Lord of the rings - J.R.R Tolkien

''Well?'' said Strider, when he reappeared. ''Why did you do that? Worse than anything your friends could have said! You have put your foot in it! Or should I say your finger?''
''I don''t know what you mean,'' said Frodo, annoyed and alarmed.
''Oh yes, you do,'' answered Strider; ''but we had better wait until the uproar has died down. Then, if you please, Mr. Baggins, I should like a quiet word with you.''
''What about?'' asked Frodo, ignoring the sudden use of his proper name.
''A matter of some importance - to us both,'' answered Strider, looking Frodo in the eye. ''You may hear something to your advantage.''
''Very well,'' said Frodo, trying to appear unconcerned. ''I''ll talk to you later.''
Meanwhile an argument was going on by the fireplace. Mr. Butterbur had come trotting in, and he was now trying to listen to several conflicting accounts of the event at the same time.
''I saw him, Mr. Butterbur,'' said a hobbit; ''or leastways I didn''t see him, if you take my meaning. He just vanished into thin air, in a manner of speaking.''
''You don''t say, Mr. Mugwort!'' said the landlord, looking puzzled.
''Yes I do!'' replied Mugwort. ''And I mean what I say, what''s more.''
â?~There''s some mistake somewhere,'' said Butterbur, shaking his head. There was too much of that Mr. Underhill to go vanishing into thin air; or into thick air, as is more likely in this room.''
''Well, where is he now?'' cried several voices.
''How should I know? He''s welcome to go where he will, so long as he pays in the morning. There''s Mr. Took, now: he''s not vanished.''
''Well, I saw what I saw, and I saw what I didn''t,'' said Mugwort obstinately.
''And I say there''s some mistake,'' repeated Butterbur, picking up the tray and gathering up the broken crockery.
''Of course there''s a mistake!'' said Frodo. ''I haven''t vanished. Here I am! I''ve just been having a few words with Strider in the comer.''
He came forward into the firelight; but most of the company backed away,, even more perturbed than before. They were not in the least satisfied by his explanation that he had crawled away quickly under the tables after he had fallen. Most of the Hobbits and the Men of Bree went off then and there in a huff, having no fancy for further entertainment that evening. One or two gave Frodo a black look and departed muttering among themselves. The Dwarves and the two or three strange Men that still remained got up and said good night to the landlord, but not to Frodo and his friends. Before long no one was left but Strider, who sat on, unnoticed, by the wall.
Mr. Butterbur did not seem much put out. He reckoned, very probably, that his house would be full again on many future nights, until the present mystery had been thoroughly discussed. ''Now what have you been doing, Mr. Underhill?'' he asked. ''Frightening my customers and breaking up my crocks with your acrobatics!''
''I am very sorry to have caused any trouble,'' said Frodo. ''It was quite unintentional, I assure you. A most unfortunate accident.''
''All right, Mr. Underhill! But if you''re going to do any more tumbling, or conjuring, or whatever it was, you''d best warn folk beforehand - and warn me. We''re a bit suspicious round here of anything out of the way -uncanny, if you understand me; and we don''t take to it all of a sudden.''
''I shan''t be doing anything of the sort again, Mr. Butterbur, I promise you. And now I think I''ll be getting to bed. We shall be making an early start. Will you see that our ponies are ready by eight o''clock?''
''Very good! But before you go, I should like a word with you in private, Mr. Underhill. Something has just come back to my mind that I ought to tell you. I hope that you''ll not take it amiss. When I''ve seen to a thing or two, I''ll come along to your room, if you''re willing.''
''Certainly!'' said Frodo; but his heart sank. He wondered how many private talks he would have before he got to bed, and what they would reveal. Were these people all in league against him? He began *****spect even old Butterbur''s fat face of concealing dark designs.

