| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from McTeague by Frank Norris: there? Hey?" Without looking, he drew his revolver and
threw it to the dentist. "Take the gun an' look around,
pardner. If you see any son of a gun ANYWHERE, PLUG
him. This yere's OUR claim. I guess we got it THIS
tide, pardner. Come on." He gathered up the chunks of
quartz he had broken out, and put them in his hat and
started towards their camp. The two went along with great
strides, hurrying as fast as they could over the uneven
ground.
"I don' know," exclaimed Cribbens, breathlessly, "I don'
want to say too much. Maybe we're fooled. Lord, that damn
McTeague |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: electrical experiments, so I owe nothing to either science or the
Demon of Electricity, so far as I can see."
"But consider," remonstrated the Demon, rising to his feet and
speaking in a pleading voice, "consider the years that must elapse
before any one else is likely to strike the Master Key! And, in the
meanwhile, consider my helpless position, cut off from all interest in
the world while I have such wonderful inventions on my hands for the
benefit of mankind. If you have no love for science or for the
advancement of civilization, DO have some consideration for your
fellow-creatures, and for me!"
"If my fellow-creatures would have as much trouble with your
The Master Key |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: "a Carolus serves my purpose as well as a Willielmus. But I
should like to know why old Lady Saint Ringan, and all that set,
go about wasting their decayed lungs in puffing this foreign
fellow."
"Ay--you had best set him down a Jesuit, as Scrub says." On
these terms they parted.
The poor patient--whose nerves, from an extraordinary state of
tension, had at length become relaxed in as extraordinary a
degree--continued to struggle with a sort of imbecility, the
growth of superstitious terror, when the shocking tidings were
brought from Holland which fulfilled even her worst expectations.
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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 A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain: That trifle seemed to almost change the counterfeit into
a corpse.
There are many aged portraits--some valuable, some worthless;
some of great interest, some of none at all. I bought a
couple--one a gorgeous duke of the olden time, and the other
a comely blue-eyed damsel, a princess, maybe. I bought
them to start a portrait-gallery of my ancestors with.
I paid a dollar and a half for the duke and a half
for the princess. One can lay in ancestors at even
cheaper rates than these, in Europe, if he will mouse
among old picture shops and look out for chances.
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