Then she knelt down, and drawing the leather bottle to her, held it between her palms, while, with her teeth, she undid its thong.

The task was hard, for it was well tied, but at length the knots gave, and Miriam drank.

So fearful was her thirst that she could have emptied the bottle at a draught, but this she, who had lived in the desert, was too wise to do, for she knew that it might kill her.

Also when that was gone there was no more.

So she drank half of it in slow sips, then tied the string as well as she was able and set it down again.
Now the wine, although it was mixed with water, took hold of her who for so long had eaten nothing save a mouldy crust, so that strange sounds drummed in her ears, and sinking down against the column she became senseless for a while.