| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Roads of Destiny by O. Henry: commands. We've fought Indians and horse-thieves side by side; we've
starved for weeks in a cabin in the Arizona mountains, buried twenty
feet deep in snow; we've ridden herd together when the wind blew so
hard the lightning couldn't strike--well, Bob and I have been through
some rough spells since the first time we met in the branding camp of
the old Anchor-Bar ranch. And during that time we've found it
necessary more than once to help each other out of tight places. In
those days it was expected of a man to stick to his friend, and he
didn't ask any credit for it. Probably next day you'd need him to get
at your back and help stand off a band of Apaches, or put a tourniquet
on your leg above a rattlesnake bite and ride for whisky. So, after
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: He could give none; the money came to him through a Dutch banker, his
correspondent at Rotterdam, and he knew nothing beyond that. /Ah ca/!
what does it all mean? Am I to be a noble? Has the moment come for my
father to acknowledge me? I start in a state of agitation and of
anxiety which you can well understand. Until I hear from you, I shall
address my letters to you here. If you decide not to stay in my house,
let me know your address at once. Say nothing of what I have now told
you to the l'Estorades; let it remain secret between us.
XIII
DORLANGE TO MARIE-GASTON
Arcis-sur-Aube, May 3, 1839.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from A Straight Deal by Owen Wister: this evening costume, and said:
"Call me a cab."
"You are a cab," said Mr. Choate, obediently.
Thus did he make known to the Englishman that he was not a waiter.
Similarly in crowded hotel dining-rooms or crowded railroad stations have
agitated ladies clutched my arm and said:
"I want a table for three," or "When does the train go to Poughkeepsie? "
Just as we in America have regular people to attend to these things, so
do they in England; and as the English respect each other's right to
privacy very much more than we do, they resent invasions of it very much
more than we do. But, let me say again, they are likely to mind it only
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