nts were twined.

He asked Perseus what was the matter; and the young man told him how the
king had treated him, and all about the rash words which he had spoken.
Then the lady spoke to him very kindly; and he noticed that, although
she was not beautiful, she had most wonderful gray eyes, and a stern but
lovable face and a queenly form. And she told him not to fear, but to go
out boldly in quest of the Gorgons; for she would help him obtain the
terrible head of Medusa.

"But I have no ship, and how shall I go?" said Perseus.

"You shall don my winged slippers," said the strange prince, "and they
will bear you over sea and land."

"Shall I go north, or south, or east, or west?" asked Perseus.

"I will tell you," said the tall lady. "You must go first to the three
Gray Sisters, who live beyond the frozen sea in the far, far north. They
have a secret which nobody knows, and you must force them to tell it to
you. Ask them where you shall find the three Maidens who guard the
golden apples of the West; and when they shall have told you, turn about
and go straight thither. The Maidens will give you three things, without
which you can never obtain the terrible head; and they will show you how
to wing your way across the western ocean to the edge of the world where
lies the home of the Gorgons."

Then the man took off his winged slippers, and put them on the feet of
Perseus; and the woman whispered to him to be off at once, and to fear
nothing, but be bold and true. And Perseus knew that she was none other
than Athena, the queen of the air, and that her companion was Mercury,
the lord of the summer clouds. But before he could thank them for their
kindness, they had vanished in the dusky twilight.

Then he leaped into the air to try the Magic Slippers.

III. THE GRAY SISTERS.

Swifter than an eagle, Perseus flew up towards the sky. Then he turned,
and the Magic Slippers bore him over the sea straight towards the north.
On and on he went, and soon the sea was passed; and he came to a famous
land, where there were cities and towns and many people. And then he
flew over a range of snowy mountains, beyond which were mighty forests
and a vast plain where many rivers wandered, seeking for the sea. And
farther on was another range of mountains; and then there were frozen
marshes and a wilderness of snow, and after all the sea again,--but a
sea of ice. On and on he winged his way, among toppling icebergs and
over frozen