| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: strange silence did not last long, for presently the stranger began to
understand. He saw how inexperienced, how helpless (mentally
speaking), the two poor creatures were, and he tried to speak gently.
"I am far from coming as an enemy, citoyennes----" he began. Then he
suddenly broke off and went on, "Sisters, if anything should happen to
you, believe me, I shall have no share in it. I have come to ask a
favor of you."
Still the women were silent.
"If I am annoying you--if--if I am intruding, speak freely, and I will
go; but you must understand that I am entirely at your service; that
if I can do anything for you, you need not fear to make use of me. I,
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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 White Moll by Frank L. Packard: hallucination; it seemed as though it were utterly unreal, like one
dreaming that one is dreaming. And then, suddenly, she looked at
her watch, and the straight little shoulders squared resolutely back.
The hallucination, if she chose to call it that, was not yet over!
It was twenty minutes of one, and there was still Skarbolov's - and
her promise.
She quickened her pace. She did not like this promise that she had
made; but, on the other hand, she had not made it either lightly or
impulsively. She had no regrets on that score. She would make it
again under the same conditions. How could she have done otherwise?
It would have been to stand aside and permit a crime to be committed
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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 Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: had been upon the sick-list. The circumstances of Dall's case
were briefly these:- He had gone to see some of his friends in
the neighbourhood of Dundee, in winter, while the works were
suspended, having got leave of absence from Mr. Taylor, who
commanded the Bell Rock tender, and had in his possession one
of the Protection Medals. Unfortunately, however, for Dall,
the Regulating Officer thought proper to disregard these
documents, as, according to the strict and literal
interpretation of the Admiralty regulations, a seaman does not
stand protected unless he is actually on board of his ship, or
in a boat belonging to her, or has the Admiralty protection in
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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 Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: would do this on the morrow, I thought it only right to warn you,
for I am a just man. The river Iss is but a short pilgrimage,
Sarkoja. Come, John Carter."
The next morning Sarkoja was gone, nor was she ever seen after.
In silence we hastened to the jeddak's palace, where we were
immediately admitted to his presence; in fact, he could
scarcely wait to see me and was standing erect upon his
platform glowering at the entrance as I came in.
"Strap him to that pillar," he shrieked. "We shall see who
it is dares strike the mighty Tal Hajus. Heat the irons; with
my own hands I shall burn the eyes from his head that he
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