| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris: in distress and perplexity. "Poor old Charlie!"
Moran went down on a knee, and put a finger on the slim, corded
wrist, yellow as old ivory.
"Charlie," she called--"Charlie, here, don't you know me? Wake up,
old chap! It's Moran. You're not hurt so very bad, are you?"
Charlie's eyes closed and opened a couple of times.
"No can tell," he answered feebly; "hurt plenty big"; then he
began to cough.
Wilbur drew a sigh of relief. "He's all right!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, I think he's all right," assented Moran.
"First thing to do now is to get him aboard the schooner," said
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from My Antonia by Willa Cather: in thus attired, but he begged Lena to lend him some safety pins.
`Oh, you'll have to come in, Mr. Ordinsky, and let me see what's the matter.'
She closed the door behind him. `Jim, won't you make Prince behave?'
I rapped Prince on the nose, while Ordinsky explained that he had not
had his dress clothes on for a long time, and tonight, when he was
going to play for a concert, his waistcoat had split down the back.
He thought he could pin it together until he got it to a tailor.
Lena took him by the elbow and turned him round.
She laughed when she saw the long gap in the satin.
`You could never pin that, Mr. Ordinsky. You've kept it
folded too long, and the goods is all gone along the crease.
My Antonia |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from A Book of Remarkable Criminals by H. B. Irving: homicidal maniac found an unexpected ally in a prominent member
of a church choir who was down to sing a solo in his church on
Sunday, and was anxious not to lose such an opportunity for
distinction. Whatever the cause, after three hours' deliberation
the jury returned a verdict of "Not Guilty."
Later in the Session Butler pleaded guilty to the burglary at Mr.
Stamper's house, and was sentenced to eighteen years'
imprisonment. The severity of this sentence was not, the judge
said, intended to mark the strong suspicion under which Butler
laboured of being a murderer as well as a burglar.
The ends of justice had been served by Butler's acquittal. But
A Book of Remarkable Criminals |
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 Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: stood upon a bare ridge of granite in the centre of a ragged
clearing.
I shut my eyes for a moment, drew a few long breaths of the
glorious breeze, and then looked out upon a wonder and a delight
beyond description.
A soft, dazzling splendour filled the air. Snowy banks and drifts
of cloud were floating slowly over a wide and wondrous land. Vast
sweeps of forest, shining waters, mountains near and far, the
deepest green and the palest blue, changing colours and glancing
lights, and all so silent, so strange, so far away, that it seemed
like the landscape of a dream. One almost feared to speak, lest it
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