
he cried.
"But Santa YsabeI del Mar is a long way from the whole world," murmured
Padre Ignacio.
"Indeed, it would not appear to be so," returned young Gaston. "I think
the Comedie Francaise must be round the corner."
A thrill went through the priest at the theater's name. "And have you
been long in America?" he asked.
"Why, always--except two years of foreign travel after college."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: the training he had given to his daughter. Respect is a barrier which
protects parents as it does children, sparing grief to the former,
remorse to the latter.
The next day, when Ginevra sought to leave the house at the hour when
she usually went to the studio, she found the gates of the mansion
closed to her. She said nothing, but soon found means to inform Luigi
Porta of her father's severity. A chambermaid, who could neither read
nor write, was able to carry letters between the lovers. For five days
they corresponded thus, thanks to the inventive shrewdness of the
youth.
The father and daughter seldom spoke to each other. Both were nursing
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