ocket in one of their
foreheads, thanked them for their kindness, and bade them farewell.
Before the young man was out of hearing, however, they had got into a
new dispute, because he happened to have given the eye to Scarecrow, who
had already taken her turn of it when their trouble with Perseus
commenced.

It is greatly to be feared that the Three Gray Women were very much in
the habit of disturbing their mutual harmony by bickerings of this sort;
which was the more pity, as they could not conveniently do without one
another, and were evidently intended to be inseparable companions. As a
general rule, I would advise all people, whether sisters or brothers,
old or young, who chance to have but one eye amongst them, to cultivate
forbearance, and not all insist upon peeping through it at once.

Quicksilver and Perseus, in the meantime, were making the best of their
way in quest of the Nymphs. The old dames had given them such particular
directions that they were not long in finding them out. They proved to
be very different persons from Nightmare, Shakejoint and Scarecrow; for,
instead of being old, they were young and beautiful; and instead of one
eye amongst the sisterhood, each Nymph had two exceedingly bright eyes
of her own, with which she looked very kindly at Perseus. They seemed to
be acquainted with Quicksilver; and, when he told them the adventure
which Perseus had undertaken, they made no difficulty about giving him
the valuable articles that were in their custody. In the first place,
they brought out what appeared to be a small purse, made of deer skin,
and curiously embroidered, and bade him be sure and keep it safe. This
was the magic wallet. The Nymphs next produced a pair of shoes, or
slippers, or sandals, with a nice little pair of wings at the heel of
each.

"Put them on, Perseus," said Quicksilver. "You will find yourself as
light heeled as you can desire for the remainder of our journey."

So Perseus proceeded to put one of the slippers on, while he laid the
other on the ground by his side. Unexpectedly, however, this other
slipper spread its wings, fluttered up off the ground, and would
probably have flown away, if Quicksilver had not made a leap, and
luckily caught it in the air.

"Be more careful," said he, as he gave it back to Perseus. "It would
frighten the birds, up aloft, if they should see a flying slipper
amongst them."

When Perseus had got on both of these wonderful slippers, he was