| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: as if God himself had been in mourning. The man suddenly noticed this,
and the sight appeared to call up some overwhelming memory, for great
drops of sweat stood out on his broad forehead.
Then the four silent actors in the scene looked mysteriously at one
another; and their souls in emulation seemed to stir and communicate
the thoughts within them until all were melted into one feeling of awe
and pity. It seemed to them that the royal martyr whose remains had
been consumed with quicklime, had been called up by their yearning and
now stood, a shadow in their midst, in all the majesty of a king. They
were celebrating an anniversary service for the dead whose body lay
elsewhere. Under the disjointed laths and tiles, four Christians were
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Bab:A Sub-Deb, Mary Roberts Rinehart by Mary Roberts Rinehart: domestic tyranny.
Necessity is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
William Pitt.
How true are these immortal words.
It was with a firm countenance but a sinking heart that I saw
Hannah leave the room. I had come home inspired with lofty Ambition,
and it had ended thus. Heart-broken, I wandered to the bedside, and
let my eyes fall on the Suitcase, the container of all my woe.
Well, I was surprised, all right. It was not and never had been
mine. Instead of my blue serge sailor suit and my ROBE DE NUIT and
kimona etc., it contained a checked gentleman's suit, a mussed
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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 An International Episode by Henry James: Mrs. Westgate who, at the end of this period, reverted to him.
"Of course I will let him know we are here, because I think he would
be hurt--justly enough--if we should go away without seeing him.
It is fair to give him a chance to come and thank me for the kindness
we showed him. But I don't want to seem eager."
"Neither do I," said Bessie with a little laugh.
"Though I confess," added her sister, "that I am curious to see
how he will behave."
"He behaved very well at Newport."
"Newport is not London. At Newport he could do as he liked;
but here it is another affair. He has to have an eye to consequences."
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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 Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: "Here, madame, is a man who boasted that he could win your good graces
in one evening."
He went away, thinking himself clever to have piqued the Countess'
pride and done Montcornet an ill turn; but, in spite of his habitual
keenness, he had not appreciated the irony underlying Madame de
Vaudremont's speech, and did not perceive that she had come as far to
meet his friend as his friend towards her, though both were
unconscious of it.
At that moment when the lawyer went fluttering up to the candelabrum
by which Madame de Soulanges sat, pale, timid, and apparently alive
only in her eyes, her husband came to the door of the ballroom, his
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