| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: but a question of time before the remaining five would find an
opening through his marvelous guard and bring him down.
Now my sympathies have ever been with the weaker side of an argument,
and though I knew nothing of the cause of the trouble I could not
stand idly by and see a brave man butchered by superior numbers.
As a matter of fact I presume I gave little attention to
seeking an excuse, for I love a good fight too well to need any
other reason for joining in when one is afoot.
The Warlord of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: before that day." "Ah," says Meleagant, "for God's sake, my fair
lord King, grant him the boon. I join my request to his desire,
for I know no knight in all the world with whom I would more
gladly try my strength, excepting only Lancelot. But bear in
mind that, if I do not fight with one of them, I will accept no
exchange or substitution for either one." And the King says that
this is understood, if Lancelot does not return within the time.
Then Meleagant left the royal court and journeyed until he found
his father, King Bademagu. In order to appear brave and of
consideration in his presence, he began by making a great
pretence and by assuming an expression of marvellous cheer. That
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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 Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: idleness at the end of last and beginning of this. It is a sweet
thought.
This spot, our garden and our view, are sub-celestial. I sing
daily with my Bunyan, that great bard,
'I dwell already the next door to Heaven!'
If you could see my roses, and my aloes, and my fig-marigolds, and
my olives, and my view over a plain, and my view of certain
mountains as graceful as Apollo, as severe as Zeus, you would not
think the phrase exaggerated.
It is blowing to-day a HOT mistral, which is the devil or a near
connection of his.
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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 Hero of Our Time by M.Y. Lermontov: I fancied that he had been wounded by a wild
boar, at another time, that he had been carried
off by a Chechene into the mountains. . . But,
now, I have come to think that he no longer
loves me.'
"'In truth, my dear girl, you could not have
imagined anything worse!'
"She burst out crying; then, proudly raising
her head, she wiped away the tears and con-
tinued:
"'If he does not love me, then who prevents
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