| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from 'Twixt Land & Sea by Joseph Conrad: strangely troubling to suspect that perhaps he did not want to.
And my first words were prompted by just that troubled incertitude.
"What's the matter?" I asked in my ordinary tone, speaking down to
the face upturned exactly under mine.
"Cramp," it answered, no louder. Then slightly anxious, "I say, no
need to call any one."
"I was not going to," I said.
"Are you alone on deck?"
"Yes."
I had somehow the impression that he was on the point of letting go
the ladder to swim away beyond my ken - mysterious as he came.
'Twixt Land & Sea |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bucky O'Connor by William MacLeod Raine: galloped from the scene of the murder into the night. The
inference left to draw was that a local accomplice had joined
them in the chase of Scott, and had slipped back home after the
deed had been finished.
What more likely than that Hardman had been this accomplice?
Hawkes said he was a big long-haired fellow. So was the man that
had held up the engineer of the Limited. He was--"J. H. begins
hear." Like a flash the ill-written scrawl jumped to his sight.
"J. H." was Jay Hardman. What luck!
The doctor finished his work, and Collins tested his leg
gingerly. "Del, I'm going over to have a little talk with the old
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad: quarter-deck, and its shadows seemed to shift here
and there. I ordered all the halyards laid down on
deck clear for running.
"I'll see to that, sir," volunteered Ransome in
his natural, pleasant tone, which comforted one
and aroused one's compassion, too, somehow.
That man ought to have been in his bed, resting,
and my plain duty was to send him there. But
perhaps he would not have obeyed me; I had not
the strength of mind to try. All I said was:
"Go about it quietly, Ransome."
The Shadow Line |
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 Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells: a hairy neck, and a head sunk between his shoulders. He was dressed
in dark-blue serge, and had peculiarly thick, coarse, black hair.
I heard the unseen dogs growl furiously, and forthwith he ducked back,--
coming into contact with the hand I put out to fend him off from myself.
He turned with animal swiftness.
In some indefinable way the black face thus flashed upon me
shocked me profoundly. It was a singularly deformed one.
The facial part projected, forming something dimly suggestive
of a muzzle, and the huge half-open mouth showed as big white teeth
as I had ever seen in a human mouth. His eyes were blood-shot
at the edges, with scarcely a rim of white round the hazel pupils.
The Island of Doctor Moreau |
