The Rigdons, as also the Smiths, were living some way from the village.

She had now a mile of dark road to traverse.
Closely veiled, Susannah stepped onward eagerly.

She felt like a child going home.

The scene which she had left showed up vividly the elements of Mormon life that were most repulsive to her, the broad assumptions of ignorance, the fierce beliefs born of isolation, and the growth by indulgence of such animal characteristics as were not kept under by a literal morality or enforced by privations.

She was going to see a man who could speak with the voice of the sober past, whose tones would bring back to her the intellectual delicacies of Ephraim's conversation, the broad, pure vision of life which he beheld, and the dignified religion of his people.
The meeting-house was of moderate size.