| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Long Odds by H. Rider Haggard: Northumberland House that I have seen in a picture. But he did not
stand long. Before I could fire--before I could do more than get the
gun to my shoulder--he sprang straight up and out from the rock, and
driven by the impetus of that one mighty bound came hurtling through the
air towards me.
"Heavens! how grand he looked, and how awful! High into the air he
flew, describing a great arch. Just as he touched the highest point of
his spring I fired. I did not dare to wait, for I saw that he would
clear the whole space and land right upon me. Without a sight, almost
without aim, I fired, as one would fire a snap shot at a snipe. The
bullet told, for I distinctly heard its thud above the rushing sound
Long Odds |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bab:A Sub-Deb, Mary Roberts Rinehart by Mary Roberts Rinehart: but not otherwise. And he said:
"But we are, aren't we?"
Although understood before, it had now come in full force. I, who
had been but Barbara Archibald before, was now engaged. Could it be
I who heard my voice saying, in a low tone, the "yes" of Destiny?
It was!
We then went to the corner drug-store and had some soda, although
forbiden by my Familey because of city water being used. How
strange to me to recall that I had once thought the Clerk
nice-looking, and had even purchaced things there, such as soap and
chocolate, in order to speak a few words to him!
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: then kill me! Ah, no, no!" she cried, joining her hands, "do not kill
me! I love life! Life is fair to me! If I am a slave, I am a queen
too. I could beguile you with words, tell you that I love you alone,
prove it to you, profit by my momentary empire to say to you: 'Take me
as one tastes the perfume of a flower when one passes it in a king's
garden.' Then, after having used the cunning eloquence of woman and
soared on the wings of pleasure, after having quenched my thirst, I
could have you cast into a pit, where none could find you, which has
been made to gratify vengeance without having to fear that of the law,
a pit full of lime which would kindle and consume you, until no
particle of you were left. You would stay in my heart, mine forever."
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
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 Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs: "He was yesterday," replied Norris; "these fellows from
whom you so bravely rescued us told us that much."
"Thank God!" whispered Billy Byrne.
"What made you think he was dead?" inquired the officer,
looking closely at Byrne as though trying to place him.
Another man might have attempted to evade the question
but the new Billy Byrne was no coward in any department of
his moral or physical structure.
"Because I thought that I had killed him," he replied, "the
day that we took the Lotus."
Captain Norris looked at the speaker in undisguised horror.
The Mucker |