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

​

Chapter 10​

Strider​

Frodo, Pippin, and Sam made their way back to the parlour. There was no light. Merry was not there, and the fire had burned low. It was not until they had puffed up the embers into a blaze and thrown on a couple of faggots that they discovered Strider had come with them. There he was calmly sitting in a chair by the door!
''Hallo!'' said Pippin. ''Who are you, and what do you want?''
''I am called Strider,'' he answered: ''and though he may have forgotten it, your friend promised to have a quiet talk with me.''
''You said I might hear something to my advantage, I believe,'' said Frodo. ''What have you to say?''
''Several things,'' answered Strider. ''But, of course, I have my price.''
''What do you mean?'' asked Frodo sharply.
''Don''t be alarmed! I mean just this: I will tell you what I know, and give you some good advice - but I shall want a reward.''
''And what will that be, pray?'' said Frodo. He suspected now that he had fallen in with a rascal, and he thought uncomfortably that he had brought only a little money with him. All of it would hardly satisfy a rogue, and he could not spare any of it.
''No more than you can afford,'' answered Strider with a slow smile, as if he guessed Frodo''s thoughts. ''Just this: you must take me along with you, until I wish to leave you.''
''Oh, indeed!'' replied Frodo, surprised, but not much relieved. ''Even if I wanted another companion, I should not agree to any such thing, until I knew a good deal more about you, and your business.''
''Excellent!'' exclaimed Strider, crossing his legs and sitting back comfortably. ''You seem to be coming to your senses again, and that is all to the good. You have been much too careless so far. Very well! I will tell you what I know, and leave the reward to you. You may be glad to grant it, when you have heard me.''
''Go on then!'' said Frodo. ''What do you know?''
''Too much; too many dark things,'' said Strider grimly. ''But as for your business ?"'' He got up and went to the door, opened it quickly and looked out. Then he shut it quietly and sat down again. ''I have quick ears,'' he went on, lowering his voice, ''and though I cannot disappear, I have hunted many wild and wary things and I can usually avoid being seen, if I wish. Now, I was behind the hedge this evening on the Road west of Bree, when four hobbits came out of the Downlands. I need not repeat all that they said to old Bombadil or to one another, but one thing interested me. Please remember, said one of them, that the name Baggins must not be mentioned. I am Mr. Underhill, if any name must be given. That interested me so much that I followed them here. I slipped over the gate just behind them. Maybe Mr. Baggins has an honest reason for leaving his name behind; but if so, I should advise him and his friends to be more careful.''
''I don''t see what interest my name has for any one in Bree,'' said Frodo angrily, ''and I have still to learn why it interests you. Mr. Strider may have an honest reason for spying and eavesdropping; but if so, I should advise him to explain it.''
''Well answered!'' said Strider laughing. ''But the explanation is simple:
I was looking for a Hobbit called Frodo Baggins. I wanted to find him quickly. I had learned that he was carrying out of the Shire, well, a secret that concerned me and my friends.
''Now, don''t mistake me!'' he cried, as Frodo rose from his seat, and Sam jumped up with a scowl. ''I shall take more care of the secret than you do. And care is needed!'' He leaned forward and looked at them. ''Watch every shadow!'' he said in a low voice. ''Black horsemen have passed through Bree. On Monday one came down the Greenway, they say; and another appeared later, coming up the Greenway from the south.''
There was a silence. At last Frodo spoke to Pippin and Sam: ''I ought to have guessed it from the way the gatekeeper greeted us,'' he said. ''And the landlord seems to have heard something. Why did he press us to join the company? And why on earth did we behave so foolishly: we ought to have stayed quiet in here.''
''It would have been better,'' said Strider. ''I would have stopped your going into the common-room, if I could; but the innkeeper would not let me in to see you, or take a message.''
''Do you think hê?"?"?"'' began Frodo.
''No, I don''t think any harm of old Butterbur. Only he does not altogether like mysterious vagabonds of my sort.'' Frodo gave him a puzzled look. ''Well, I have rather a rascally look, have I not?'' said Strider with a curl of his lip and a queer gleam in his eye. ''But I hope we shall get to know one another better. When we do, I hope you will explain what happened at the end of your song. For that little prank?"?"?"''
''It was sheer accident!'' interrupted Frodo.
''I wonder,'' said Strider. ''Accident, then. That accident has made your position dangerous.''
''Hardly more than it was already,'' said Frodo. ''I knew these horsemen were pursuing me; but now at any rate they seem to have missed me and to have gone away.''
''You must not count on that!'' said Strider sharply. ''They will return. And more are coming. There are others. I know their number. I know these Riders.'' He paused, and his eyes were cold and hard. ''And there are some folk in Bree who are not to be trusted,'' he went on. ''Bill Ferny, for instance. He has an evil name in the Bree-land, and queer folk call at his house. You must have noticed him among the company: a swarthy sneering fellow. He was very close with one of the Southern strangers, and they slipped out together just after your "accident". Not all of those Southerners mean well; and as for Ferny, he would sell anything to anybody; or make mischief for amusement.''
