Then they gave him food, and fruit, and wine; but they would not let him go. And when the news came into the city that the Gorgon was slain, the priests came out to meet him, and the maidens, with songs and dances; 5 and they would have brought him to their temple and to their king; but Perseus put on the hat of darkness, and vanished away out of their sight.

Then he went to the eastward, along the Red Sea shore; and then, because he was afraid to go into the Arabian 10 deserts, he turned northward once more, and this time no storm hindered him.

CHARLES KINGSLEY: The Greek Heroes.

cen'taurs, beings with the head and shoulders of a man and the body of a horse; e quipped', furnished with; in vis'i bly, without being seen; im mor'tal, undying; drought, lack of water; ob'e lisk, tall pillar of stone.

1. Who was Perseus? 2. What aid did the gods give him as he set out on his adventure? 3. Where is the Libyan Desert ? On what sea does it border? 4. Why are the drops of blood from the Gorgon's head represented as turning to asps and adders? Compare with the fairy tale where kind words are changed to pearls and diamonds and unkind words to toads and vipers. 5. What is meant by the Immortals? 6. Why is blinding used three times in the same sentence (page 38)? Substitute some other word that means the same in at least two places. Which arrangement do you like the better - your own or that of the book? Why? 7. Find out all you can about the pyramids and obelisks that Perseus saw in Egypt. Are they still standing? When and for what purpose were they built?

Oral Composition. Read again the description of the desert,

pages 36 and 37. If you have heard any stories of caravan travel across the desert, or of the wandering tribes that live there, tell it in class. Notice who tells the most interesting story and see if you can tell why it is more interesting than the others.

Written Composition.-Read all you can find about the desert, either in your geographies or in an encyclopedia. Write a short composition on The Desert. Have two paragraphs only-on (1) the appearance; (2) the life. For this composition you may make a title-page, placing on it the name of your composition, a drawing of a tent such as the Arabs live in, or of a pyramid, and your own name. Notice how the title-pages of some of your school books or your story books are arranged.

Remember the rule for the use of capital letters in the words of

titles.

Word Study: Oral Exercise. -1. Find all the there's and their's on pages 38-39. Explain in each case why the word is written as it is. 2. Find five other sentences in this book wherein their occurs; five wherein there occurs.

Write ten sentences of your own, using there

Written Exercise. properly; ten, using their.

7

PERSEUS AND ANDROMEDA (Concluded)

AND at the dawn of day Perseus looked toward the cliffs; and at the water's edge, under a black rock, he saw a white image stand. "This," thought he, "must surely be the statue of some sea god; I will go near and see what kind of gods these barbarians worship."

So he came near; but when he came, it was no statue,

5

but a maiden of flesh and blood; for he could see her tresses streaming in the breeze; and as he came closer still, he could see how she shrank and shivered, when the waves sprinkled her with cold salt spray. Her arms were 5 spread above her head and fastened to the rock with chains of brass; and her head drooped on her bosom either with sleep, or weariness, or grief. But now and then she looked up and wailed, and called her mother; yet she did not see Perseus, for the cap of darkness was 10 on his head.

Full of pity and indignation, Perseus drew near and looked upon the maid. Her cheeks were darker than his were, and her hair was blue-black like a hyacinth; but Perseus thought, "I have never seen so beautiful a 15 maiden; no, not in all our isles. Surely, she is a king's daughter. Do barbarians treat their kings' daughters thus? She is too fair, at least, to have done any wrong. I will speak to her."

And lifting the hat from his head, he flashed into her 20 sight. She shrieked with terror, and tried to hide her face with her hair, for she could not with her hands; but Perseus cried:

"Do not fear me, fair one: I am a Greek, and no barbarian. What cruel men have bound you? But first 25 I will set you free."

And he tore at the fetters; but they were too strong for him; while the maiden cried:

"Touch me not; I am accursed, set apart as a victim to the sea gods. They will slay you, if you dare to set me free."

"Let them try," said Perseus; and drawing his sword from his thigh, he cut through the brass as if it had been 5 flax.

66

Now," he said, "you belong to me, and not to these sea gods, whosoever they may be!" But she only cried the more on her mother.

"Why call on your mother? She can be no mother 10 to have left you here. If a bird is dropped out of the nest, it belongs to the man who picks it up. If a jewel is cast by the wayside, it is his who dare win it and wear it, as I will win you and will wear you. I know now why Athene sent me hither. She sent me 15 to gain a prize worth all my toil, and more."

And he clasped her in his arms and cried, "Where are these sea gods, cruel and unjust, who doom fair maids to death? I carry the weapons of the Immortals. Let. them measure their strength against mine! But tell me, 20 maiden, who you are, and what dark fate brought you here."

And she answered, weeping:

"I am the daughter of the king of Iopa, and my mother is Cassiopeia of the beautiful tresses, and they 25 called me Andromeda, as long as life was mine. And I stand bound here, luckless that I am, for the sea

monster's food, to atone for my mother's sin. For she boasted of me once that I was fairer than the queen of the fishes; so she in her wrath sent the sea floods, and her brother the Fire King sent the earthquakes, and wasted all the land; and after the floods a monster bred of the slime, who devours all living things. And now he must devour me, guiltless though I am-who have never harmed a living thing, nor saw a fish upon the shore but gave it life, and threw it back into the 10 sea. Yet the priests say that nothing but my blood can atone for a sin which I never committed."

But Perseus laughed and said, "A sea monster? I have fought with worse than him; I would have faced Immortals for your sake; how much more a beast of the 15 sea?"

Then Andromeda looked up at him, and new hope was kindled in her breast, so proud and fair did he stand, with one hand round her, and in the other the glittering sword. But she only sighed, and wept the more, and 20 cried :

"Why will you die, young as you are? Is there not death and sorrow enough in the world already? It is noble for me to die, that I may save the lives of a whole people; but you, better than them all, why should I slay 25 you too? Go your way; I must go mine."

But Perseus cried: "Not so; for the lords of Olympus, whom I serve, are the friends of the heroes, and help