| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs: through their forest."
As they crossed the garden, Smith-Oldwick refilled the
magazine of his pistol and inserted a cartridge in the chamber.
The girl moved silently at Tarzan's left, between him and the
aviator. Suddenly the ape-man stopped and turned toward
the city, his mighty frame, clothed in the yellow tunic of
Herog's soldiery, plainly visible to the others beneath the light
of the stars. They saw him raise his head and they heard
break from his lips the plaintive note of a lion calling to his
fellows. Smith-Oldwick felt a distinct shudder pass through
his frame, while Otobu, rolling the whites of his eyes in ter-
Tarzan the Untamed |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Riverman by Stewart Edward White: mighty destruction.
Captain Marsh paid little attention to all this. His eye swept
rapidly up and down where the banks used to be until he saw a cross
current deeper than the rest sweeping in athwart the inundated
fields. He swung over the wheel and rang to the engine-room for
half speed ahead. Slowly the LUCY BELLE answered. Quite calmly
Captain Marsh rammed her through the opening and out over the
cornfields. The LUCY BELLE was a typical river steamboat, built
light in the draught in order to slide over the numerous shifting
bars to be encountered in her customary business. When Captain
Marsh saw that he had hit the opening, he rang for full speed, and
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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 The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: one of Mrs. Inglethorp's keys would open it." He tried several,
twisting and turning them with a practiced hand, and finally
uttering an ejaculation of satisfaction. "Viola! It is not the
key, but it will open it at a pinch." He slid back the roll top,
and ran a rapid eye over the neatly filed papers. To my
surprise, he did not examine them, merely remarking approvingly
as he relocked the desk: "Decidedly, he is a man of method, this
Mr. Inglethorp!"
A "man of method" was, in Poirot's estimation, the highest praise
that could be bestowed on any individual.
I felt that my friend was not what he had been as he rambled on
The Mysterious Affair at Styles |
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 Ferragus by Honore de Balzac: seen, fastened from floor to floor with transverse blocks inserted
into holes in the walls on which the planks were laid,--a frail
construction, shaken by the brick-layers, but held together by ropes,
white with plaster, and insecurely protected from the wheels of
carriages by the breastwork of planks which the law requires round all
such buildings. There is something maritime in these masts, and
ladders, and cordage, even in the shouts of the masons. About a dozen
yards from the hotel Maulincour, one of these ephemeral barriers was
erected before a house which was then being built of blocks of free-
stone. The day after the event we have just related, at the moment
when the Baron de Maulincour was passing this scaffolding in his
Ferragus |
