| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson: aside. That same day, therefore, I came to my lord in his business
room, where he sat upon some trivial occupation.
"My lord," said I, "I have found a suitable investment for my small
economies. But these are unhappily in Scotland; it will take some
time to lift them, and the affair presses. Could your lordship see
his way to advance me the amount against my note?"
He read me awhile with keen eyes. "I have never inquired into the
state of your affairs, Mackellar," says he. "Beyond the amount of
your caution, you may not be worth a farthing, for what I know."
"I have been a long while in your service, and never told a lie,
nor yet asked a favour for myself," said I, "until to-day."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: have made anything else impossible."
"Myeerah is proud of her beauty, if it pleases the Eagle. Her beauty and her
love are his. Yet the Eagle's words make Myeerah sad. She cannot tell what she
feels. The pale face's words flow swiftly and smoothly like rippling waters,
but Myeerah's heart is full and her lips are dumb."
Myeerah and Isaac stopped under a spreading elm tree the branches of which
drooped over and shaded the river. The action of the high water had worn away
the earth round the roots of the old elm, leaving them bare and dry when the
stream was low. As though Nature had been jealous in the interest of lovers,
she had twisted and curled the roots into a curiously shaped bench just above
the water, which was secluded enough to escape all eyes except those of the
Betty Zane |
