| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: So that point was settled. . . No, not quite. He recalled with a
wince that this unknown Mr. Stephenson was just a trifle unsure as
to whether the performer of it was Richards or some other--and, oh
dear, he had put Richards on his honour! He must himself decide
whither that money must go--and Mr. Stephenson was not doubting that
if he was the wrong man he would go honourably and find the right
one. Oh, it was odious to put a man in such a situation--ah, why
couldn't Stephenson have left out that doubt? What did he want to
intrude that for?
Further reflection. How did it happen that RICHARDS'S name remained
in Stephenson's mind as indicating the right man, and not some other
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lucile by Owen Meredith: There is hope in yon hill-tops, and love in yon light.
Let hate and despondency die with the night!"
He was moved by her words. As some poor wretch confined
In cells loud with meaningless laughter, whose mind
Wanders trackless amidst its own ruins, may hear
A voice heard long since, silenced many a year,
And now, 'mid mad ravings recaptured again,
Singing through the caged lattice a once well-known strain,
Which brings back his boyhood upon it, until
The mind's ruin'd crevices graciously fill
With music and memory, and, as it were,
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