nd, from that day to this, no man has ever seen the three Gray Sisters,
nor does any one know what became of them. But the winds still whistle
through their cheerless cave, and the cold waves murmur on the shore of
the wintry sea, and the ice mountains topple and crash, and no sound of
living creature is heard in all that desolate land.

IV. THE WESTERN MAIDENS.

As for Perseus, he leaped again into the air, and the Magic Slippers
bore him southward with the speed of the wind. Very soon he left the
frozen sea behind him and came to a sunny land, where there were green
forests and flowery meadows and hills and valleys, and at last a
pleasant garden where were all kinds of blossoms and fruits. He knew
that this was the famous Western Land, for the Gray Sisters had told him
what he should see there. So he alighted and walked among the trees
until he came to the center of the garden. There he saw the three
Maidens of the West dancing around a tree which was full of golden
apples, and singing as they danced. For the wonderful tree with its
precious fruit belonged to Juno, the queen of earth and sky; it had been
given to her as a wedding gift, and it was the duty of the Maidens to
care for it and see that no one touched the golden apples.

Perseus stopped and listened to their song:

"We sing of the old, we sing of the new,--
Our joys are many, our sorrows are few;
Singing, dancing,
All hearts entrancing,
We wait to welcome the good and the true.

The daylight is waning, the evening is here,
The sun will soon set, the stars will appear.
Singing, dancing,
All hearts entrancing,
We wait for the dawn of a glad new year.

The tree shall wither, the apples shall fall,
Sorrow shall come, and death shall call,
Alarming, grieving,
All hearts deceiving,--
But hope shall abide to comfort us all.

Soon the tale shall be told, the song shall be sung,
The bow shall be broken, the harp unstrung,
Alarming, grieving,
All hearts deceiving,
Till every joy to the winds shall be flung.

But a new tree shall spring from the roots of the old,
And many a blossom its leaves shall unfold,
Cheering, gladdening,
With joy maddening,--
For its boughs shall be laden with apples of gold."

[Illustration: Perseus stopped and listened to their song]

Then Perseus went forward and spoke to the Maidens. They stopped
singing, and stood still as if in alarm. But when they saw the Magic
Slippers on his feet, they r