''What will Ferny sell, and what has my accident got to do with him?'' said Frodo, still determined not to understand Strider''s hints.
''News of you, of course,'' answered Strider. ''An account of your performance would be very interesting to certain people. After that they would hardly need to be told your real name. It seems to me only too likely that they will hear of it before this night is over. Is that enough? You can do as you like about my reward: take me as a guide or not. But I may say that I know all the lands between the Shire and the Misty Mountains, for I have wandered over them for many years. I am older than I look. I might prove useful. You will have to leave the open road after tonight; for the horsemen will watch it night and day. You may escape from Bree, and be allowed to go forward while the Sun is up; but you won''t go far. They will come on you in the wild, in some dark place where there is no help. Do you wish them to find you? They are terrible!''
The hobbits looked at him, and saw with surprise that his face was drawn as if with pain, and his hands clenched the arms of his chair. The room was very quiet and still, and the light seemed to have grown dim. For a while he sat with unseeing eyes as if walking in distant memory or listening to sounds in the Night far away.
''There!'' he cried after a moment, drawing his hand across his brow. ''Perhaps I know more about these pursuers than you do. You fear them, but you do not fear them enough, yet. Tomorrow you will have to escape, if you can. Strider can take you by paths that are seldom trodden. Will you have him?''
There was a heavy silence. Frodo made no answer, his mind was confused with doubt and fear. Sam frowned, and looked at his master; and at last he broke out:
''With your leave, Mr. Frodo, I''d say no! This Strider here, he warns and he says take care; and I say yes to that, and let''s begin with him. He comes out of the Wild, and I never heard no good of such folk. He knows something, that''s plain, and more than I like; but it''s no reason why we should let him go leading us out into some dark place far from help, as he puts it.''
Pippin fidgeted and looked uncomfortable. Strider did not reply to Sam, but turned his keen eyes on Frodo. Frodo caught his glance and looked away. ''No,'' he said slowly. ''I don''t agree. I think, I think you are not really as you choose to look. You began to talk to me like the Bree-folk, but your voice has changed. Still Sam seems right in this: I don''t see why you should warn us to take care, and yet ask us to take you on trust. Why the disguise? Who are you? What do you really know about - about my business; and how do you know it?''
''The lesson in caution has been well learned,'' said Strider with a grim smile. ''But caution is one thing and wavering is another. You will never get to Rivendell now on your own, and to trust me is your only chance. You must make up your mind. I will answer some of your questions, if that will help you to do so. But why should you believe my story, if you do not trust me already? Still here it is?"?"?"''
At that moment there came a knock at the door. Mr. Butterbur had arrived with candles, and behind him was Nob with cans of hot water. Strider withdrew into a dark corner.
''I''ve come to bid you good night,'' said the landlord, putting the candles on the table. ''Nob! Take the water to the rooms!'' He came in and shut the door.
''It''s like this,'' he began, hesitating and looking troubled. ''If I''ve done any harm, I''m sorry indeed. But one thing drives out another, as you''ll admit; and I''m a busy man. But first one thing and then another this week have jogged my memory, as the saying goes; and not too late I hope. You see, I was asked to look out for hobbits of the Shire, and for one by the name of Baggins in particular.''
''And what has that got to do with me?'' asked Frodo.
''Ah! you know best,'' said the landlord, knowingly. ''I won''t give you away; but I was told that this Baggins would be going by the name of Underhill, and I was given a description that fits you well enough, if I may say so.''
''Indeed! Let''s have it then!'' said Frodo, unwisely interrupting.
''A stout little fellow with red cheeks,'' said Mr. Butterbur solemnly. Pippin chuckled, but Sam looked indignant. ''That won''t help you much; it goes for most hobbits. Barley, he says to me,'' continued Mr. Butterbur with a glance at Pippin. ''But this one is taller than some and fairer than most, and he has a cleft in his chin: perky chap with a bright eye. Begging your pardon, but he said it, not me.''
''He said it? And who was he?'' asked Frodo eagerly.
''Ah! That was Gandalf, if you know who I mean. A wizard they say he is, but he''s a good friend of mine, whether or no. But now I don''t know what he''ll have to say to me, if I see him again: turn all my ale sour or me into a block of wood, I shouldn''t wonder. He''s a bit hasty. Still what''s done can''t be undone. ''
''Well, what have you done?'' said Frodo, getting impatient with the slow unravelling of Butterbur''s thoughts.
''Where was I?'' said the landlord, pausing and snapping his fingers. ''Ah, yes! Old Gandalf. Three months back he walked right into my room without a knock. Barley, he says, I''m off in the morning. Will you do something for me? You''ve only to name it, I said. I''m in a hurry, said he, and I''ve no time myself, but I want a message took to the Shire. Have you anyone you can send, and trust to go? I can find someone, I said, tomorrow, maybe, or the day after. Make it tomorrow, he says, and then he gave me a letter.
''It''s addressed plain enough,'' said Mr. Butterbur, producing a letter from his pocket, and reading out the address slowly and proudly (he valued his reputation as a lettered man):

