| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: confess with shame--and I now beseech your pardon for it--that I
said to the ruined stranger all of the words contained in the test-
remark, including the disparaging fifteen. [Sensation.] When the
late publication was made I recalled them, and I resolved to claim
the sack of coin, for by every right I was entitled to it. Now I
will ask you to consider this point, and weigh it well; that
stranger's gratitude to me that night knew no bounds; he said
himself that he could find no words for it that were adequate, and
that if he should ever be able he would repay me a thousandfold.
Now, then, I ask you this; could I expect--could I believe--could I
even remotely imagine--that, feeling as he did, he would do so
 The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: article. "For some time past, the fishermen have noticed a strange
upheaval in the waters of the lake. Sometimes it rises as if a wave
surged up from its depths. Even in perfectly calm weather, when there
is no wind whatever, this upheaval sometimes arises in a mass of foam.
"Tossed about by violent waves and unaccountable currents, boats have
been swept beyond all control. Sometimes they have been dashed one
against another, and serious damage has resulted.
"This confusion of the waters evidently has its origin somewhere in
the depths of the lake; and various explanations have been offered to
account for it. At first, it was suggested that the trouble was due
to seismic forces, to some volcanic action beneath the lake; but this
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