| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Amazing Interlude by Mary Roberts Rinehart: "What will become of the house if you are killed?"
"Dear Marie," said Sara Lee, "that is all arranged for. You will send
to Poperinghe for your aunt, and she will come until Mrs. Cameron or
some one else can come from England. And you will stay on. Will you
promise that?"
Marie promised in a loud wail.
"Of course I shall come back," Sara Lee said, stirring her soup
preparatory to pouring it out. "I shall be very carefuL"
"You will not come back, mademoiselle. You do not care to live, and to
such -"
"Those are the ones who live on," said Sara Lee gravely, and poured out
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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 Case of The Lamp That Went Out by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: But the man had already turned towards the door, and called hack
over his shoulder: "You can keep the old things, I don't want them."
As he spoke he opened the door of the store and stood face to face
with a policeman holding a revolver. He turned, with a curse, back
into the room, but the dealer was nowhere to be seen. David
Goldstamm had done his duty to the public, in spite of his fear.
Now, seeing that the police had arrived, he could think of his duty
to his family. This duty was plainly to save his own life, and
when the tramp turned again to look for him, he had disappeared out
of the back door.
"Not a move or I will shoot," cried the policeman, and now two
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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 Laches by Plato: about the many noble deeds which our own fathers did in war and peace--in
the management of the allies, and in the administration of the city; but
neither of us has any deeds of his own which he can show. The truth is
that we are ashamed of this contrast being seen by them, and we blame our
fathers for letting us be spoiled in the days of our youth, while they were
occupied with the concerns of others; and we urge all this upon the lads,
pointing out to them that they will not grow up to honour if they are
rebellious and take no pains about themselves; but that if they take pains
they may, perhaps, become worthy of the names which they bear. They, on
their part, promise to comply with our wishes; and our care is to discover
what studies or pursuits are likely to be most improving to them. Some one
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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 Astoria by Washington Irving: precious metals, at that time the leading objects of American
enterprise, they were long neglected by the parent country. The
French adventurers, however, who had settled on the banks of the
St. Lawrence, soon found that in the rich peltries of the
interior, they had sources of wealth that might almost rival the
mines of Mexico and Peru. The Indians, as yet unacquainted with
the artificial value given to some descriptions of furs, in
civilized life, brought quantities of the most precious kinds and
bartered them away for European trinkets and cheap commodities.
Immense profits were thus made by the early traders, and the
traffic was pursued with avidity.
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