Mr FRODO BAGGINS, BAG END, HOBBITON in the SHIRE.​

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

​

''A letter for me from Gandalf!'' cried Frodo.
''Ah!'' said Mr. Butterbur. ''Then your right name is Baggins?''
''It is,'' said Frodo, ''and you had better give me that letter at once, and explain why you never sent it. That''s what you came to tell me, I suppose, though you''ve taken a long time to come to the point.''
Poor Mr. Butterbur looked troubled. ''You''re right, master,'' he said, ''and I beg your pardon. And I''m mortal afraid of what Gandalf will say, if harm comes of it. But I didn''t keep it back a-purpose. I put it by safe. Then I couldn''t find nobody willing to go to the Shire next day, nor the day after, and none of my own folk were to spare; and then one thing after another drove it out of my mind. I''m a busy man. I''ll do what I can to set matters right, and if there''s any help I can give, you''ve only to name it.
''Leaving the letter aside, I promised Gandalf no less. Barley, he says to me, this friend of mine from the Shire, he may be coming out this way before long, him and another. He''ll be calling himself Underhill. Mind that! But you need ask no questions. And if I''m not with him, he may be in trouble, and he may need help. Do whatever you can for him, and I''ll be grateful, he says. And here you are, and trouble is not far off, seemingly.''
''What do you mean?'' asked Frodo.
''These black men,'' said the landlord lowering his voice. ''They''re looking for Baggins, and if they mean well, then I''m a hobbit. It was on Monday, and all the dogs were yammering and the geese screaming. Uncanny, I called it. Nob, he came and told me that two black men were at the door asking for a hobbit called Baggins. Nob''s hair was all stood on end. I bid the black fellows be off, and slammed the door on them; but they''ve been asking the same question all the way to Archet, I hear. And that Ranger, Strider, he''s been asking questions, too. Tried to get in here to see you, before you''d had bite or sup, he did.''
''He did!'' said Strider suddenly, coming forward into the light. ''And much trouble would have been saved, if you had let him in, Barliman.''
The landlord jumped with surprise. ''You!'' he cried. ''You''re always popping up. What do you want now?''
''He''s here with my leave,'' said Frodo. ''He came to offer me his help.''
''Well, you know your own business, maybe,'' said Mr. Butterbur, looking suspiciously at Strider. ''But if I was in your plight, I wouldn''t take up with a Ranger.''
''Then who would you take up with?'' asked Strider. ''A fat innkeeper who only remembers his own name because people shout it at him all day? They cannot stay in The Pony for ever, and they cannot go home. They have a long road before them. Will you go with them and keep the black men off?''
''Me? Leave Bree! I wouldn''t do that for any money,'' said Mr. Butterbur, looking really scared. ''But why can''t you stay here quiet for a bit, Mr. Underhill? What are all these queer goings on? What are these black men after, and where do they come from, I''d like to know?''
''I''m sorry I can''t explain it all,'' answered Frodo. ''I am tired and very worried, and it''s a long tale. But if you mean to help me, I ought to warn you that you will be in danger as long as I am in your house. These Black Riders: I am not sure, but I think, I fear they come fromâ?"â?"â?"''
''They come from Mordor,'' said Strider in a low voice. ''From Mordor, Barliman, if that means anything to you.''
''Save us!'' cried Mr. Butterbur turning pale; the name evidently was known to him. ''That is the worst news that has come to Bree in my time.'' ''It is,'' said Frodo. ''Are you still willing to help me?'' ''I am,'' said Mr. Butterbur. ''More than ever. Though I don''t know what the likes of me can do against, againstâ?"â?"â?"'' he faltered.
''Against the Shadow in the East,'' said Strider quietly. ''Not much, Barliman, but every little helps. You can let Mr. Underhill stay here tonight, as Mr. Underhill, and you can forget the name of Baggins, till he is far away.''
''I''ll do that,'' said Butterbur. ''But they''ll find out he''s here without help from me, I''m afraid. It''s a pity Mr. Baggins drew attention to himself this evening, to say no more. The story of that Mr. Bilbo''s going off has been heard before tonight in Bree. Even our Nob has been doing some guessing in his slow pate: and there are others in Bree quicker in the uptake than he is.''
''Well, we can only hope the Riders won''t come back yet,'' said Frodo.
''I hope not, indeed,'' said Butterbur. ''But spooks or no spooks, they won''t get in The Pony so easy. Don''t you worry till the morning. Nob''ll say no word. No black man shall pass my doors, while I can stand on my legs. Me and my folk''ll keep watch tonight; but you had best get some sleep, if you can.''
''In any case we must be called at dawn,'' said Frodo. ''We must get off as early as possible. Breakfast at six-thirty, please.''
''Right! I''ll see to the orders,'' said the landlord. ''Good night, Mr. Baggins - Underhill, I should say! Good night - now, bless me! Where''s your Mr. Brandybuck?''
''I don''t know,'' said Frodo with sudden anxiety. They had forgotten all about Merry, and it was getting late. ''I am afraid he is out. He said something about going for a breath of air.''
''Well, you do want looking after and no mistake: your party might be on a holiday!'' said Butterbur. ''I must go and bar the doors quick, but I''ll see your friend is let in when he comes. I''d better send Nob to look for him. Good night to you all!'' At last Mr. Butterbur went out, with another doubtful look at Strider and a shake of his head. His footsteps retreated down the passage.
''Well?'' said Strider. ''When are you going to open that letter?'' Frodo looked carefully at the seal before he broke it. It seemed certainly to be Gandalf''s. Inside, written in the wizard''s strong but graceful script, was the following message:

