"Oh, I guess it was about a draw, for the timekeeper told John's father the next day that he rather favored the Whirlwind because the old fig woman got in her way.
"When the boat race was coming off the men gathered south along the shore to get a better view of the maneuvers, while the women and children stood on the landings at Capernaum. John, Mary Magdalene and several other young folks had climbed to the roof of a house when they heard the cry that old Pipe's child had fallen into the water and was drowning. A cry went up for a fisherman to save the child, but all the men were down toward Tiberias.
"When our group from the housetop arrived we could see the little boy's white garments at the bottom, under two fathoms of water. Instantly, Mary Magdalene plunged down head foremost and brought the little one up in her arms, and as no one could reach it she somehow held it out of the water and swam to the little sand beach just south of Capernaum. Old Pipe arrived on the scene just as she was wading ashore with the child and, falling on his knees, began imploring her to forgive him for all he had injured her, but instead she handed him the struggling child as she indignantly said: 'Take your little brat, it is not to blame for having a contemptible father.'
"After a change to dry clothes the naughty maid hunted up old Pipe and forgave him all, so that was how they became fast friends, and she, of course, became the heroine of the day."
Thus, the last night of her life, Magdalene listened to reminiscences of naughty pranks and sweet affections of childhood's sunny hours.
LAST GOOD-BYE
At sunrise, after assuring Magdalene that Ruth was on the way from Nazareth, the little group took up their weary journey, moving north until they descended into a deep valley where a clear stream from the hills meanders through the woody dell which was called by the patriarchs, Eden's Vale.
Here Magdalene implored them to stay and bathe her parched lips and fevered brow in the cool waters from the hills of Shiloh. Soon she fell into a doze from whence she, at intervals, would awake and call for John, and inquire if Ruth was near. So the day wore on, her breathing growing more faint. Twice she ceased to breathe, then came back again and smiled.