nd the men went each to his own home, being content
in their mind that each man should have his own choice.

Stella was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wheelwright, she being the
only child they ever had had. At the time she returned from school she
was sixteen and would have one year more in school. She was very
precocious, a thorough student, and would allow nothing to divert her
from her studies. She was at that age when the intellectual part of her
nature predominated, though the spiritual was just beginning to tinge
her mind with its coloring. She possessed a strong individuality; she
was a born investigator; would accept no statements without examining
them, and rebelled against a great many of the customs and usages of
society. She did her own thinking, and nothing seemed to please her more
than to take her investigating axe and cut away some of the roots which
held her free spirit in bondage. Problems seemed to be crowding on her
mind thick and fast, and she could not take the time from her studies to
do the necessary amount of reading and thinking to resolve them, and she
was looking forward to the time when her last year would expire. During
this vacation she took much physical exercise, for she did not believe
in developing one side of her nature at the expense of the other. She
rode horseback and climbed the sides of steep mountains, mixed with the
young people in their recreations, such as camping parties, picnics, and
social entertainments. In company she was bright, witty, and
entertaining. She had no fear; was full of confidence, and was better
balanced than her companions in that she was not carried away by
pleasures and the company of the opposite sex.

When she was not away from home on camping or picnic excursions, she
would find time to visit the cabin of an old man who lived alone, and
had sore eyes so that he could not see to read. She would read to him
whatever he liked, cheer him up by her bright, happy talk, and when she
left the old man often thought to himself that her comings were like
angels' visits, for she seemed to lift him up completely out of himself
into a new world. When she laid her head on her pillow at night, after
having spent the evening with old Andrews, she thought how much greater
a satisfaction she derived from hearing that old man say, on her leaving
him: "God bless you, Stella, you always bring sunshine to me," than she
did from even the most enjoyable pleasure excursion