| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lucile by Owen Meredith: This appeal, both by looks and by language, increased
The trouble Matilda felt grow in her breast.
Still she spoke with what calmness she could--
"Sir, the while
I thank you," she said, with a faint scornful smile,
"For your fervor in painting my fancied distress:
Allow me the right some surprise to express
At the zeal you betray in disclosing to me
The possible depth of my own misery."
"That zeal would not startle you, madam," he said,
"Could you read in my heart, as myself I have read,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Second Home by Honore de Balzac: had been less in love, he would have understood that the dealers,
always quick to discern their customers' ideas, had blessed Heaven for
sending them a tasteless little bigot, who would take their old-
fashioned goods off their hands. So he comforted the pretty
provincial.
"Happiness, dear Angelique, does not depend on a more or less elegant
piece of furniture; it depends on the wife's sweetness, gentleness,
and love."
"Why, it is my duty to love you," said Angelique mildly, "and I can
have no more delightful duty to carry out."
Nature has implanted in the heart of woman so great a desire to
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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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: anticipate drowsily the keen pleasure of seeing Carroll again. In
the rush of the jam he had heard nothing from her. For all he knew
she and Bobby might have been among the spectators on the bank; he
had hardly once left the river. It did not seem to him strange that
Carroll should not have been there to welcome him after the struggle
was over. Rarely did she get to the booms in ordinary
circumstances. This episode of the big jam was, after all, nothing
but part of the day's work to Orde ; a crisis, exaggerated it is
true, but like many other crises a man must meet and cope with on
the river. There was no reason why Carroll should drive the twelve
miles between Monrovia and the booms, unless curiosity should take
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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 The Case of the Registered Letter by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: the body of John Siders, evidently murdered, in his lodgings. The
main facts to be gathered from the long-winded story were as follows:
John Siders had rented the rooms in which he met his death about
ten days before, paying a month's rent in advance. The lodgings
consisted of two rooms in a little house in a quiet street. It was
a street of simple two-story, one and two family dwellings, occupied
by artisans and small tradespeople. There were many open spaces,
gardens and vacant lots in the street. The house in which Siders
lodged belonged to a travelling salesman by the name of Winter. The
man was away from home a great deal, and his wife, with her child
and an old servant, lived in the lower part of the house, while the
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