d, the spiritual world,
the world whose realization so far she had not a knowledge of. For her
supreme life was in her intellectual tastes and in her deep, loving,
true nature, which loved to see what was fitting, right, and just,
actually lived; possessing at the same time the boldness and courage to
be a pioneer of advanced thought, and, above all, she loved to live her
ideas.

On returning to the room Penloe opened the conversation by saying:
"Well, Stella, could you find anything interesting in the books?"

"Interesting, Penloe," said Stella. "Why, I have had a very rich treat
in the perusal of them. I felt as if I could not put them down till I
had finished them, for they contain just the light I have been seeking,
and now they have become a part of my own mentality. But I wish you
would explain the meaning of the expression, 'Sex is an illusion.'"

"Why, certainly, Stella, I will be glad to do so, for if there is
anything that appears real it is what is known as sex, the qualities of
male and female, we see in all nature. It is said to exist in some
precious stones, and we know it exists in the vegetable world, and in
all animal life. And if there is anything that is real to a boy or girl,
it is that he or she is a boy or girl, and if there is anything that is
real to a man or a woman, it is that he or she is a man or woman. So
strongly has this thought become the life thought of the human race,
that the members of each sex look upon themselves as being just what
their material forms stand for. That is, a woman believes that she will
be a purified woman through all eternity, that the woman is permanent,
real, immortal, and that she will continue on, as a woman, with her
womanly traits of character greatly expanded. While man thinks that as a
man he is real, permanent, and immortal; that he will continue his
existence as a man through all eternity, and that he will always be
known as a man, and always look upon woman as woman. Any thought
contrary to the reality of sex, the masses in the Western world will not
accept, for they live in a sex world, and at present do not wish to rise
above it, for they are in bondage to the reality of sex. In the
prehistoric period of humanity there lived a race of gods, that is, a
race whose members were intellectual and spiritual giants, many of them
spending their whole life in thought, living on a very meagre diet,
needing very little in the way of clothing and shelter, having