| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: it was by one of the best authors, and quite proper.' As he
spoke, he placed the little volume in her hand. Her eyes
fell as she turned the pages, and a flush rose and died again
upon her cheeks, as deep as it was fleeting. 'You are
angry,' he cried in agony. 'I have presumed.'
'No, Senor, it is not that,' returned the lady. 'I - ' and a
flood of colour once more mounted to her brow - 'I am
confused and ashamed because I have deceived you. Spanish,'
she began, and paused - 'Spanish is, of course, my native
tongue,' she resumed, as though suddenly taking courage; 'and
this should certainly put the highest value on your
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: come in to speak to Sola, and so delayed their departure,
I did not feel any undue apprehension until nearly an hour
had passed without a sign of them, and by the time another
half hour had crawled away I was becoming filled with grave
anxiety. Then there broke upon the stillness of the night
the sound of an approaching party, which, from the noise, I
knew could be no fugitives creeping stealthily toward liberty.
Soon the party was near me, and from the black shadows of my
entranceway I perceived a score of mounted warriors, who,
in passing, dropped a dozen words that fetched my heart clean
into the top of my head.
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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 Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: during those magnificent years that followed his passage from
trade to finance. The little man plumped up very considerably
during the creation of the Tono-Bungay property, but with the
increasing excitements that followed that first flotation came
dyspepsia and a certain flabbiness and falling away. His
abdomen--if the reader will pardon my taking his features in the
order of their value--had at first a nice full roundness, but
afterwards it lost tone without, however, losing size. He always
went as though he was proud of it and would make as much of it as
possible. To the last his movements remained quick and sudden,
his short firm legs, as he walked, seemed to twinkle rather than
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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 Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: your advice."
"I don't b'lieve it's worth much," replied
Dorothy, "but I'll do the best I can. What is it
all about, Ozma?"
"You all know," said the girl Ruler, addressing
her three friends, "what a serious thing it is to
admit any mortals into this fairyland of Oz. It is
true I have invited several mortals to make their
home here, and all of them have proved true and
loyal subjects. Indeed, no one of you three was a
native of Oz. Dorothy and the Wizard came here
Tik-Tok of Oz |
