| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Aeroplanes and Dirigibles of War by Frederick A. Talbot: This is to dig a pit into the ground of sufficient size to
receive the balloon. When the latter is hauled in it is lowered
into this pit and there pegged down and anchored. Thus it is
perfectly safe during the roughest weather, as none of its bulk
is exposed above the ground level. Furthermore it is not a
conspicuous object for the concentration of hostile fire.
In some instances, and where the military department is possessed
of an elaborate equipment such as characterises the German army,
when reconnaissance is completed and the balloon is to be removed
to another point, the gas is pumped back into the cylinders for
further use. Such an economical proceeding is pretty and well
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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 Voice of the City by O. Henry: "And the men we have to meet after the show are
the worst of all. The stage-door kind, and the man-
ager's friends who take us to supper and show their
diamonds and talk about seeing 'Dan' and 'Dave'
and 'Charlie' for us. They're beasts, and I hate 'em.
"I tell you, Lynn, it's the girls like us on the stage
that ought to be pitied. It's girls from good homes
that are honestly ambitious and work hard to rise in
the profession, but never do get there. You bear a
lot of sympathy sloshed around on chorus girls and
their fifteen dollars a week. Piffle! There ain't a
The Voice of the City |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: with buckles of cheap, lack-lustre paste. But for his engaging and
ingenuous countenance, Andre-Louis must have set him down as a
knight of that order which lives dishonestly by its wits. As it
was, he suspended judgment whilst pushing investigation further by
a study of the girl. At the outset, be it confessed that it was a
study that attracted him prodigiously. And this notwithstanding
the fact that, bookish and studious as were his ways, and in
despite of his years, it was far from his habit to waste
consideration on femininity.
The child - she was no more than that, perhaps twenty at the most
- possessed, in addition to the allurements of face and shape that
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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 Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas: that look and made a sign to the courtiers who filled up the
doorway to go out, which they instantly did. Silence fell
upon the chamber with the velvet curtains. The king, still
very young, and very timid in the presence of him who had
been his master from his birth, still respected him much,
particularly now, in the supreme majesty of death. He did
not dare, therefore, to begin the conversation, feeling that
every word must have its weight not only upon things of this
world, but of the next. As to the cardinal, at that moment
he had but one thought -- his donation. It was not physical
pain which gave him that air of despondency, and that
Ten Years Later |