THE PRANCING PONY, BREE. Midyear''s Day, Shire Year, 1418.
Dear Frodo,
Bad news has reached me here. I must go off at once. You had better leave Bag End soon, and get out of the Shire before the end of July at latest. I will return as soon as I can; and I will follow you, if I find that you are gone. Leave a message for me here, if you pass through Bree. You can trust the landlord (Butterbur). You may meet a friend of mine on the Road: a Man, lean, dark, tall, by some called Strider. He knows our business and will help you. Make for Rivendell. There I hope we may meet again. If I do not come, Elrond will advise you.
Yours in haste
GANDALF.
PS. Do NOT use It again, not far any reason whatever! Do not travel by night!
PPS. Make sure that it is the real Strider. There are many strange men on the roads. His true name is Aragorn.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

PPPS. I hope Butterbur sends this promptly. A worthy man, but his memory is like a lumber-roam: thing wanted always buried. If he forgets, I shall roast him.
​

Frodo read the letter to himself, and then passed it to Pippin and Sam. ''Really old Butterbur has made a mess of things!'' he said. ''He deserves roasting. If I had got this at once, we might all have been safe in Rivendell by now. But what can have happened to Gandalf? He writes as if he was going into great danger.''
''He has been doing that for many years,'' said Strider.
Frodo turned and looked at him thoughtfully, wondering about Gandalf''s second postscript. ''Why didn''t you tell me that you were Gandalf''s friend at once?'' he asked. ''It would have saved time.''
''Would it? Would any of you have believed me till now?'' said Strider. ''I knew nothing of this letter. For all I knew I had to persuade you to trust me without proofs, if I was to help you. In any case, I did not intend to tell you all about myself at once. I had to study you first, and make sure of you. The Enemy has set traps for me before now. As soon as I had made up my mind, I was ready to tell you whatever you asked. But I must admit,'' he added with a queer laugh, ''that I hoped you would take to me for my own sake. A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship. But there, I believe my looks are against me.''
''They are - at first sight at any rate,'' laughed Pippin with sudden relief after reading Gandalf''s letter. ''But handsome is as handsome does, as we say in the Shire; and I daresay we shall all look much the same after lying for days in hedges and ***ches.''
''It would take more than a few days, or weeks, or years, of wandering in the Wild to make you look like Strider,'' he answered. ''And you would die first, unless you are made of sterner stuff than you look to be.''
Pippin subsided; but Sam was not daunted, and he still eyed Strider dubiously. ''How do we know you are the Strider that Gandalf speaks about?'' he demanded. ''You never mentioned Gandalf, till this letter came out. You might be a play-acting spy, for all I can see, trying to get us to go with you. You might have done in the real Strider and took his clothes. What have you to say to that?''
''That you are a stout fellow,'' answered Strider; ''but I am afraid my only answer to you, Sam Gamgee, is this. If I had killed the real Strider, I could kill you. And I should have killed you already without so much talk. If I was after the Ring, I could have it - NOW!''
He stood up, and seemed suddenly to grow taller. In his eyes gleamed a light, keen and commanding. Throwing back his cloak, he laid his hand on the hilt of a sword that had hung concealed by his side. They did not dare to move. Sam sat wide-mouthed staring at him dumbly.
''But I am the real Strider, fortunately,'' he said, looking down at them with his face softened by a sudden smile. ''I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.''
There was a long silence. At last Frodo spoke with hesitation. ''I believed that you were a friend before the letter came,'' he said, ''or at least I wished to. You have frightened me several times tonight, but never in the way that servants of the Enemy would, or so I imagine. I think one of his spies would - well, seem fairer and feel fouler, if you understand.''
''I see,'' laughed Strider. ''I look foul and feel fair. Is that it? All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost.''
''Did the verses apply to you then?'' asked Frodo. ''I could not make out what they were about. But how did you know that they were in Gandalf''s letter, if you have never seen it?''
''I did not know,'' he answered. ''But I am Aragorn, and those verses go with that name.'' He drew out his sword, and they saw that the blade was indeed broken a foot below the hilt. ''Not much use is it, Sam?'' said Strider. ''But the time is near when it shall be forged anew.''
Sam said nothing.
''Well,'' said Strider, ''with Sam''s permission we will call that settled. Strider shall be your guide. We shall have a rough road tomorrow. Even if we are allowed to leave Bree unhindered, we can hardly hope now to leave it unnoticed. But I shall try to get lost as soon as possible. I know one or two ways out of Bree-land other than the main road. If once we shake off the pursuit, I shall make for Weathertop.''
''Weathertop?'' said Sam. ''What''s that?''
''It is a hill, just to the north of the Road, about half way from here to Rivendell. It commands a wide view all round; and there we shall have a chance to look about us. Gandalf will make for that point, if he follows us. After Weathertop our journey will become more difficult, and we shall have to choose between various dangers.''
''When did you last see Gandalf?'' asked Frodo. ''Do you know where he is, or what he is doing?''
Strider looked grave. ''I do not know,'' he said. ''I came west with him in the spring. I have often kept watch on the borders of the Shire in the last few years, when he was busy elsewhere. He seldom left it unguarded. We last met on the first of May: at Sam Ford down the Brandywine. He told me that his business with you had gone well, and that you would be starting for Rivendell in the last week of September. As I knew he was at your side, I went away on a journey of my own. And that has proved ill; for plainly some news reached him, and I was not at hand to help.
