| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: lay in her majestic peace, surrounded by flowers and infinitely
removed. Yet she gave him something. Something of her own peace.
Once more, as on the night she had stood at the kitchen door and
watched him disappear in the darkness, there came the tug of the
old familiar things, the home sense. Not only David now, but the
house. The faded carpet on the stairs, the old self-rocker Lucy
had loved, the creaking faucets in the bathroom, Mike and Minnie,
the laboratory, - united in their shabby strength, they were home
to him. They had come back, never to be lost again. Home.
Then, little by little, they carried their claim further. They
were not only home. They were the setting of a dream, long
The Breaking Point |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: speech between the Mahars and their fighting men the
Sagoth turned again to me:
"For a long time you had Tu-al-sa in your power," he
explained. "You might easily have killed her or aban-
doned her in a strange world--but you did neither. You
did not harm her, and you brought her back with you to
Pellucidar and set her free to return to Phutra. This is
your reward."
Now I understood. The Mahar who had been my in-
voluntary companion upon my return to the outer world
was Tu-al-sa. This was the first time that I had learned
Pellucidar |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie: overdose of chloral. He doubted whether an inquest would be
necessary. If so, he would let Sir James know. He understood
that Mrs. Vandemeyer was on the eve of departure for abroad, and
that the servants had already left? Sir James and his young
friends had been paying a call upon her, when she was suddenly
stricken down and they had spent the night in the flat, not
liking to leave her alone. Did they know of any relatives? They
did not, but Sir James referred him to Mrs. Vandemeyer's
solicitor.
Shortly afterwards a nurse arrived to take charge, and the other
left the ill-omened building.
Secret Adversary |
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 Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: which at once enlisted his interest in me. He took me to his home to spend
the night, and in the morning went with me to Mr. David Ruggles,
the secretary of the New York Vigilance Committee, a co-worker with
Isaac T. Hopper, Lewis and Arthur Tappan, Theodore S. Wright, Samuel Cornish,
Thomas Downing, Philip A. Bell, and other true men of their time.
All these (save Mr. Bell, who still lives, and is editor and publisher of a paper
called the "Elevator," in San Francisco) have finished their work on earth.
Once in the hands of these brave and wise men, I felt comparatively safe.
With Mr. Ruggles, on the corner of Lispenard and Church streets,
I was hidden several days, during which time my intended wife came on
from Baltimore at my call, to share the burdens of life with me.
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