| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft: wind allowed her to hear distinctly. She marked the shadow gaining
on the wall; and, twilight thickening into darkness, her breath
seemed oppressed while she anxiously counted nine.--The last sound
was a stroke of despair on her heart; for she expected every moment,
without seeing Jemima, to have her light extinguished by the savage
female who supplied her place. She was even obliged to prepare
for bed, restless as she was, not to disoblige her new attendant.
She had been cautioned not to speak too freely to her; but the
caution was needless, her countenance would still more emphatically
have made her shrink back. Such was the ferocity of manner,
conspicuous in every word and gesture of this hag, that Maria was
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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 Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study by Grace Isabel Colbron and Augusta Groner: in the tone a boy would use if asking when the fireworks were to
begin.
Muller shook. his head. "No, my dear Cardillac," he replied
gravely. "He will not be shot - that is a death for a brave
soldier - but this man has deserved - " He did not finish the
sentence, for the warder sank to the floor unconscious.
"What a coward!" murmured the detective scornfully, looking down at
the giant frame that lay prostrate before him. Even in his wide
experience he had known of no case of a man of such strength and
such bestial cruelty, combined with such utter cowardice.
Varna also stood looking down at the unconscious warder. Then he
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