| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: himself, but business had kept him in the West and he had cabled
to a spinster cousin to chaperon them on the trip across the
Atlantic Ocean. Nor had he reached New York in time to see them
disembark, and thus had missed meeting Mrs. Brewster, then in
her first year of widowhood.
The friendship between the twins and Mrs. Brewster had been kept
up through much correspondence, and the widow had finally promised,
to come to Washington for their debut, visiting her cousins, Dr.
and Mrs. Stone. The meeting had but cemented the friendship between
them, and at the twins' urgent request, seconded with warmth by
Colonel McIntyre, she had promised to spend the month of April at
The Red Seal |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Underground City by Jules Verne: air if they had."
"I believe you would," answered Harry. "Long ago, Nell, many children
used to live altogether in the mine; communication was then difficult,
and I have met with more than one young person, quite as ignorant as you
are of things above-ground. But now the railway through our great
tunnel takes us in a few minutes to the upper regions of our country.
I long, Nell, to hear you say, 'Come, Harry, my eyes can bear daylight,
and I want to see the sun! I want to look upon the works
of the Almighty.'"
"I shall soon say so, Harry, I hope," replied the girl;
"I shall soon go with you to the world above; and yet--"
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Melmoth Reconciled by Honore de Balzac: her? I must leave her behind. Yes, I could make up my mind to it;
but--I know myself--I should be ass enough to go back to her. Still,
nobody knows Aquilina. Shall I take her or leave her?"
"You will not take her!" cried a voice that filled Castanier with
sickening dread. He turned sharply, and saw the Englishman.
"The devil is in it!" cried the cashier aloud.
Melmoth had passed his victim by this time; and if Castanier's first
impulse had been to fasten a quarrel on a man who read his own
thoughts, he was so much torn up by opposing feelings that the
immediate result was a temporary paralysis. When he resumed his walk
he fell once more into that fever of irresolution which besets those
|
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 Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: of this was that when we came in sight of the hundred
towers which mark the entrances to the buried city we
found a great army of Sagoths and Mahars lined up to
give us battle.
At a thousand yards we halted, and, placing our
artillery upon a slight eminence at either flank, we com-
menced to drop solid shot among them. Ja, who was
chief artillery officer, was in command of this branch of
the service, and he did some excellent work, for his
Mezop gunners had become rather proficient by this
time. The Sagoths couldn't stand much of this sort of
Pellucidar |
