ithin arm's length of
Prince Jason, it was a very hideous and uncomfortable sight. The gape
of his enormous jaws was nearly as wide as the gateway of the king's
palace.

"Well, Jason," whispered Medea (for she was ill natured, as all
enchantresses are, and wanted to make the bold youth tremble), "what
do you think now of your prospect of winning the Golden Fleece?"

Jason answered only by drawing his sword and making a step forward.

"Stay, foolish youth," said Medea, grasping his arm. "Do not you see
you are lost without me as your good angel? In this gold box I have a
magic potion which will do the dragon's business far more effectually
than your sword."

The dragon had probably heard the voices, for swift as lightning his
black head and forked tongue came hissing among the trees again,
darting full forty feet at a stretch. As it approached, Medea tossed
the contents of the gold box right down the monster's wide-open
throat. Immediately, with an outrageous hiss and a tremendous
wriggle--flinging his tail up to the tip-top of the tallest tree and
shattering all its branches as it crashed heavily down again--the
dragon fell at full length upon the ground and lay quite motionless.

"It is only a sleeping potion," said the enchantress to Prince Jason.
"One always finds a use for these mischievous creatures sooner or
later; so I did not wish to kill him outright. Quick! Snatch the
prize and let us begone. You have won the Golden Fleece."

Jason caught the fleece from the tree and hurried through the grove,
the deep shadows of which were illuminated as he passed, by the golden
glory of the precious object that he bore along. A little way before
him he beheld the old woman whom he had helped over the stream, with
her peacock beside her. She clapped her hands for joy, and beckoning
him to haste, disappeared among the duskiness of the trees. Espying
the two winged sons of the North Wind (who were disporting themselves
in the moonlight a few hundred feet aloft), Jason bade them tell the
rest of the Argonauts to embark as speedily as possible. But Lynceus,
with his sharp eyes, had already caught a glimpse of him, bringing the
Golden Fleece, although several stone walls, a hill, and the black
shadows of the Grove of Mars intervened between. By his advice the
heroes had seated themselves on the benches of the galley, with their
oars held perpendicularly, ready to let fall into the water.

As Jason drew near he heard the Ta