| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from When a Man Marries by Mary Roberts Rinehart: given her back her name),"and I stopped in tonight, thinking the
house was empty, to see about a--a butler. Unfortunately, the
house was quarantined just at that time, and--here I am. Surely
there can not be any harm in helping me to get out?" (Pleading
tone.) "I have not been exposed to any contagion, and in the
exhausted state of my health the confinement would be positively
dangerous."
She rolled her eyes at him, and I could see she was making an
impression. Of course she was free. She had a perfect right to
marry again, but I will say this: Bella is a lot better looking
by electric light than she is the next morning.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: heard that the order has gone forth for the primary elections - the
elections of the electors. You haven't heard of the fresh uproar
in Rennes, last month. The order was that the three estates should
sit together at the States General of the bailliages, but in the
bailliage of Rennes the nobles must ever be recalcitrant. They took
up arms actually - six hundred of them with their valetaille, headed
by your old friend M. de La Tour d'Azyr, and they were for slashing
us - the members of the Third Estate - into ribbons so as to put an
end to our insolence." He laughed delicately. "But, by God, we
showed them that we, too, could take up arms. It was what you
yourself advocated here in Nantes, last November. We fought them
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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 Road to Oz by L. Frank Baum: work. Ozma was watching, and saw the Pumpkinhead come to life; so that
night she took the pepper-box containing the Powder and ran away with
it and with Jack, in search of adventures.
"Next day they found a wooden Saw-Horse standing by the roadside, and
sprinkled it with the Powder. It came to life at once, and Jack
Pumpkinhead rode the Saw-Horse to the Emerald City."
"What became of the Saw-Horse, afterward?" asked the shaggy man, much
interested in this story.
"Oh, it's alive yet, and you will probably meet it presently in the
Emerald City. Afterward, Ozma used the last of the Powder to bring
the Flying Gump to life; but as soon as it had carried her away from
The Road to Oz |
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 From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: and people on shore, and (which was worse) the cries of those which
were driven on shore by the tempest and dashed in pieces. In a
word, all the fleet except three, or thereabouts, were dashed to
pieces against the rocks and sunk in the sea, most of the men being
drowned. Those three who were saved, received so much damage that
their lading was almost all spoiled. One ship in the dark of the
night, the men not knowing where they were, run into Catwater, and
run on shore there; by which she was, however, saved from
shipwreck, and the lives of her crew were saved also.
This was a melancholy morning indeed. Nothing was to be seen but
wrecks of the ships and a foaming, furious sea in that very place
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