| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: yearning for the society of an absent friend. He was
vehement in affection, as in doctrine. I will not deny that
there may have been, along with his vehemence, something
shifty, and for the moment only; that, like many men, and
many Scotchmen, he saw the world and his own heart, not so
much under any very steady, equable light, as by extreme
flashes of passion, true for the moment, but not true in the
long run. There does seem to me to be something of this
traceable in the Reformer's utterances: precipitation and
repentance, hardy speech and action somewhat circumspect, a
strong tendency to see himself in a heroic light and to place
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Unconscious Comedians by Honore de Balzac: eagerness peculiar to Southerners, she added, in a grieved tone, "It
formerly belonged to that poor Princess de Lamballe."
"What! do you dare exhibit it so near the palace?" cried Bixiou.
"Monsieur, THEY don't believe in it," she replied.
"Madame, we have not come to make purchases," said Bixiou, with a show
of frankness.
"So I see, monsieur," returned Madame Nourrisson.
"We have several things to sell," said the illustrious caricaturist.
"I live close by, rue de Richelieu, 112, sixth floor. If you will come
round there for a moment, you may perhaps make some good bargains."
Ten minutes later Madame Nourrisson did in fact present herself at
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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 Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: desired height of his present position, he found himself in a thicket
of thorny bushes with a thousand conflicting wills to conciliate. If
the statesmen of the Restoration had been allowed to follow out their
own ideas, their capacity would doubtless have been criticised; but
though their wills were often forced, their age saved them from
attempting the resistance which youth opposes to intrigues, both high
and low,--intrigues which vanquished Richelieu, and to which, in a
lower sphere, Rabourdin was to succumb.
After the rough and tumble of their first struggles in political life
these men, less old than aged, have to endure the additional wear and
tear of a ministry. Thus it is that their eyes begin to weaken just as
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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 Where There's A Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart: was asleep."
Something that had been heavy in my breast all afternoon suddenly
seemed to burst and made me feel faint all over. But I didn't
lose my head.
"Does anybody know yet?" I asked quickly. He shook his head.
"Then he didn't die in the bath-house, Mike," I said firmly. "He
died in his bed, and you know it. If it gets out that he died in
the hot room I'll have the coroner on you."
Miss Patty was standing by the railing of the spring. I got my
shawl and started out after Mike, and she followed.
"If the guests ever get hold of this they'll stampede. Start any
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