| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: straight, white hair that stood from her head uncannily stiff.
"But the demoiselle wishes to appear a boy, un petit garcon?" she
inquired, gazing eagerly at Flo's long, slender frame. Her voice
was old and thin, like the high quavering of an imperfect
tuning-fork, and her eyes were sharp as talons in their grasping
glance.
"Mademoiselle does not wish such a costume," gruffly responded
Mephisto.
"Ma foi, there is no other," said the ancient, shrugging her
shoulders. "But one is left now; mademoiselle would make a fine
troubadour."
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson: next we meet," cried I.
The pair were still smiling as I left.
There is little doubt some flaws may be picked in my own behaviour;
and when a man, however gallant, appeals to posterity with an
account of his exploits, he must almost certainly expect to share
the fate of Caesar and Alexander, and to meet with some detractors.
But there is one thing that can never be laid at the door of
Francis Burke: he never turned his back on a friend. . . .
(Here follows a passage which the Chevalier Burke has been at the
pains to delete before sending me his manuscript. Doubtless it was
some very natural complaint of what he supposed to be an
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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 The Witch, et. al by Anton Chekhov: court, in the other, a two-storied house just opposite the
church, there lived a shopkeeper from Epifan called Grigory
Petrovitch Tsybukin.
Grigory kept a grocer's shop, but that was only for appearance'
sake: in reality he sold vodka, cattle, hides, grain, and pigs;
he traded in anything that came to hand, and when, for instance,
magpies were wanted abroad for ladies' hats, he made some thirty
kopecks on every pair of birds; he bought timber for felling,
lent money at interest, and altogether was a sharp old man, full
of resources.
He had two sons. The elder, Anisim, was in the police in the
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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 Bab:A Sub-Deb, Mary Roberts Rinehart by Mary Roberts Rinehart: we did not, but went to living in a Fool's Paradice, and complaining
because William had put to much vinigar in the French Dressing.
William locked up the house and we retired to our Chambers. But as
I had slept most of the day I could not compose myself to Slumber,
but sat up in my robe de nuit and reflected about Carter Brooks,
and that perhaps it would be better for him not to enlist as there
is plenty to be done here at home, where one is safe from bullets,
machine guns and so on. Because, although not Sentamental about him
or silly in any way, I felt that he should not wish to go into
danger if his mother objected. And after all one must consider
mothers and other Parents.
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