| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Young Forester by Zane Grey: disturbing. I lay there a-quiver, eyes upon the gray window space of my
room. Dead silence once more intervened. All I heard was the pound of my
heart against my ribs.
Suddenly I froze at the sight of a black figure against the light of my
window. I recognized the strange bat, the grotesque outlines. I was about
to shout for help when the fellow reached down and softly began to raise
the sash.
That made me angry. Jerking up in bed, I caught the heavy pitcher from the
wash-stand and flung it with all my might.
Crash!
Had I smashed out the whole side of the room it could scarcely have made
The Young Forester |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pathology of Lying, Etc. by William and Mary Healy: that there had been no immoral relations, and after our findings
the case became a closed incident so far as prosecuting anybody
was concerned. Nellie was taken in hand by the family physician
and no further delinquencies or false accusations have been
complained of during the succeeding two years.
Outside of the girl's general frank bearing, undoubtedly a point
rather indicating to the police possible truth in her statements,
was the detail in which the alleged events were given. The
signed statement coming from an apparently naive girl of 15 would
seem in its clearness and coherency to bear the earmarks of
truth. We always regarded this case as one of our interesting
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Bride of Lammermoor by Walter Scott: certainly fall into some cursed mistake unless I have the
advantage of your ladyship as an interpreter."
It was thus that Bucklaw, in the perturbation of his
embarrassment upon this critical occasion, forgot the just
apprehensions he had entertained of Lady Ashton's overbearing
ascendency over her daughter's mind, and lost an opportunity of
ascertaining, by his own investigation, the real state of Lucy's
feelings.
The other gentlemen left the room, and in a shrot time Lady
Ashton, followed by her daughter, entered the apartment. She
appeared, as he had seen her on former occasions, rather
The Bride of Lammermoor |
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 Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Bronte Sisters: entered. He greeted his host and his cousin both coldly, and me
with a glance intended to express the deepest sympathy mingled with
high admiration and esteem.
'How much allegiance do you owe to that man?' he asked below his
breath, as he stood beside me at the window, affecting to be making
observations on the weather.
'None,' I answered. And immediately returning to the table, I
employed myself in making the tea. He followed, and would have
entered into some kind of conversation with me, but the other
guests were now beginning to assemble, and I took no more notice of
him, except to give him his coffee.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall |
