| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Polly of the Circus by Margaret Mayo: so many other interests when he might have been sitting in dark,
stuffy rooms discussing theology with them; but Douglas had been
either unconscious of or indifferent to their resentment, and had
gone on his way with a cheery nod and an unconquerable conviction
of right, that had only left them floundering. He intended to
quit the room now unnoticed, but was unfortunate enough to upset
a chair as he turned from the table. This brought a chorus of
exclamations from the women, who chattering rushed quickly toward
him.
"What do you think of my naughty boy, Willie?" simpered the
widow. "He dragged me quite to the window."
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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 Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: boys with the dinner pail that builds 'em gets the benefit.
"'Where's the books?' asks the reading public.
"'I dinna ken,' says B. 'I offered ye libraries; and there they are. I
suppose if I'd given ye preferred steel trust stock instead ye'd have
wanted the water in it set out in cut glass decanters. Hoot, for ye!'
"But, as I said, the owning of so much money was beginning to give me
philanthropitis. It was the first time me and Andy had ever made a
pile big enough to make us stop and think how we got it.
"'Andy,' says I, 'we're wealthy--not beyond the dreams of average; but
in our humble way we are comparatively as rich as Greasers. I feel as
if I'd like to do something for as well as to humanity.'
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Man against the Sky by Edwin Arlington Robinson: The cleanliness of indigence,
The brilliance of despair,
The fond imponderable dreams
Of affluence, -- all were there.
Poor Finzer, with his dreams and schemes,
Fares hard now in the race,
With heart and eye that have a task
When he looks in the face
Of one who might so easily
Have been in Finzer's place.
He comes unfailing for the loan
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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 Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: many bare-legged gillies, to wait upon her orders."
"And what would you have, gentlemen?" said Allan, turning
suddenly from the Highlander with whom he was in conversation;
"would you yourselves have left an innocent female, the companion
of your infancy, to die by violence, or perish by famine? There
is not, by this time, a roof upon the habitation of my fathers--
our crops have been destroyed, and our cattle have been driven--
and you, gentlemen, have to bless God, that, coming from a milder
and more civilized country, you expose only your own lives in
this remorseless war, without apprehension that your enemies will
visit with their vengeance the defenceless pledges you may have
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