| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Hidden Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac: and tried to see if the light, falling plumb upon the canvas at which
he pointed, had neutralized all effects. They examined the picture,
moving from right to left, standing directly before it, bending,
swaying, rising by turns.
"Yes, yes; it is really a canvas," cried Frenhofer, mistaking the
purpose of their examination. "See, here is the frame, the easel;
these are my colors, my brushes." And he caught up a brush which he
held out to them with a naive motion.
"The old rogue is making game of us," said Poussin, coming close to
the pretended picture. "I can see nothing here but a mass of confused
color, crossed by a multitude of eccentric lines, making a sort of
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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 Two Noble Kinsmen by William Shakespeare: 2. COUNTREYMAN
Ile be hangd, though,
If he dare venture; hang him, plumb porredge,
He wrastle? he rost eggs! Come, lets be gon, Lads. [Exeunt.]
ARCITE.
This is an offerd oportunity
I durst not wish for. Well I could have wrestled,
The best men calld it excellent, and run--
Swifter the winde upon a feild of Corne
(Curling the wealthy eares) never flew: Ile venture,
And in some poore disguize be there; who knowes
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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 Oakdale Affair by Edgar Rice Burroughs: reward?"
"Shut up!" said one of the men.
"Watch this bunch," said Burton to one of his lieuten-
ants, "while we go after the rest of them. There are some
over by the mill. I can hear them."
From the woods came a fearfilled scream mingled
with the savage growls of a beast.
"It's the bear," shrilled Willie Case, and ran toward
the automobile.
Bridge ran forward to meet Burton. "Get that girl and
the kid into your machine and beat it!" he cried. "There's
The Oakdale Affair |
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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: "Hard luck!" he said briefly. "Hope you haven't lost much. Now get
a move on you and bail out. You've got to get over the shallows
while this head is on."
"That's all the thanks you get," grumbled Charlie to himself and the
other three as Orde moved away. "Work, slave, get up in the night,
drownd yourself--"
He happily discovered that the pails under the forward thwart had
not been carried away, and all started in to bail. It was a back-
breaking job, and consumed the greater part of two hours. Even at
the end of that time the wanigan, though dry of loose water, floated
but sluggishly.
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