| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs: had vanished with her whole escort from the sight of man. So this
was the secret of the seeming mystery? Doubtless it explained
many other similar disappearances that extended nearly as far
back as the history of Gathol. Turan scrutinized his companion,
discovering many evidences of resemblance to his mother's people.
A-Kor might have been ten years younger than he, but such
differences in age are scarce accounted among a people who seldom
or never age outwardly after maturity and whose span of life may
be a thousand years.
"And where lies Gathol?" asked Turan.
"Almost due east of Manator," replied A-Kor.
The Chessmen of Mars |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: romance of "Sintram?" It embodies all that I would say. It is the
spiritual drama of that early Middle Age; very sad, morbid if you
will, but true to fact. The Lady Verena ought not, perhaps, to
desert her husband, and shut herself up in a cloister. But so she
would have done in those old days. And who shall judge her harshly
for so doing? When the brutality of the man seems past all cure,
who shall blame the woman if she glides away into some atmosphere of
peace and purity, to pray for him whom neither warnings nor caresses
will amend? It is a sad book, "Sintram." And yet not too sad. For
they were a sad people, those old Norse forefathers of ours. Their
Christianity was sad; their minsters sad; there are few sadder,
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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 Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: nearer than a great-aunt in Wales. Now he was alone,
besides, the spell that he had hitherto obeyed began to
weaken; he considered his behaviour with a sneer; and
plucking up the spirit of revolt, he started in pursuit. The
reader, if he has ever plied the fascinating trade of the
noctambulist, will not be unaware that, in the neighbourhood
of the great railway centres, certain early taverns
inaugurate the business of the day. It was into one of these
that Challoner, coming round the corner of the block, beheld
his charming companion disappear. To say he was surprised
were inexact, for he had long since left that sentiment
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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 Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: it was by no means surprising that a French colony should be wanting
in the element of stability. Servadac observed the supercilious look,
and half rose to his feet, but, smothering his resentment, took his seat
again without speaking.
"The devastation, gentlemen," said the count, who persistently refused
to recognize the Frenchman's irritation, "everywhere was terrible
and complete. Not only was Algeria lost, but there was no trace of Tunis,
except one solitary rock, which was crowned by an ancient tomb of one
of the kings of France--"
"Louis the Ninth, I presume," observed the colonel.
"Saint Louis," blurted out Servadac, savagely.
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