"Oh, but I dare--I dare, and Lancer is right there, standing aside because he's too damned noble to put his spear in my back while I've got an enemy engaged. He's right there, and I'm ignoring him, too!" Her sword is out--and suddenly, like a flame catching, there stands Perseus before her, his mirror-bright shield raised to deflect her blow; he raises the head of Medusa, turns it slowly to face her, as she shields her eyes against that snake-crowded visage.

To one side, by the hard-backed chair in which Julie had only minutes ago been sitting, a spear-carrier in a plumed helm stands mutely by.