| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: wife! That was the horror that was in her brain, yes, and in her
soul, and that would not leave her.
And now night was coming upon her once more. It had even begun to
grow dark here on the lower stairway that led up to that wretched,
haunted garret above where in the shadows stark terror lurked.
Strange! Most strange! She feared the night - and yet she welcomed
it. In a little while, when it grew a little darker, she would
steal out again and take up her work once more. It was only during
the night, under the veil of darkness, that she could hope to make
any progress in reaching to the heart and core of this criminal
clique which surrounded her, whose members accepted her as Gypsy
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Memories and Portraits by Robert Louis Stevenson: in quest of what we may call puritan morality. The ventripotent
mulatto, the great cater, worker, earner and waster, the man of
much and witty laughter, the man of the great heart and alas! of
the doubtful honesty, is a figure not yet clearly set before the
world; he still awaits a sober and yet genial portrait; but with
whatever art that may be touched, and whatever indulgence, it will
not be the portrait of a precision. Dumas was certainly not
thinking of himself, but of Planchet, when he put into the mouth of
d'Artagnan's old servant this excellent profession: "MONSIEUR,
J'ETAIS UNE DE CES BONNES PATES D'HOMMES QUE DIEU A FAIT POUR
S'ANIMER PENDANT UN CERTAIN TEMPS ET POUR TROUVER BONNES TOUTES
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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 Maid Marian by Thomas Love Peacock: CHAPTER II
Vray moyne si oncques en feut depuis que le monde moynant moyna
de moynerie.--RABELAIS.
The Earl of Huntingdon, living in the vicinity of a royal forest,
and passionately attached to the chase from his infancy,
had long made as free with the king's deer as Lord Percy
proposed to do with those of Lord Douglas in the memorable
hunting of Cheviot. It is sufficiently well known how severe
were the forest-laws in those days, and with what jealousy
the kings of England maintained this branch of their prerogative;
but menaces and remonstrances were thrown away on the earl,
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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 At the Sign of the Cat & Racket by Honore de Balzac: kings visited it, he should have no difficulty about preserving the
peace of Europe. Is not that a compliment?"
The tempests with which the day had begun were to resemble those of
nature, by ending in clear and serene weather. Madame Roguin displayed
so much address in her harangue, she was able to touch so many strings
in the dry hearts of Monsieur and Madame Guillaume, that at last she
hit on one which she could work upon. At this strange period commerce
and finance were more than ever possessed by the crazy mania for
seeking alliance with rank; and the generals of the Empire took full
advantage of this desire. Monsieur Guillaume, as a singular exception,
opposed this deplorable craving. His favorite axioms were that, to
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