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“You! you have our eye! And who are you?” screamed the Three Gray
Women, all in a breath; for they were terribly frightened, of course, at
hearing a strange voice, and discovering that their eyesight had got
into the hands of they could not guess whom. “O, what shall we do,
sisters? what shall we do? We are all in the dark! Give us our eye!
Give us our one, precious, solitary eye! You have two of your own Give
us our eye!”

“Tell them,” whispered Quicksilver to Perseus, “that they shall have
back the eye as soon as they direct you where to find the Nymphs who
have the flying slippers, the magic wallet, and the helmet of darkness.”

“My dear, good, admirable old ladies,” said Perseus, addressing the Gray
Women, “there is no occasion for putting yourselves into such a fright.
I am by no means a bad young man. You shall have back your eye, safe
and sound, and as bright as ever, the moment you tell me where to find
the Nymphs.”

“The Nymphs! Goodness me! sisters, what Nymphs does he mean?” screamed
Scarecrow. “There are a great many Nymphs, people say; some that go a
hunting in the woods, and some that live inside of trees, and some that
have a comfortable home in fountains of water. We know nothing at all
about them. We are three unfortunate old souls, that go wandering about
in the dusk, and never had but one eye amongst us, and that one you have
stolen away. O, give it back, good stranger!–whoever you are, give it
back!”

All this while the Three Gray Women were groping with their outstretched
hands, and trying their utmost to get hold of Perseus. But he took good
care to keep out of their reach.

“My respectable dames,” said he,–for his mother had taught him always
to use the greatest civility,–“I hold your eye fast in my hand, and
shall keep it safely for you, until you please to tell me where to find
these Nymphs. The Nymphs, I mean, who keep the enchanted wallet, the
flying slippers, and the what is it?–the helmet of invisibility.”

“Mercy on us, sisters! what is the young man talking about?” exclaimed
Scarecrow, Nightmare, and Shakejoint, one to another, with great
appearance of astonishment. “A pair of flying slippers, quoth he! His
heels would quickly fly higher than his head, if he were silly enough to
put them on. And a helmet of invisibility! How could a helmet make him
invisible, unless it were big enough for him to hide under it? And an
enchanted wallet! What sort of a contrivance may that be, I wonder?
No, no, good stranger! we can tell you nothing of these marvellous
things. You have two eyes of your own, and we have but a single one
amongst us three. You can find out such wonders better than three blind
old creatures, like us.”

Perseus, hearing them talk in this way, began really to think that the
Gray Women knew nothing of the matter; and, as it grieved him to have
put them to so much trouble, he was just on the point of restoring their
eye and asking pardon for his rudeness in snatching it away. But
Quicksilver caught his hand.

“Don’t let them make a fool of you!” said he. “These Three Gray Women
are the only persons in the world that can tell you where to find the
Nymphs; and, unless you get that information, you will never succeed in
cutting off the head of Medusa with the snaky locks. Keep fast hold of
the eye, and all will go well.”