| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Bab:A Sub-Deb, Mary Roberts Rinehart by Mary Roberts Rinehart: what the next day may bring forth."
"Not with you, anyhow," he said in an angry tone, and was very cold
to me the rest of the dinner hour.
They talked about the war, but what a disapointment was mine! I had
returned from my Institution of Learning full of ferver, and it was
a bitter moment when I heard my father observe that he felt he
could be of more use to his Native Land by making shells than by
marching and carrying a gun, as he had once had milk-leg and was
never the same since.
"Of course," said my father, "Bab thinks I am a slacker. But a
shell is more valuable against the Germans than a milk leg, anytime."
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: in its savage way, so that rather than kill his friend of the
jungle, Tarzan was forced to relinquish his intentions.
All that night Sheeta, the panther, crouched upon the grisly
thing that had been Nikolas Rokoff. The bridge of the
Kincaid was slippery with blood. Beneath the brilliant
tropic moon the great beast feasted until, when the sun rose
the following morning, there remained of Tarzan's great enemy
only gnawed and broken bones.
Of the Russian's party, all were accounted for except Paulvitch.
Four were prisoners in the Kincaid's forecastle. The rest were dead.
With these men Tarzan got up steam upon the vessel, and with
The Beasts of Tarzan |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: out on a strike. The levee lay hot and unsheltered under the
glare of a noonday sun. The turgid Mississippi scarce seemed to
flow, but gave forth a brazen gleam from its yellow bosom. Great
vessels lay against the wharf, silent and unpopulated. Excited
groups of men clustered here and there among bales of
uncompressed cotton, lying about in disorderly profusion.
Cargoes of molasses and sugar gave out a sticky sweet smell, and
now and then the fierce rays of the sun would kindle tiny blazes
in the cotton and splinter-mixed dust underfoot.
Mr. Baptiste wandered in and out among the groups of men,
exchanging a friendly salutation here and there. He looked the
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
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 Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: "You still go to that canyon? Bern, I wish you wouldn't. Oldring
and his rustlers live somewhere down there."
"Well, what of that?"
"Tull has already hinted to your frequent trips into Deception
Pass."
"I know." Venters uttered a short laugh. "He'll make a rustler of
me next. But, Jane, there's no water for fifty miles after I
leave here, and the nearest is in the canyon. I must drink and
water my horse. There! I see more riders. They are going out."
"The red herd is on the slope, toward the Pass."
Twilight was fast falling. A group of horsemen crossed the dark
Riders of the Purple Sage |
