any man in the island. And he was brave and truthful, and gentle and
courteous, for good old Dictys had trained him well, and well it was
for Perseus that he had done so. For now Danæ and her son fell into
great danger, and Perseus had need of all his strength to defend his
mother and himself.

Polydectes, the King of the island, was not a good man like his
brother Dictys, but he was greedy and cunning and cruel.

And when he saw fair Danæ, he wanted to marry her. But she would not,
for she did not love him, and cared for no one but her boy.

At last Polydectes became furious, and while Perseus was away at sea,
he took poor Danæ away from Dictys, saying, "If you will not be my
wife, you shall be my slave."

So Danæ was made a slave, and had to fetch water from the well, and
grind in the mill.

But Perseus was far away over the seas, little thinking that his
mother was in great grief and sorrow.

Now one day, while the ship was lading, Perseus wandered into a
pleasant wood to get out of the sun, and sat down on the turf and fell
asleep. And as he slept a strange dream came to him, the strangest
dream he had ever had in his life.

There came a lady to him through the wood, taller than he, or any
mortal man, but beautiful exceedingly, with great gray eyes, clear and
piercing, but strangely soft and mild. On her head was a helmet, and