| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: the SPRITE. All the fancy scroll-work of her upper works, the
cornice of her deck house, the light rigging of her cabin had
disappeared, leaving raw and splintered wood to mark their
attachments. The tall smokestack was bent awry, but its supports
had held, which was fortunate since otherwise the fires would have
been drowned out. At the moment, Captain Marsh was bending over
examining a bad break in the overhang--the only material damage the
tug had sustained.
At sight of him the crowd set up a yell. He paid no attention. One
of the life-saving men tossed a mooring line ashore. It was seized
by a dozen men. Then for the first time somebody noticed that
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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 Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: He knew he must sacrifice the Christians, or eventually lose his own power. He
had no false ideas about the converted Indians. He knew they were innocent;
that they were a thousand times better off than the pagan Indians; that they
had never harmed him, nor would they ever do so; but if he allowed them to
spread their religion there was an end of Simon Girty.
His decision was characteristic of the man. He would sacrifice any one, or
all, to retain his supremacy. He knew the fulfillment of the decree as laid
down by Pipe and Half King would be known as his work. His name, infamous now,
would have an additional horror, and ever be remembered by posterity in
unspeakable loathing, in unsoftening wrath. He knew this, and deep down in his
heart awoke a numbed chord of humanity that twinged with strange pain. What
 The Spirit of the Border |