| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: "I? Oh, for the better."
"But of course!" She was sleekest sarcasm. "And how would you do it?"
"Aye, tell us that," roared M. Binet, and added: "Silence, I pray
you, gentlemen and ladies. Silence for M. Parvissimus."
Andre-Louis looked from father to daughter, and smiled. "Pardi!"
said he. "I am between bludgeon and dagger. If I escape with my
life, I shall be fortunate. Why, then, since you pin me to the very
wall, I'll tell you what I should do. I should go back to the
original and help myself more freely from it."
"The original?" questioned M. Binet - the author.
"It is called, I believe, 'Monsieur de Pourceaugnac,' and was written
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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 Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: nobles eyed the boy intently, for he was indeed good to
look upon; his bright handsome face, clear, intelligent
gray eyes, and square strong jaw framed in a mass of
brown waving hair banged at the forehead and falling
about his ears, where it was again cut square at the
sides and back, after the fashion of the times.
His upper body was clothed in a rough under tunic
of wool, stained red, over which he wore a short leath-
ern jerkin, while his doublet was also of leather, a soft
and finely tanned piece of undressed doeskin. His long
hose, fitting his shapely legs as closely as another layer
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: "The Black Dwarf!" said MY LEARNED FRIEND AND PATRON, Mr.
Jedediah Cleishbotham, "and what sort of a personage may he be?"
[We have, in this and other instances, printed in italics
(CAPITALS in this etext) some few words which the worthy editor,
Mr. Jedediah Cleishbotham, seems to have interpolated upon the
text of his deceased friend, Mr. Pattieson. We must observe,
once for all, that such liberties seem only to have been taken by
the learned gentleman where his own character and conduct are
concerned; and surely he must be the best judge of the style in
which his own character and conduct should be treated of.]
"Hout awa, man," answered the farmer, "ye'll hae heard o' Canny
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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 Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: last friend. Here," he said, after a moment's silence, during which he
was overcome by the weight of his recollections, "all, officers and
soldiers, are unknown to me; I am an object of horror to them. If it
were not for you my innocence would be a secret between God and
myself."
I swore to sacredly fulfil his last wishes. My words, the emotion I
showed touched him. Soon after that the soldiers came to take him
again before the council of war. He was condemned to death. I am
ignorant of the formalities that followed or accompanied this
judgment, nor do I know whether the young surgeon defended his life or
not; but he expected to be executed on the following day, and he spent
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