''I am troubled, for the first time since I have known him. We should have had messages, even if he could not come himself. When I returned, many days ago, I heard the ill news. The tidings had gone far and wide that Gandalf was missing and the horsemen had been seen. It was the Elven-folk of Gildor that told me this; and later they told me that you had left your home; but there was no news of your leaving Buckland. I have been watching the East Road anxiously.''
''Do you think the Black Riders have anything to do with it - with Gandalf''s absence, I mean?'' asked Frodo.
''I do not know of anything else that could have hindered him, except the Enemy himself,'' said Strider. ''But do not give up hope! Gandalf is greater than you Shire-folk know - as a rule you can only see his jokes and toys. But this business of ours will be his greatest task.''
Pippin yawned. ''I am sorry,'' he said, ''but I am dead tired. In spite of all the danger and worry I must go to bed, or sleep where I sit. Where is that silly fellow, Merry? It would be the last straw, if we had to go out in the dark to look for him.''
At that moment they heard a door slam; then feet came running along the passage. Merry came in with a rush followed by Nob. He shut the door hastily, and leaned against it. He was out of breath. They stared at him in alarm for a moment before he gasped: ''I have seen them, Frodo! I have seen them! Black Riders!''
''Black Riders!'' cried Frodo. ''Where?''
''Here. In the village. I stayed indoors for an hour. Then as you did not come back, I went out for a stroll. I had come back again and was standing just outside the light of the lamp looking at the stars. Suddenly I shivered and felt that something horrible was creeping near: there was a son of deeper shade among the shadows across the road, just beyond the edge of the lamplight. It slid away at once into the dark without a sound. There was no horse.''
''Which way did it go?'' asked Strider, suddenly and sharply. Merry started, noticing the stranger for the first time. ''Go on!'' said Frodo. ''This is a friend of Gandalf''s. I will explain later.''
''It seemed to make off up the Road, eastward,'' continued Merry. ''I tried to follow. Of course, it vanished almost at once; but I went round the corner and on as far as the last house on the Road.''
Strider looked at Merry with wonder. ''You have a stout heart,'' he said; ''but it was foolish.''
''I don''t know,'' said Merry. ''Neither brave nor silly, I think. I could hardly help myself. I seemed to be drawn somehow. Anyway, I went, and suddenly I heard voices by the hedge. One was muttering; and the other was whispering, or hissing. I couldn''t hear a word that was said. I did not creep any closer, because I began to tremble all over. Then I felt terrified, and I turned back, and was just going to bolt home, when something came behind me and I... I fell over.''
''I found him, sir,'' put in Nob. ''Mr. Butterbur sent me out with a lantern. I went down to West-gate, and then back up towards South-gate. Just nigh Bill Ferny''s house I thought I could see something in the Road. I couldn''t swear to it, but it looked to me as if two men was stooping over something, lilting it. I gave a shout, but where I got up to the spot there was no signs of them, and only Mr. Brandybuck lying by the roadside. He seemed to be asleep. "I thought I had fallen into deep water," he says to me, when I shook him. Very queer he was, and as soon as I had roused him, he got up and ran back here like a hare.''
''I am afraid that''s true,'' said Merry, ''though I don''t know what I said. I had an ugly dream, which I can''t remember. I went to pieces. I don''t know what came over me.''
''I do,'' said Strider. ''The Black Breath. The Riders must have left their horses outside, and passed back through the South-gate in secret. They will know all the news now, for they have visited Bill Ferny; and probably that Southerner was a spy as well. Something may happen in the night, before we leave Bree.''
''What will happen?'' said Merry. ''Will they attack the inn?'' ''No, I think not,'' said Strider. ''They are not all here yet. And in any case that is not their way. In dark and loneliness they are strongest; they will not openly attack a house where there are lights and many people â?" not until they are desperate, not while all the long leagues of Eriador still lie before us. But their power is in terror, and already some in Bree are in their clutch. They will drive these wretches to some evil work: Ferny, and some of the strangers, and, maybe, the gatekeeper too. They had words with Harry at West-gate on Monday. I was watching them. He was white and shaking when they left him.''
''We seem to have enemies all round,'' said Frodo. ''What are we to do?''
''Stay here, and do not go to your rooms! They are sure to have found out which those are. The hobbit-rooms have windows looking north and close to the ground. We will all remain together and bar this window and the door. But first Nob and I will fetch your luggage.''
While Strider was gone, Frodo gave Merry a rapid account of all that had happened since supper. Merry was still reading and pondering Gandalf''s letter when Strider and Nob returned.
''Well Masters,'' said Nob, ''I''ve ruffled up the clothes and put in a bolster down the middle of each bed. And I made a nice imitation of your head with a brown woollen mat, Mr. Bag - Underhill, sir,'' he added with a grin.
Pippin laughed. ''Very life-like!'' he said. ''But what will happen when they have penetrated the disguise?''
''We shall see,'' said Strider. ''Let us hope to hold the fort till morning.''
''Good night to you,'' said Nob, and went off to take his part in the watch on the doors.
Their bags and gear they piled on the parlour-floor. They pushed a low chair against the door and shut the window. Peering out, Frodo saw that the night was still clear. The Sickle was swinging bright above the shoulders of Bree-hill. He then closed and barred the heavy inside shutters and drew the curtains together. Strider built up the fire and blew out all the candles.
The hobbits lay down on their blankets with their feet towards the hearth; but Strider settled himself in the chair against the door. They talked for a little, for Merry still had several questions to ask.
''Jumped over the Moon!'' chuckled Merry as he rolled himself in his blanket. ''Very ridiculous of you, Frodo! But I wish I had been there to see. The worthies of Bree will be discussing it a hundred years hence.''
''I hope so,'' said Strider. Then they all fell silent, and one by one the hobbits dropped off to sleep.

