| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: in her memory, the image of a man's head, as beauteous as that of the
Endymion, a masterpiece of Girodet's which she had lately copied.
"To banish so young a man! Who can he be? for he is not Marshal Ney--"
These two sentences are the simplest expression of the many ideas that
Ginevra turned over in her mind for two days. On the third day, in
spite of her haste to be first at the studio, she found Mademoiselle
Thirion already there, having come in a carriage.
Ginevra and her enemy observed each other for a long time, but they
made their faces impenetrable. Amelie had seen the handsome head of
the mysterious man, but, fortunately, and unfortunately also, the
Imperial eagles and uniform were so placed that she did not see them
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Gentle Grafter by O. Henry: to be McCormick's reapers; and the pearl necklace found on the train;
and a pocket-size goldbrick; and a--'
"'That'll be enough,' says Andy. 'Any one of the lot ought to land on
Ezra. And say, Jeff, make that succotash fancier give you nice, clean,
new bills. It's a disgrace to our Department of Agriculture, Civil
Service and Pure Food Law the kind of stuff some of these farmers hand
out to use. I've had to take rolls from 'em that looked like bundles
of microbe cultures captured out of a Red Cross ambulance.'
"So, I goes to a livery stable and hires a buggy on my looks. I drove
out to the Plunkett farm and hitched. There was a man sitting on the
front steps of the house. He had on a white flannel suit, a diamond
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen: something, not of nothing. It was, indeed, an exquisite symbol
beneath which men long ago veiled their knowledge of the most
awful, most secret forces which lie at the heart of all things;
forces before which the souls of men must wither and die and
blacken, as their bodies blacken under the electric current.
Such forces cannot be named, cannot be spoken, cannot be
imagined except under a veil and a symbol, a symbol to the most
of us appearing a quaint, poetic fancy, to some a foolish tale.
But you and I, at all events, have known something of the
terror that may dwell in the secret place of life, manifested
under human flesh; that which is without form taking to itself
The Great God Pan |
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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: through the heavy sands. Several women had hysterics. The riverman
next to Mr. Duncan opened his mouth and swore so picturesquely that,
as he afterward told his chum, "I must've been plumb inspired for
the occasion." Yet it never entered Mr. Duncan's ministerial head
to reprove the blasphemy. Orde jumped down from his half-buried log
and clapped his hat on his head. Newmark did not alter his attitude
nor his expression.
The SPRITE was safe. For the few moments before she glided the
length of the long pier to stiller water this fact sufficed.
"I wonder if she got the line aboard," speculated the tug-boat
captain at last.
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