As the moon came up from the Sea of Galilee three lone riders silently sped over the Esdraelon plain, with the fleet little mule on which Ruth was riding in the lead. Near the renowned city of Nain the guide took the lead, speeding past Endor, through Shunan and over the Jezreel plain, while not one word was spoken to break the sad silence of poor Ruth, whose ashy, tearless face betokened consciousness of approaching gloom.
Changing horses at Dothan, they continued on through Samaria, past Jacob's well, and near sunset turned into the gorge called Eden's vale, where they saw in the distance a group kneeling in the shadows beneath a clump of olive trees.
JOSEPH'S LAST INTERVIEW
After Joseph had started the courier to Nazareth he provided a litter with four stalwart men and four relays to carry Magdalene, if possible, to meet Ruth. He also sent several camels for Mary the mother of Jesus, and the other women, with an animal each for Nicodemus and John, and four beasts of burden with attending servants, while the disciples, on foot, followed the train.
Magdalene, although unable to retain food or stimulants, could talk with apparent ease, and when informed that Joseph dispatched a courier for Ruth to come and meet her she said to Joseph, with a roguish twinkle in her eye, "If you were not so awfully old and I was not so very near the Golden Gate your proposal would certainly receive deep consideration," to which Joseph continued the joke by saying, "But I have one wife, you know."
"Oh, yes, Joseph, I know your faithful wife; and does she scold you as much as you deserve? I hope she does, for men are so stupid they need correcting very often. And Joe, are you kind to Hulda, the mother of your children, and the sweetest dame in Arimathaea, the one who walked by your side all these years and allowed no one to speak despairingly of you? You would not allow yourself to love another, were she ever so young and pretty, would you?"
"Oh, no—no, Magdalene; but tell me, before we part, how you can be so cheerful, even blithe, in the face of death?"