fe is done. Sisters, my
lot is happier at the least than yours, for he who slays me is my
friend. I am weary of my woe, and it may be that better things await
me when I am dead."

But even as Medusa spake, the faces of Stheino and Euryale remained
unchanged, and it seemed as though for them the words of Medusa were
but an empty sound. Presently the Gorgon sisters were all asleep. The
deadly snakes lay still and quiet, and only the breath which hissed
from their mouths was heard throughout the cave.

Then Perseus drew nigh, with the helmet of Hades on his head, and the
sandals of the nymphs on his feet. In his right hand was the sword of
Hermes, and in his left the mirror of Athene. Long time he gazed on
the image of Medusa's face, which still showed the wreck of her
ancient beauty, and he said within himself, "Mortal maiden, well may
it be that more than mortal woe should give to thy countenance its
deadly power. The hour of thy doom is come, but death to thee must be
a boon." Then the sword of Hermes fell, and the great agony of Medusa
was ended. So Perseus cast a veil over the dead face, and bare it away
from the cave in the bag which the nymphs gave him on the banks of the
slow-rolling Ocean.

ANDROMEDA.

Terrible was the rage of the Gorgon sisters when they woke up from
their sleep and saw that the doom of Medusa had been accomplished. The
snakes hissed as they rose in knotted clusters round their heads, and
the Gorgons gnashed their teeth in fury, not for any love of the
mortal maiden whose woes were ended, but because a child of weak and
toiling men had dared to approach the daughters of Phorkos and Keto.
Swifter than the eagles they sped from their gloomy cave, but they
sought in vain to find Perseus, for the helmet of Hades was on his
head, and the sandals of the nymphs were bearing him through the air
like a dream. Onwards he went, not knowing whither he was borne, for
he saw but dimly through the pale yellow light which brooded on the
Gorgon land everlastingly; but presently he heard a groan as from one
in mortal pain, and before him he beheld a giant form, on whose head
rested the pillars of the heaven, and he heard a voice, which said,
"Hast thou slain the Gorgon Medusa, child of man, and art thou come to
rid me of my long woe? Look on me, for I am Atlas, who rose up with
the Titans against the power of Zeus, when Prometheus fought on his
side; and of old time have I known that for me is no hope of re