Perseus left the Graeae, and flew on till he came to where he knew the Gorgons must be. It behooved him to advance circumspectly. Holding his shield above and slightly before him to use as a mirror, he flew on. Carefully, carefully he moved ahead, looking steadfastly upon the Aegis. As great good luck would have it, he came upon the Gorgons while they slept. He approached Medusa, and with a single deft stroke he severed her head. He thought to escape without waking her sisters, but they were roused; and when they perceived from the headless trunk of Medusa what havoc had been wrought upon them, they began a furious pursuit. They faced a double difficulty, however. Perseus was invisible, and his winged sandals bore him along with extreme rapidity in his flight. Off to the south he sped away, and soon he distanced them so far as to be perfectly safe.

The return journey was long and tedious. He encountered many adventures by the way, too many for me to tell you about them. Always he bore the head of Medusa safely out of sight. His journey took him by way of Africa; why, I am sure I do not see, but it did. While he was flying along above the Libyan desert, some drops of blood fell from Medusa's head upon the hot sands, and gave birth to the venomous serpents that infest that region to this day. Again, while he was crossing over a sea, some drops of blood fell upon the waves, and from them Neptune created the Winged Horse, Pegasus. At still another time he was crossing the northwest part of Africa. There he came upon the Titan Atlas, supporting the weight of the heavens upon his shoulders. Through countless years he had supported them in the same way. Now he was very weary.

He saw Perseus coming afar off, and knew he bore Medusa's head with him. He cried to him in a loud voice. When Perseus drew near, Atlas told him of the weary weight and of his desire for rest. He prayed Perseus to give him sight of the head. Perseus drew it forth from the cloak behind him, and held it high before the tired eyes of the giant. Slowly the eyes closed, and, with a last quiver, the enormous body stiffened and hardened into earth and stone. The mighty Titan changed into the mountain range that bears his name still. And the white hair of his aged head became the glittering snow fields and misty clouds that yet hover about the mountain's brow.

Off Perseus flew again, anxious to return to his mother. He drew near the shore of the sounding sea. As he came hurrying along high in air, he beheld a strange sight. A mighty multitude of people were moving back from the shore, beating their breasts and their heads in pity and fright. Perseus stooped nearer to see what they were about. Those who were not hiding their faces in terror, were gazing horror-stricken upon a great rock that jutted out on the seashore. Perseus looked thither, too, but what he saw puzzled him more than ever. For, chained to the rock, stood a beautiful girl, watching in fascination the water before her that churned and splashed inexplicably. Even as Perseus came down to the earth, a huge sea-monster emerged from the waves. The hero did not know then, but he was to learn later, that the young woman chained to the rock was Andromeda, expiating the sin of her mother. Queen Cassiopeia grew vain because of the beauty of her daughter, and boasted rashly that Andromeda was more beautiful than the goddesses of the sea. The indignant goddesses

persuaded the gods to punish the mother by sending this fell monster to ravage the dominions of King Cepheus. The king and his counselors besought aid of an oracle, and learned that the evil creature would not be appeased until the mother's sin should be atoned for by the sacrifice of her daughter to its fury. The chaining of Andromeda and the coming of the beast were the fulfilment of the oracle. In the lines of poetry a few pages onward you may read the story of how Perseus lighted beside her and spoke to her; how she bade him flee from the danger that threatened her; and how he fought with the beast, and overcame it, and turned it to a crag among the waves by a sight of the head of Medusa.

Of course, the hero fell in love with the heroine. And when Perseus restored the beautiful Andromeda to her distracted parents, they were so grateful they offered to bestow upon him anything in their might. And what gift would he have of them but Andromeda to be his wife? But

Ay me! for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,

The course of true love never did run smooth.

At the very feast given to celebrate the nuptials, a former suitor of the princess came with an army of retainers to claim her for himself, meaning to take her by force if need be. Perseus commanded all who were friendly to him to turn away and hide their eyes. Then he drew Medusa's head from his cloak, and held it aloft. And the boisterous suitor, who had been too great a coward to fight against the sea-monster for Andromeda, was changed into stone, and all his men with him.

When the time came to depart, Perseus took An