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

​

Chapter 11​

A Knife in the Dark​

As they prepared for sleep in the inn at Bree, darkness lay on Buckland; a mist strayed in the dells and along the river-bank. The house at Crickhollow stood silent. Fatty Bolger opened the door cautiously and peered out. A feeling of fear had been growing on him all day, and he was unable to rest or go to bed: there was a brooding threat in the breathless night-air. As he stared out into the gloom, a black shadow moved under the trees; the gate seemed to open of its own accord and close again without a sound. Terror seized him. He shrank back, and for a moment he stood trembling in the hall. Then he shut and locked the door.
The night deepened. There came the soft sound of horses led with stealth along the lane. Outside the gate they stopped, and three black figures entered, like shades of night creeping across the ground. One went to the door, one to the corner of the house on either side; and there they stood, as still as the shadows of stones, while night went slowly on. The house and the quiet trees seemed to be waiting breathlessly.
There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a **** crowed far away. The cold hour before dawn was passing. The figure by the door moved. In the dark without moon or stars a drawn blade gleamed, as if a chill light had been unsheathed. There was a blow, soft but heavy, and the door shuddered.
''Open, in the name of Mordor!'' said a voice thin and menacing.
At a second blow the door yielded and fell back, with timbers burst and lock broken. The black figures passed swiftly in.
At that moment, among the trees nearby, a horn rang out. It rent the night like fire on a hill-top.

AWAKE! FEAR! FIRE! FOES! AWAKE!​

Fatty Bolger had not been idle. As soon as he saw the dark shapes creep from the garden, he knew that he must run for it, or perish. And run he did, out of the back door, through the garden, and over the fields. When he reached the nearest house, more than a mile away, he collapsed on the doorstep. ''No, no, no!'' he was crying. ''No, not me! I haven''t got it!'' It was some time before anyone could make out what he was babbling about. At last they got the idea that enemies were in Buckland, some strange invasion from the Old Forest. And then they lost no more time.

FEAR! FIRE! FOES!​

The Brandybucks were blowing the Horn-call of Buckland, that had not been sounded for a hundred years, not since the white wolves came in the Fell Winter, when the Brandywine was frozen over.

AWAKE! AWAKE!​

Far-away answering horns were heard. The alarm was spreading. The black figures fled from the house. One of them let fall a hobbit-cloak on the step, as he ran. In the lane the noise of hoofs broke out, and gathering to a gallop, went hammering away into the darkness. All about Crickhollow there was the sound of horns blowing, and voices crying and feet running. But the Black Riders rode like a gale to the North-gate. Let the little people blow! Sauron would deal with them later. Meanwhile they had another errand: they knew now that the house was empty and the Ring had gone. They rode down the guards at the gate and vanished from the Shire.
In the early night Frodo woke from deep sleep, suddenly, as if some sound or presence had disturbed him. He saw that Strider was sitting alert in his chair: his eyes gleamed in the light of the fire, which had been tended and was burning brightly; but he made no sign or movement.
Frodo soon went to sleep again; but his dreams were again troubled with the noise of wind and of galloping hoofs. The wind seemed to be curling round the house and shaking it; and far off he heard a horn blowing wildly. He opened his eyes, and heard a **** crowing lustily in the inn-yard. Strider had drawn the curtains and pushed back the shutters with a clang. The first grey light of day was in the room, and a cold air was coming through the open window.
As soon as Strider had roused them all, he led the way to their bedrooms. When they saw them they were glad that they had taken his advice: the windows had been forced open and were swinging, and the curtains were flapping; the beds were tossed about, and the bolsters slashed and flung upon the floor; the brown mat was torn to pieces.
Strider immediately went to fetch the landlord. Poor Mr. Butterbur looked sleepy and frightened. He had hardly closed his eyes all night (so he said), but he had never heard a sound.
''Never has such a thing happened in my time!'' he cried, raising his hands in horror. ''Guests unable to sleep in their beds, and good bolsters ruined and all! What are we coming to?''
''Dark times,'' said Strider. ''But for the present you may be left in peace, when you have got rid of us. We will leave at once. Never mind about breakfast: a drink and a bite standing will have to do. We shall be packed in a few minutes.''
Mr. Butterbur hurried off to see that their ponies were got ready, and to fetch them a ''bite''. But very soon he came back in dismay. The ponies had vanished! The stable-doors had all been opened in the night, and they were gone: not only Merry''s ponies, but every other horse and beast in the place.
Frodo was crushed by the news. How could they hope to reach Rivendell on foot, pursued by mounted enemies? They might as well set out for the Moon. Strider sat silent for a while, looking at the hobbits, as if he was weighing up their strength and courage.
''Ponies would not help us to escape horsemen,'' he said at last, thoughtfully, as if he guessed what Frodo had in mind. ''We should not go much slower on foot, not on the roads that I mean to take. I was going to walk in any case. It is the food and stores that trouble me. We cannot count on getting anything to eat between here and Rivendell, except what we take with us; and we ought to take plenty to spare; for we may be delayed, or forced to go round-about, far out of the direct way. How much are you prepared to carry on your backs?''
''As much as we must,'' said Pippin with a sinking heart, but trying to show that he was tougher than he looked (or felt).
''I can carry enough for two,'' said Sam defiantly.
''Can''t anything be done, Mr. Butterbur?'' asked Frodo. ''Can''t we get a couple of ponies in the village, or even one just for the baggage? I don''t suppose we could hire them, but we might be able to buy them,'' he added, doubtfully, wondering if he could afford it.
''I doubt it,'' said the landlord unhappily. ''The two or three riding-ponies that there were in Bree were stabled in my yard, and they''re gone. As for other animals, horses or ponies for draught or what not, there are very few of them in Bree, and they won''t be for sale. But I''ll do what I can. I''ll rout out Bob and send him round as soon as may be.''
''Yes,'' said Strider reluctantly, ''you had better do that. I am afraid we shall have to try to get one pony at least. But so ends all hope of starting early, and slipping away quietly! We might as well have blown a horn to announce our departure. That was part of their plan, no doubt.''
''There is one crumb of comfort,'' said Merry, ''and more than a crumb, I hope: we can have breakfast while we wait - and sit down to it. Let''s get hold of Nob!''
In the end there was more than three hours'' delay. Bob came back with the report that no horse or pony was to be got for love or money in the neighbourhood - except one: Bill Ferny had one that he might possibly sell. ''A poor old half-starved creature it is,'' said Bob; ''but he won''t part with it for less than thrice its worth, seeing how you''re placed, not if I knows Bill Ferny.''
''Bill Ferny?'' said Frodo. ''Isn''t there some trick? Wouldn''t the beast bolt back to him with all our stuff, or help in tracking us, or something?''
''I wonder,'' said Strider. ''But I cannot imagine any animal running home to him, once it got away. I fancy this is only an afterthought of kind Master Ferny''s: just a way of increasing his profits from the affair. The chief danger is that the poor beast is probably at death''s door. But there does not seem any choice. What does he want for it?''
Bill Ferny''s price was twelve silver pennies; and that was indeed at least three times the pony''s value in those pans. It proved to be a bony, underfed, and dispirited animal; but it did not look like dying just yet. Mr. Butterbur paid for it himself, and offered Merry another eighteen pence as some compensation for the lost animals. He was an honest man, and well-off as things were reckoned in Bree; but thirty silver pennies was a sore blow to him, and being cheated by Bill Ferny made it harder to bear.
As a matter of fact he came out on the right side in the end. It turned out later that only one horse had been actually stolen. The others had been driven off, or had bolted in terror, and were found wandering in different corners of the Bree-land. Merry''s ponies had escaped altogether, and eventually (having a good deal of sense) they made their way to the Downs in search of Fatty Lumpkin. So they came under the care of Tom Bombadil for a while, and were well-off. But when news of the events at Bree came to Tom''s ears, he sent them to Mr. Butterbur, who thus got five good beasts at a very fair price. They had to work harder in Bree, but Bob treated them well; so on the whole they were lucky: they missed a dark and dangerous journey. But they never came to Rivendell.
However, in the meanwhile for all Mr. Butterbur knew his money was gone for good, or for bad. And he had other troubles. For there was a great commotion as soon as the remaining guests were astir and heard news of the raid on the inn. The southern travellers had lost several horses and blamed the innkeeper loudly, until it became known that one of their own number had also disappeared in the night, none other than Bill Ferny''s squint-eyed companion. Suspicion fell on him at once.
''If you pick up with a horse-thief, and bring him to my house,'' said Butterbur angrily, ''you ought to pay for all the damage yourselves and not come shouting at me. Go and ask Ferny where your handsome friend is!'' But it appeared that he was nobody''s friend, and nobody could recollect when he had joined their party.
After their breakfast the hobbits had to re-pack, and get together further supplies for the longer journey they were now expecting. It was close on ten o''clock before they at last got off. By that time the whole of Bree was buzzing with excitement. Frodo''s vanishing trick; the appearance of the black horsemen; the robbing of the stables; and not least the news that Strider the Ranger had joined the mysterious hobbits, made such a tale as would last for many uneventful years. Most of the inhabitants of Bree and Staddle, and many even from Combe and Archet, were crowded in the road to see the travellers start. The other guests in the inn were at the doors or hanging out of the windows.
Strider had changed his mind, and he decided to leave Bree by the main road. Any attempt to set off across country at once would only make matters worse: half the inhabitants would follow them, to see what they were up to, and to prevent them from trespassing.
They said farewell to Nob and Bob, and took leave of Mr. Butterbur with many thanks. ''I hope we shall meet again some day, when things are merry once more,'' said Frodo. ''I should like nothing better than to stay in your house in peace for a while.''

