| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas: "When?"
"This morning."
"By whom?"
"By a pale and thin young man, of about twenty-two."
"And wherefore did you give it up to him?"
"Because he showed me an order, signed and sealed."
"By whom?"
"By the gentlemen of the Town-hall."
"Well, then," said Cornelius calmly, "our doom seems to be
fixed."
"Do you know whether the same precaution has been taken at
The Black Tulip |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo: convalescent might look in comfort at the garden beneath; the
counterpane, with its old-fashioned rose pattern, the little
white tidies on the back of each chair, and Mandy crooning beside
the window, all helped to make a homelike picture.
She wondered what Jim and Toby would say if they could see her
now, sitting like a queen in the midst of her soft coverlets,
with no need to raise even a finger to wait upon herself.
"Ain't it the limit?" she sighed, and with that Jim and Toby
seemed to drift farther away. She began to see their life apart
from hers. She could picture Jim with his head in his hands.
She could hear his sharp orders to the men. He was always short
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