| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Cruise of the Jasper B. by Don Marquis: don't git nigh as much of it as them that gits it in a cheerful
way. Mrs. Lady Agatha, ma'am, if you kin fox-trot as well as you
kin tango I'll never have another word to say agin female
suffragettes."
But as Cap'n Abernethy spoke the grin froze upon his face.
"My God! Look there!" he shrilled, pointing a long finger
towards the plain. Simultaneously the Misses Pringle, shrieking
wildly, leaped from the trench towards the ship and Elmer fired a
pistol shot.
Cleggett beheld five taxicabs, filled with Loge's assassins,
charging towards the vessel at the rate of thirty miles an hour.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moon-Face and Other Stories by Jack London: But there was a trio involved in this remarkable friendship, and the third was
short, and fat, and chunky, and lazy, and, loath to say, it was I. Paul and
Lloyd seemed born to rivalry with each other, and I to be peacemaker between
them. We grew up together, the three of us, and full often have I received the
angry blows each intended for the other. They were always competing, striving
to outdo each other, and when entered upon some such struggle there was no
limit either to their endeavors or passions.
This intense spirit of rivalry obtained in their studies and their games. If
Paul memorized one canto of "Marmion," Lloyd memorized two cantos, Paul came
back with three, and Lloyd again with four, till each knew the whole poem by
heart. I remember an incident that occurred at the swimming hole--an incident
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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 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne: And he would not go beyond them. Further on was a portion of the
globe he might not trample upon.
The return began. Captain Nemo had returned to the head of his little band,
directing their course without hesitation. I thought we were not following
the same road to return to the Nautilus. The new road was very steep,
and consequently very painful. We approached the surface of the sea rapidly.
But this return to the upper strata was not so sudden as to cause relief
from the pressure too rapidly, which might have produced serious disorder
in our organisation, and brought on internal lesions, so fatal to divers.
Very soon light reappeared and grew, and, the sun being low on the horizon,
the refraction edged the different objects with a spectral ring.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea |
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 Desert Gold by Zane Grey: at the dam, diverted Belding's mind to the Chases. All at once he
was in the harsh grip of a cold certainty. The blast had been set
off intentionally to ruin his spring. What a hellish trick! No
Westerner, no Indian or Mexican, no desert man could have been
guilty of such a crime. To ruin a beautiful, clear, cool, never-failing
stream of water in the desert!
It was then that Belding's worry and indecision and brooding were
as if they had never existed. As he strode swiftly back to the
house, his head, which had long been bent thoughtfully and sadly,
was held erect. He went directly to his room, and with an air
that was now final he buckled on his gun belt. He looked the gun
Desert Gold |
