| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Astoria by Washington Irving: loss of the Tonquin and the fate of her unfortunate crew, and
fearing that some equally tragical calamity might have befallen
the adventurers across the mountains, when the evening newspaper
was brought to him. The first paragraph that caught his eye,
announced the arrival of Mr. Stuart and his party at St. Louis,
with intelligence that Mr. Hunt and his companions had effected
their perilous expedition to the mouth of the Columbia. This was
a gleam of sunshine that for a time dispelled every cloud, and he
now looked forward with sanguine hope to the accomplishment of
all his plans.
CHAPTER Lll.
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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 Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: traveller, mopping his brow. 'Does he object to smoking?'
'I don't know that there's anything the row with him,' returned
the other. 'He's by no means the first comer, my Uncle Joseph, I
can tell you! Very respectable old gentleman; interested in
leather; been to Asia Minor; no family, no assets--and a tongue,
my dear Wickham, sharper than a serpent's tooth.'
'Cantankerous old party, eh?' suggested Wickham.
'Not in the least,' cried the other; 'only a man with a solid
talent for being a bore; rather cheery I dare say, on a desert
island, but on a railway journey insupportable. You should hear
him on Tonti, the ass that started tontines. He's incredible on
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