| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Faith of Men by Jack London: bones should be in bed."
But Snettishane was stately in spite of the bird-shot burning under
his skin.
"Old bones will not sleep," he said solemnly. "I weep for my
daughter, for my daughter Lit-lit, who liveth and who yet is dead,
and who goeth without doubt to the white man's hell."
"Weep henceforth on the far bank, beyond ear-shot of the Fort,"
said John Fox, turning on his heel, "for the noise of thy weeping
is exceeding great and will not let one sleep of nights."
"My heart is sore," Snettishane answered, "and my days and nights
be black with sorrow."
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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 Monster Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs: though to read his inmost soul.
"Let me have time to consider it, Doctor," she replied.
"I do not know that I care for you in that way at all."
"Think of Number Thirteen," he suggested. "It should
not be difficult to decide."
"I could not marry you simply to escape a worse fate,"
replied the girl. "I am not that cowardly--but let me
think it over. There can be no immediate danger, I am sure."
"One can never tell," replied von Horn, "what strange,
new vagaries may enter a crazed mind to dictate this
moment's action or the next."
The Monster Men |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Spirit of the Border by Zane Grey: end. A few windows let in the light. Spacious and barn-like was this
apartment; but undoubtedly, seen through the beaming eyes of the missionary,
it was a grand amphitheater for worship. The hard-packed clay floor was velvet
carpet; the rude seats soft as eiderdown; the platform with its white-oak
cross, an altar of marble and gold.
"This is one of our shops," said Mr. Zeisberger, leading them to a cabin.
"Here we make brooms, harness for the horses, farming implements--everything
useful that we can. We have a forge here. Behold an Indian blacksmith!"
The interior of the large cabin presented a scene of bustling activity.
Twenty or more Indians bent their backs in earnest employment. In one corner a
savage stood holding a piece of red-hot iron on an anvil, while a brawny brave
The Spirit of the Border |
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 Merry Men by Robert Louis Stevenson: many respectable persons, and turned on a very narrow range of
subjects, they were never meaningless or incoherent; nay, they had
a certain beauty of their own, breathing, as they did, of her
entire contentment. Now she would speak of the warmth, in which
(like her son) she greatly delighted; now of the flowers of the
pomegranate trees, and now of the white doves and long-winged
swallows that fanned the air of the court. The birds excited her.
As they raked the eaves in their swift flight, or skimmed sidelong
past her with a rush of wind, she would sometimes stir, and sit a
little up, and seem to awaken from her doze of satisfaction. But
for the rest of her days she lay luxuriously folded on herself and
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