| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: deep-sea lead-line which we had saved--for the under-
writers. I eased my painter and fell alongside. He
sat, a broken figure at the stern, wet with dew, his hands
clasped in his lap. His men were asleep already. 'I
had a terrible time of it,' he murmured. 'Mahon is be-
hind--not very far.' We conversed in whispers, in low
whispers, as if afraid to wake up the land. Guns, thun-
der, earthquakes would not have awakened the men just
then.
"Looking around as we talked, I saw away at sea a
bright light traveling in the night. 'There's a steamer
 Youth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Early Short Fiction of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton: the roof was now, at his predestined hour, about to reveal
himself as NOT having been Peters; and her spirit sank under the
impending fear of the disclosure. But almost with the next tick
of the clock the ambiguous figure, gaining substance and
character, showed itself even to her weak sight as her husband's;
and she turned away to meet him, as he entered, with the
confession of her folly.
"It's really too absurd," she laughed out from the threshold,
"but I never CAN remember!"
"Remember what?" Boyne questioned as they drew together.
"That when one sees the Lyng ghost one never knows it."
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