| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Mountains by Stewart Edward White: the scabbard, so it can be hung over the horn; that
behind to the saddle, so the muzzle can be thrust
through it. When you come to try this method, you
will appreciate its handiness. Besides the rifle, you
will carry also your rope, camera, and a sweater or
waistcoat for changes in temperature. In your saddle
bags are pipe and tobacco, perhaps a chunk of bread,
your note-book, and the map--if there is any. Thus
your saddle-horse is outfitted. Do not forget your
collapsible rubber cup. About your waist you will wear
your cartridge-belt with six-shooter and sheath-knife.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: dropped the phial. A sweat, colder than the blade of a dagger,
issued through every pore. It was only a piece of clockwork, a
wooden cock that sprang out and crowed three times, an ingenious
contrivance by which the learned of that epoch were wont to be
awakened at the appointed hour to begin the labors of the day.
Through the windows there came already a flush of dawn. The
thing, composed of wood, and cords, and wheels, and pulleys, was
more faithful in its service than he in his duty to Bartolommeo--
he, a man with that peculiar piece of human mechanism within him
that we call a heart.
Don Juan the sceptic shut the flask again in the secret drawer in
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac: our love is a talisman against all evil. I have no more doubt of
you than you can have of me. What comfort can I put into this
letter,--I so desolate, so broken, with the lonely years before
me, like a desert to cross. But no! I am not utterly unhappy; the
desert will be brightened by our son,--yes, it must be a SON, must
it not?
And now, adieu, my own beloved; our love and prayers will follow
you. The tears you see upon this paper will tell you much that I
cannot write. I kiss you on this little square of paper, see!
below. Take those kisses from
Your Natalie.
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