ldren
of men, and ugly was their evil mirth as they mocked at Perseus and
refused to tell him where Medusa might be found.

But Perseus grew wily in his desire not to fail, and as the eye passed
from one withered, clutching hand to another, he held out his own
strong young palm, and in her blindness one of the three placed the
eye within it.

Then the Grey Women gave a piteous cry, fierce and angry as the cry of
old grey wolves that have been robbed of their prey, and gnashed upon
him with their toothless jaws.

And Perseus said: "Wicked ye are and cruel at heart, and blind shall
ye remain forever unless ye tell me where I may find the Gorgons. But
tell me that, and I give back the eye."

Then they whimpered and begged of him, and when they found that all
their beseeching was in vain, at length they told him.

"Go south," they said, "so far south that at length thou comest to the
uttermost limits of the sea, to the place where the day and night
meet. There is the Garden of the Hesperides, and of them must thou
ask the way." And "Give us back our eye!" they wailed again most
piteously, and Perseus gave back the eye into a greedy trembling old
hand, and flew south like a swallow that is glad to leave the gloomy
frozen lands behind.

To the garden of the Hesperides he came at last, and amongst the
myrtles and roses and sunny fountains he came on the nymphs who there
guard the golden fruit, and begged them to tell him whither he must
wing his way in order to find the Gorgons. But the nymphs could not
tell.

"We must ask Atlas," they said, "the giant who sits high up on the
mountain and with his strong shoulders keeps the heavens and earth
apart."

And with the nymphs Perseus went up the mountain and asked the patient
giant to guide him to the place of his quest.

"Far away I can see them," said Atlas, "on an island in the great
ocean. But unless thou wert to wear the helmet of Pluto himself, thy
going must be in vain."

"What is this helmet?" asked Perseus, "and how can I gain it?"

"Didst thou wear the helmet of the ruler of Dark Places, thou wouldst
be as invisible as a shadow in the blackness of night," answered
Atlas; "but no mortal can obtain it, for only the Immortals can brave
the terrors of the Shadowy Land and yet return; yet if thou wilt
promise me one thing, the helmet shall be thine."

"What wouldst thou?" asked Perseus.

And Atlas said, "For many a long year have I borne this earth, and I
gro