rgons should awake, you are too late!"

"Which shall I strike at?" asked Perseus, drawing his sword and
descending a little lower. "They all three look alike. All three have
snaky locks. Which of the three is Medusa?"

It must be understood that Medusa was the only one of these
dragon-monsters whose head Perseus could possibly cut off. As for the
other two, let him have the sharpest sword that ever was forged, and
he might have hacked away by the hour together, without doing them the
least harm.

"Be cautious," said the calm voice which had before spoken to him.
"One of the Gorgons is stirring in her sleep, and is just about to
turn over. That is Medusa. Do not look at her! The sight would turn
you to stone! Look at the reflection of her face and figure in the
bright mirror of your shield."

Perseus now understood Quicksilver's motive for so earnestly
exhorting him to polish his shield. In its surface he could safely
look at the reflection of the Gorgon's face. And there it was,--that
terrible countenance,--mirrored in the brightness of the shield, with
the moonlight falling over it, and displaying all its horror. The
snakes, whose venomous natures could not altogether sleep, kept
twisting themselves over the forehead. It was the fiercest and most
horrible face that ever was seen or imagined, and yet with a strange,
fearful, and savage kind of beauty in it. The eyes were closed, and
the Gorgon was still in a deep slumber; but there was an unquiet
expression disturbing her features, as if the monster was troubled
with an ugly dream. She gnashed her white tusks, and dug into the sand
with her brazen claws.

The snakes, too, seemed to feel Medusa's dream, and to be made more
restless by it. They twined themselves into tumultuous knots, writhed
fiercely, and uplifted a hundred hissing heads, without opening their
eyes.

"Now, now!" whispered Quicksilver, who was growing impatient. "Make a
dash at the monster!"

"But be calm," said the grave, melodious voice at the young man's
side. "Look in your shield, as you fly downward, and take care that
you do not miss your first stroke."

[Illustration: PERSEVS & THE GORGONS]

Perseus flew cautiously downward, still keeping his eyes on Medusa's
face, as reflected in his shield. The nearer he came, the more
terrible did the snaky visage and metallic body of the monster
grow. At last, when he found himself hovering over her within arm's
length, Perseus uplifted his sword,