| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Finished by H. Rider Haggard: very hard names."
"I daresay," he answered with a vacant smile, "but if so they
meant nothing."
"No, I understand, just like a lovers' quarrel. But look here,
you left some diamonds on the table which I took to keep the
Kaffirs out of temptation. I will fetch them."
"Did I? Well, probably I left some I.O.U.'s also which might
serve for pipelights. So suppose we set the one against the
other. I don't know the value of either the diamonds or the
pipelights, it may be less or more, but for God's sake don't let
me see the beastly things again. There's no need, I have
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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 Altar of the Dead by Henry James: implied invitation to him to judge, if he spoke of predicaments, of
how much comfort she had in hers. For him indeed was no comfort
even in complaint, since every allusion to what had befallen them
but made the author of their trouble more present. Acton Hague was
between them - that was the essence of the matter, and never so
much between them as when they were face to face. Then Stransom,
while still wanting to banish him, had the strangest sense of
striving for an ease that would involve having accepted him.
Deeply disconcerted by what he knew, he was still worse tormented
by really not knowing. Perfectly aware that it would have been
horribly vulgar to abuse his old friend or to tell his companion
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