| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: "Men oughtn't to be so tempted with business and things....
"They didn't hurt him, George?" she asked suddenly.
For a moment I was puzzled.
"Here, I mean," she said.
"No," I lied stoutly, suppressing the memory of that foolish
injection needle I had caught the young doctor using.
"I wonder, George, if they'll let him talk in Heaven...."
She faced me. "Oh! George, dear, my heart aches, and I don't
know what I say and do. Give me your arm to lean on--it's good
to have you, dear, and lean upon you.... Yes, I know you care
for me. That's why I'm talking. We've always loved one another,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Purse by Honore de Balzac: by windows looking out on a neighboring yard.
Hippolyte, with the quick eye of an artist, saw the uses, the
furniture, the general effect and condition of this first room,
thus cut in half. The more honorable half, which served both as
ante-room and dining-room, was hung with an old salmon-rose-
colored paper, with a flock border, the manufacture of Reveillon,
no doubt; the holes and spots had been carefully touched over
with wafers. Prints representing the battles of Alexander, by
Lebrun, in frames with the gilding rubbed off were symmetrically
arranged on the walls. In the middle stood a massive mahogany
table, old-fashioned in shape, and worn at the edges. A small
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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 Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: swerve from his purpose, or hold his hand in obedience to the
dictates of his heart. The pictures and effigies of them all show
their adherence to the early Roman type. Their eyes were full;
their hair, of raven blackness, grew thick and close and curly.
Their figures were massive and typical of strength.
"The thick black hair, growing low down on the neck, told of vast
physical strength and endurance. But the most remarkable
characteristic is the eyes. Black, piercing, almost unendurable,
they seem to contain in themselves a remarkable will power which
there is no gainsaying. It is a power that is partly racial and
partly individual: a power impregnated with some mysterious
Lair of the White Worm |
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 Paz by Honore de Balzac: despise me!" His own folly stared him in the face. Life then became a
burden to him, the very sun turned gray. And yet, amid all these
bitter thoughts, he found again some moments of pure joy. There were
times when he could give himself up wholly to his admiration for his
mistress, who paid not the slightest attention to him. Hanging about
in corners at her parties and receptions, silent, all heart and eyes,
he never lost one of her attitudes, nor a tone of her voice when she
sang. He lived in her life; he groomed the horse which SHE rode, he
studied the ways and means of that splendid establishment, to the
interests of which he was now more devoted than ever. These silent
pleasures were buried in his heart like those of a mother, whose heart
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