| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Under the Andes by Rex Stout: dimly and half unconsciously I saw in that black line, silently
creeping upon us, the final and inexorable approach of the
remorseless fate that had pursued us ever since we had dashed after
Desiree into the cave of the devil, rendering our every effort
futile, our most desperate struggles the laughing-stock of the
gods.
I was not even conscious of danger. I sat as in a stupor.
But action came, though not from me, so suddenly that I
scarcely knew what had happened. There was a cry from Desiree.
Harry sprang to his feet. The Incas leaped forward.
I felt myself jerked violently from the ground, and a spear
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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 Altar of the Dead by Henry James: credible. The clock ticked in the stillness - Hague had probably
given it to her - and while he let her hold his hand with a
tenderness that was almost an assumption of responsibility for his
old pain as well as his new, Stransom after a minute broke out:
"Good God, how he must have used YOU!"
She dropped his hand at this, got up and, moving across the room,
made straight a small picture to which, on examining it, he had
given a slight push. Then turning round on him with her pale
gaiety recovered, "I've forgiven him!" she declared.
"I know what you've done," said Stransom "I know what you've done
for years." For a moment they looked at each other through it all
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