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as
he could, so that the missile went bouncing far away along an irregular row
of
the earthborn things. An instant later, Proteus had crouched down behind the
plow, pulling Jason down with him.
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It was almost as if he had hurled a stone into a hornet's nest. Each impact
along the row triggered a violent reaction. Each of the earthborn men, if
that
was what they were, struck out at his neighbors in some fashion. No actual
weapons could be distinguished, not by mere human eyes at least, but the
impression of combat was unmistakable. With explosive speed, the struggle
spread
from row to row, all across the field. First one by one, then in squads and
detachments, the creatures fell back into their mother earth, as if a grove
of
small trees had been flattened by a gale. Jason had to do no more but crouch
down with Proteus, while the creatures of the dark soil mowed each other down
with amazing rapidity.
In less than a minute, the field was as barren as it had ever been.
When the time came, later, for creating legends, some Argonauts and some of
the
king's supporters too none of them with quite as good a view of the field as
Proteus enjoyed were to swear that in the plowed field on that day they had
seen
armed men slaughtering each other; and there would also be testimony to
rivulets
of blood, running in the newly-plowed furrows. But Proteus, watching coolly
and
carefully on the day when it all happened, saw no bodies and no blood, but
only
a swirling and scattering of grayness, a vague, blurred wreckage that melted
back into the earth even faster than it had sprouted out.
Proteus was not the only Argonaut whose eyes and mind saw clearly. One man
behind him muttered: "Whatever those things were, they were not fighting men.
And this king has built his warrior's reputation on knocking down such
scarecrows?"
"Myself, I'd rather face some man with a sword," his fellow muttered.
Whatever the true nature of the peculiar crop, there was no doubt that the
harvest was complete. The field was still again, and quiet, and whatever had
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been summoned up out of the earth had now gone back to it again. And it was
time
for the audience to leave.
Proteus's last sight of the two Bulls showed them standing motionless, a pair
of
bronze statues at one side of the broad field.
The king, without acknowledging in any way the upstart's victory, had turned
his
back on the scene even before the last of the strange creatures had been
destroyed. His aides and his family hastened to follow Aeetes as he stalked
away. Apsyrtus lingered a moment, surveying the scene thoughtfully, before he
went.
Medea and her sister naturally followed their father and brother. Proteus
thought that both women were looking deathly pale.
Proteus was just about to board the Argo again when the young maid who had
been
attending Princess Medea came hurrying up to him.
"My mistress wishes to see you."
This time, when she was near and looking directly at him, the maid gave
Proteus
an impression of wiry energy. He also immediately got the idea that for some
reason she was seriously afraid of him, though she was trying to conceal the
fact.
"You mean she wants to see Jason," Proteus told her. "Or is it that she wants
me
too?"
The young woman shook her head. "I mean what I said. Not Jason, not right
now.
You are the only one called Proteus, aren't you? It's you she wants."
"All right. Yes, I am the only Proteus among the Argonauts. What's your name,
girl? Did I hear the princess call you 'Mouse'?"
"You did."
He was intrigued. "Is that your real name?"
"I answer to it quick enough."
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"Have you a liking for it?"
"I like my mistress well enough, who gave it to me."
Proteus was on the brink of asking whether she had seen Cupid and his Arrow,
but
quickly decided he had better let that question wait. Hastily he told Jason
what
was going on, and said he would rejoin the captain and his crew as soon as
possible.
When the messenger had conducted him to where the princess was waiting alone,
Medea said: "We can speak freely in front of the Mouse, here. I would trust
her
with my life."
Looking into Medea's eyes, Proteus could not fail to see that the glow
brought
to her eyes by Cupid's Arrow still persisted.
Softly and eagerly she said: "Good Proteus, I am so glad you came to talk
with
me."
"It is my pleasure, princess."
"You are Jason's friend, are you not? His good, reliable friend?"
"I trust I am." And from the corner of his eye he noted that the Mouse was
standing back a little, looking as if she seriously disapproved of this line
of
talk, perhaps of this whole meeting.
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