The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Lin McLean by Owen Wister: emotion that I had heard in her tone once or twice already. But she
caught herself up, and said gayly to me, "And where's that house you were
going to build for a lone girl to sleep in?"
"I'm afraid the foundations aren't laid yet," said I.
"Now you gentlemen needn't bother about me."
"We'll have to, m'm. You ain't used to Separ."
"Oh, I am no--tenderfoot, don't you call them?" She whipped out her
pistol, and held it at the cow-puncher, laughing.
This would have given no pleasure to me; but over Lin's features went a
glow of delight, and he stood gazing at the pointed weapon and the girl
behind it. "My!" he said, at length, almost in a whisper, "she's got 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 The Troll Garden and Selected Stories by Willa Cather: hard to get a crowd together here any more. Most of 'em have gone
over to the Free Gospellers, and they'd rather put their feet in
the fire than shake 'em to a fiddle."
Margaret made a gesture of impatience. "Those Free Gospellers
have just cast an evil spell over this country, haven't they?"
"Well," said Lockhart, cautiously, "I don't just like to pass
judgment on any Christian sect, but if you're to know the chosen by
their works, the Gospellers can't make a very proud showin', an'
that's a fact. They're responsible for a few suicides, and they've
sent a good-sized delegation to the state insane asylum, an' I
don't see as they've made the rest of us much better than we were
 The Troll Garden and Selected Stories |