| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: impossible."
"It is impossible, not because the Indian does not want Christianity, but
because such white men as the Girty's rule. The beautiful Village of Peace
owes its ruin to the renegades," said Colonel Zane impressively.
"Captain Williamson could have prevented the massacre," remarked Jim.
"Possibly. It was a bad place for him, and I think he was wrong not to try,"
declared the colonel.
"Hullo!" cried Jonathan Zane, getting up from the steps where he sat listening
to the conversation.
A familiar soft-moccasined footfall sounded on the path. All turned to see
Wetzel come slowly toward them. His buckskin hunting costume was ragged and
The Spirit of the Border |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Margret Howth: A Story of To-day by Rebecca Harding Davis: cap, "shall you sleep here all night?" laughing.
A cheery, tender laugh, this woman's was,-- seldom heard,--not
far from tears.
Mrs. Howth roused herself. Just then, a broad, high-shouldered
man, in a gray flannel shirt, and shoes redolent of the stable,
appeared at the door. Margret looked at him as if he were an
accusing spirit,--coming down, as woman must, from heights of
self-renunciation or bold resolve, to an undarned stocking or an
uncooked meal.
"Kittle's b'ilin'," he announced, flinging in the information as
a general gratuity.
Margret Howth: A Story of To-day |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Mountains by Stewart Edward White: saddle. The cowboy or military style and seat are
the only practicable ones. Perhaps of these two the
cowboy saddle is the better, for the simple reason that
often in roping or leading a refractory horse, the horn
is a great help. For steep-trail work the double cinch
is preferable to the single, as it need not be pulled so
tight to hold the saddle in place.
Your riding-bridle you will make of an ordinary
halter by riveting two snaps to the lower part of the
head-piece just above the corners of the horse's mouth.
These are snapped into the rings of the bit. At night
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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 The War in the Air by H. G. Wells: distant guns and those incidental harmless pyrotechnics at the
level of the clouds seemed to have as little to do with killing
and force, terror and submission, as a salute at a naval review.
Below, every point of vantage bristled with spectators, the roofs
of the towering buildings, the public squares, the active ferry
boats, and every favourable street intersection had its crowds:
all the river piers were dense with people, the Battery Park was
solid black with east-side population, and every position of
advantage in Central Park and along Riverside Drive had its
peculiar and characteristic assembly from the adjacent streets.
The footways of the great bridges over the East River were also
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