| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: commissions once more. The king of travellers was amenable to the
claims of his old friends, enforced as they were by the enormous
premiums offered to him.
* * * * *
"Listen, my little Jenny," he said in a hackney-coach to a pretty
florist.
All truly great men delight in allowing themselves to be tyrannized
over by a feeble being, and Gaudissart had found his tyrant in Jenny.
He was bringing her home at eleven o'clock from the Gymnase, whither
he had taken her, in full dress, to a proscenium box on the first
tier.
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Man in Lower Ten by Mary Roberts Rinehart: Blakeley. The telegram said, 'Man with papers in lower ten, car
seven," and after I had made what I considered my escape, I began
to think I had left the man in my berth in a bad way.
"He would probably be accused of the crime. So, although when the
wreck occurred I supposed every one connected with the affair had
been killed, there was a chance that you had survived. I've not
been of much account, but I didn't want a man to swing because I'd
left him in my place. Besides, I began to have a theory of my own.
"As we entered the car a tall, dark woman passed us, with a glass
of water in her hand, and I vaguely remembered her. She was
amazingly like Blanche
The Man in Lower Ten |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: duction to the lesser luminaries, with equal cour-
tesy but fewer periods.
Rezanov exchanged a few pleasant words with
his smiling hostess before she returned to her dis-
tracted maids preparing the dinner; but his eyes
during Arguello's declamation had wandered with
a singular fidelity to the beautiful face of the eld-
est daughter of the house. She had responded
with a humorous twinkle in her magnificent black
eyes and not a hint of diffidence. As she entered
the room his brain had flashed out the thought:
Rezanov |
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 The Voice of the City by O. Henry: poured something in another glass that seemed to
be boiling, but when she tasted it it was not hot.
She had never felt so light-hearted before. She
thought lovingly of the Green Mountain farm and its
fauna. She leaned, smiling, to Miss Elise.
"If I were at home," she said, beamingly, "I
could show you the cutest little calf! "
"Nothing for you in the White Lane," said Miss
Elise. "Why don't you pad?
The orchestra played a wailing waltz that Medora
had learned from the hand-organs. She followed
The Voice of the City |
