nted the marsh and the river shrieked, and at
those shrieks Medea crouched down in fear.

She called upon Hecate, the Moon, again. She saw the moon rise above
the treetops, and then the hissing and shrieking and howling died away.
Holding up a goblet in her hand Medea poured out a libation of honey to
Hecate, the Moon.

And then she went to where the moon made a brightness upon the ground.
There she saw a flower that rose above the other flowers--a flower that
grew from two joined stalks, and that was of the color of a crocus.
Medea cut the stalks with a brazen knife, and as she did there came a
deep groan out of the earth.

This was the Promethean flower. It had come out of the earth first when
the vulture that tore at Prometheus's liver had let fall to earth a
drop of his blood. With a Caspian shell that she had brought with her
Medea gathered the dark juice of this flower--the juice that went to
make her most potent charm. All night she went through the grove
gathering the juice of secret herbs; then she mingled them in a phial
that she put away in her girdle.

She went from that grove and along the river. When the sun shed its
first rays upon snowy Caucasus she stood outside the temple of Hecate.
She waited, but she had not long to wait, for, like the bright star
Sirius rising out of Ocean, soon she saw Jason coming toward her. She
made a sign to him, and he came and stood beside her in the portals of
the temple.

They would have stood face to face if Medea did not have her head bent.
A blush had come upon her face, and Jason seeing it, and seeing how her
head was bent, knew how grievous it was to her to meet and speak to a
stranger in this way. He took her hand and he spoke to her reverently,
as one would speak to a priestess.

"Lady," he said, "I implore you by Hecate and by Zeus who helps all
strangers and suppliants to be kind to me and to the men who have come
to your country with me. Without your help I cannot hope to prevail in
the grievous trial that has been laid upon me. If you will help us,
Medea, your name will be renowned throughout all Greece. And I have
hopes that you will help us, for your face and form show you to be one
who can be kind and gracious."

The blush of shame had gone from Medea's face and a softer blush came
over her as Jason spoke. She looked upon him and she knew that she
could hardly live if the breath of the brazen bulls withered his life
or if the Earth-born Men slew him.