centuries, threw so thick a shade that the moon-
beams struggled vainly to find their way through
it. Only here and there a glimmer fell upon the
leaf-strewn earth, or now and then a breeze
stirred the boughs aside, and gave Jason a
glimpse of the sky, lest, in that deep obscurity,
he might forget that there was one, overhead.
At length, when they had gone farther and far-
ther into the heart of the duskiness, Medea
squeezed Jason's hand.

"Loot yonder," she whispered. "Do you
see it?"

Gleaming among the venerable oaks, there
was a radiance, not like the moonbeams, but
rather resembling the golden glory of the setting
sun. It proceeded from an object, which ap-
peared to be suspended at about a man's height
from the ground, a little farther within the wood.

What is it?" asked Jason.

"Have you come so far to seek it," exclaimed
Medea, "and do you not recognize the meed of
all your toils and perils, when it g.itters before
your eyes? It is the Golden Fleece."

Jason went onward a few steps farther, and then
stopped to gaze. O, how beautiful it looked,
shining with a marvellous light of its own, that

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p331 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p332w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p333

v?