Page:The Music of the Spheres.djvu/71

 alternative, Cepheus was compelled by his subjects to submit to these terms, and taking poor Andromeda to the sea-beach, chained her wrists and ankles and fastened them to staples driven in a rock upon the shore. In the meantime the population of the entire city had gathered weeping upon a cliff, while in the distance Neptune's monster, sensing the commotion, swam steadily nearer, with his wicked, gloating eyes staring fixedly on the dainty morsel baited on the rocks.

Andromeda, in utter despair, bowed her head,—then looked up quickly on hearing the cheers of the people, for the hero Perseus had appeared, bounding and skimming along the sky and slanting downward toward the foaming waves. The hero gave one glance at the awful monster, then drew his sword and drove it deep into the sea-beast's scaly neck. With his other hand he pulled the Medusa's head from his wallet,—and the sea-beast slowly hardened into a beast of stone. With its glassy eyes protruding like balls of obsidian, the creature then sank in a petrified mass to the bottom of the sea.

The heroic youth, amazed at the effectiveness of the terrifying head, flew quickly to Andromeda and struck away the fetters which bound her to the shore. The King and his subjects then swarmed around them and amid great rejoicing carried them to the palace. Not long after, the Princess became the bride of the hero, who put away his fluttering shoes and set sail in a ship to the island of Seriphus.



This is Cepheus as he is traced among the stars, a king done in shorthand. He claims no star above the 3rd magnitude, but