| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: "Of course!" John Mayrant's face was very stern as he sat in judgment on
himself.
"But why should she take the consequences?" I asked.
"What consequences?"
"Being married to a man who doesn't want her, all her life, until death
them do part. How's that? Having the daily humiliation of his indif-
ference, and the world's knowledge of his indifference. How's that?
Perhaps having the further humiliation of knowing that his heart belongs
to another woman. How's that? That's not what a girl bargains for. His
standing to his word is not an act of honor, but a deception. And in
talking about 'taking the consequences,' he's patting his personal
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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 Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: and the dangers of an unknown country. The sublime and yet
softened beauty of the scenery around, had filled the soul of
Stanton with delight, and he enjoyed that delight as Englishmen
generally do, silently.
The magnificent remains of two dynasties that had passed away, the
ruins of Roman palaces, and of Moorish fortresses, were around and
above him;--the dark and heavy thunder clouds that advanced slowly,
seemed like the shrouds of these specters of departed greatness;
they approached, but did not yet overwhelm or conceal them, as if
Nature herself was for once awed by the power of man; and far
below, the lovely valley of Valencia blushed and burned in all the
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