| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: and, as the Doctor ushered them to the upper end of the room,
made a motion declining his courtesy, as unfitted for their
condition. "We are poor people, sir," she said; "only my
sister's distress has brought us to consult your worship whether
--"
He smiled as he interrupted her--"I am aware, madam, of your
sister's distress, and its cause; I am aware, also, that I am
honoured with a visit from two ladies of the highest
consideration--Lady Bothwell and Lady Forester. If I could not
distinguish them from the class of society which their present
dress would indicate, there would be small possibility of my
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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 Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: "Smith, where is she?" I cried. "Where is she?"
"I don't know," be answered.
"She's given us the slip, Doctor," said Inspector Weymouth,
as a fire-engine came swinging round the corner of the narrow lane.
"So has Mr. Singapore Charlie--and, I'm afraid, somebody else.
We've got six or eight all-sorts, some awake and some asleep,
but I suppose we shall have to let 'em go again.
Mr. Smith tells me that the girl was disguised as a Chinaman.
I expect that's why she managed to slip away."
I recalled how I had been dragged from the pit by the false queue,
how the strange discovery which had brought death to poor Cadby
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Purse by Honore de Balzac: more because he was winning; but at last a final hand left the
lovers in the old lady's debt.
To feel for some money in his pocket the painter took his hands
off the table, and he then saw before him a purse which Adelaide
had slipped in front of him without his noticing it; the poor
child had the old one in her hand, and, to keep her countenance,
was looking into it for the money to pay her mother. The blood
rushed to Hippolyte's heart with such force that he was near
fainting.
The new purse, substituted for his own, and which contained his
fifteen gold louis, was worked with gilt beads. The rings and
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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 Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: and carefully over its worn remnants of carving. Some bygone influx
of water seemed to have acted on the sandstone surface, while
there were curious incrustations which I could not explain.
In
places the masonry was very loose and distorted, and I wondered
how many aeons more this primal, hidden edifice could keep its
remaining traces of form amidst earth's heavings.
But it was
the carvings themselves that excited me most. Despite their time-crumbled
state, they were relatively easy to trace at close range; and
the complete, intimate familiarity of every detail almost stunned
Shadow out of Time |