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

​

They tramped off, anxious and downhearted, under the eyes of the crowd. Not all the faces were friendly, nor all the words that were shouted. But Strider seemed to be held in awe by most of the Bree-landers, and those that he stared at shut their mouths and drew away. He walked in front with Frodo; next came Merry and Pippin; and last came Sam leading the pony, which was laden with as much of their baggage as they had the heart to give it; but already it looked less dejected, as if it approved of the change in its fortunes. Sam was chewing an apple thoughtfully. He had a pocket full of them: a parting present from Nob and Bob. ''Apples for walking, and a pipe for sitting,'' he said. ''But I reckon I''ll miss them both before long.''
The hobbits took no notice of the inquisitive heads that peeped out of doors, or popped over walls and fences, as they passed. But as they drew near to the further gate, Frodo saw a dark ill-kept house behind a thick hedge: the last house in the village. In one of the windows he caught a glimpse of a sallow face with sly, slanting eyes; but it vanished at once.
''So that''s where that southerner is hiding!'' he thought. ''He looks more than half like a goblin.''
Over the hedge another man was staring boldly. He had heavy black brows, and dark scornful eyes; his large mouth curled in a sneer. He was smoking a short black pipe. As they approached he took it out of his mouth and spat.
''Morning, Longshanks!'' he said. ''Off early? Found some friends at last?'' Strider nodded, but did not answer. ''Morning, my little friends!'' he said to the others. ''I suppose you know who you''ve taken up with? That''s Stick-at-naught Strider, that is! Though I''ve heard other names not so pretty. Watch out tonight! And you, Sammie, don''t go ill-treating my poor old pony! Pah!'' He spat again.
Sam turned quickly. ''And you. Ferny,'' he said, ''put your ugly face out of sight, or it will get hurt.'' With a sudden flick, quick as lightning, an apple left his hand and hit Bill square on the nose. He ducked too late, and curses came from behind the hedge. ''Waste of a good apple,'' said Sam regretfully, and strode on.
At last they left the village behind. The escort of children and stragglers that had followed them got tired and turned back at the South-gate. Passing through, they kept on along the Road for some miles. It bent to the left, curving back into its eastward line as it rounded the feet of Bree-hill, and then it began to run swiftly downwards into wooded country. To their left they could see some of the houses and hobbit-holes of Staddle on the gentler south-eastern slopes of the hill; down in a deep hollow away north of the Road there were wisps of rising smoke that showed where Combe lay;
Archet was hidden in the trees beyond.
After the Road had run down some way, and had left Bree-hill standing tall and brown behind, they came on a narrow track that led off towards the North. ''This is where we leave the open and take to cover,'' said Strider.
''Not a "short cut", I hope,'' said Pippin. ''Our last short cut through woods nearly ended in disaster.''
''Ah, but you had not got me with you then,'' laughed Strider. ''My cuts, short or long, don''t go wrong.'' He took a look up and down the Road. No one was in sight; and he led the way quickly down towards the wooded valley.
His plan, as far as they could understand it without knowing the country, was to go towards Archet at first, but to bear right and pass it on the east, and then to steer as straight as he could over the wild lands to Weathertop Hill. In that way they would, if all went well, cut off a great loop of the Road, which further on bent southwards to avoid the Midgewater Marshes. But, of course, they would have to pass through the marshes themselves, and Strider''s description of them was not encouraging.
However, in the meanwhile, walking was not unpleasant. Indeed, if it had not been for the disturbing events of the night before, they would have enjoyed this pan of the journey better than any up to that time. The sun was shining, clear but not too hot. The woods in the valley were still leafy and full of colour, and seemed peaceful and wholesome. Strider guided them confidently among the many crossing paths, although left to themselves they would soon have been at a loss. He was taking a wandering course with many turns and doublings, to put off any pursuit.
''Bill Ferny will have watched where we left the Road, for certain,'' he said; ''though I don''t think he will follow us himself. He knows the land round here well enough, but he knows he is not a match for me in a wood. It is what he may tell others that I am afraid of. I don''t suppose they are far away. If they think we have made for Archet, so much the better.''
Whether because of Strider''s skill or for some other reason, they saw no sign and heard no sound of any other living thing all that day: neither two-footed, except birds; nor four-footed, except one fox and a few squirrels. The next day they began to steer a steady course eastwards; and still all was quiet and peaceful. On the third day out from Bree they came out of the Chetwood. The land had been falling steadily, ever since they turned aside from the Road, and they now entered a wide flat expanse of country, much more difficult to manage. They were far beyond the borders of the Bree-land, out in the pathless wilderness, and drawing near to the Midge-water Marshes.
The ground now became damp, and in places boggy and here and there they came upon pools, and wide stretches of reeds and rushes filled with the warbling of little hidden birds. They had to pick their way carefully to keep both dry-footed and on their proper course. At first they made fan-progress, but as they went on, their passage became slower and more dangerous. The marshes were bewildering and treacherous, and there was no permanent trail even for Rangers to find through their shifting quagmires. The flies began to torment them, and the air was full of clouds of tiny midges that crept up their sleeves and breeches and into their hair.
''I am being eaten alive!'' cried Pippin. ''Midgewater! There are more midges than water!''
''What do they live on when they can''t get hobbit?'' asked Sam, scratching his neck.
They spent a miserable day in this lonely and unpleasant country. Their camping-place was damp, cold, and uncomfortable; and the biting insects would not let them sleep. There were also abominable creatures haunting the reeds and tussocks that from the sound of them were evil relatives of the cricket. There were thousands of them, and they squeaked all round, neek-breek, breek-neek, unceasingly all the night, until the hobbits were nearly frantic.
The next day, the fourth, was little better, and the night almost as comfortless. Though the Neekerbreekers (as Sam called them) had been left behind, the midges still pursued them.
As Frodo lay, tired but unable to close his eyes, it seemed to him that far away there came a light in the eastern sky: it flashed and faded many times. It was not the dawn, for that was still some hours off.
â?~What is the light?'' he said to Strider, who had risen, and was standing, gazing ahead into the night.
''I do not know,'' Strider answered. ''It is too distant to make out. It is like lightning that leaps up from the hill-tops.''
Frodo lay down again, but for a long while he could still see the white flashes, and against them the tall dark figure of Strider, standing silent and watchful. At last he passed into uneasy sleep.
They had not gone far on the fifth day when they left the last straggling pools and reed-beds of the marshes behind them. The land before them began steadily to rise again. Away in the distance eastward they could now see a line of hills. The highest of them was at the right of the line and a little separated from the others. It had a conical top, slightly flattened at the summit.
''That is Weathertop,'' said Strider. ''The Old Road, which we have left far away on our right, runs to the south of it and passes not far from its foot. We might reach it by noon tomorrow, if we go straight towards it. I suppose we had better do so.''
''What do you mean?'' asked Frodo.
''I mean: when we do get there, it is not certain what we shall find. It is close to the Road.''
''But surely we were hoping to find Gandalf there?''
''Yes; but the hope is faint. If he comes this way at all, he may not pass through Bree, and so he may not know what we are doing. And anyway, unless by luck we arrive almost together, we shall miss one another; it will not be safe for him or for us to wait there long. If the Riders fail to find us in the wilderness, they are likely to make for Weathertop themselves. It commands a wide view all round. Indeed, there are many birds and beasts in this country that could see us, as we stand here, from that hill-top. Not all the birds are to be trusted, and there are other spies more evil than they are.''
The hobbits looked anxiously at the distant hills. Sam looked up into the pale sky, fearing to see hawks or eagles hovering over them with bright unfriendly eyes. ''You do make me feel uncomfortable and lonesome, Strider!'' he said.
''What do you advise us to do?'' asked Frodo.
''I think,'' answered Strider slowly, as if he was not quite sure, ''I think the best thing is to go as straight eastward from here as we can, to make for the line of hills, not for Weathertop. There we can strike a path I know that runs at their feet; it will bring us to Weathertop from the north and less openly. Then we shall see what we shall see.''

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

​

All that day they plodded along, until the cold and early evening came down. The land became drier and more barren; but mists and vapours lay behind them on the marshes. A few melancholy birds were piping and wailing, until the round red sun sank slowly into the western shadows; then an empty silence fell. The hobbits thought of the soft light of sunset glancing through the cheerful windows of Bag End far away.
At the day''s end they came to a stream that wandered down from the hills to lose itself in the stagnant marshland, and they went up along its banks while the light lasted. It was already night when at last they halted and made their camp under some stunted alder-trees by the shores of the stream. Ahead there loomed now against the dusky sky the bleak and treeless backs of the hills. That night they set a watch, and Strider, it seemed, did not sleep at all. The moon was waxing, and in the early night-hours a cold grey light lay on the land.
Next morning they set out again soon after sunrise. There was a frost in the air, and the sky was a pale clear blue. The hobbits felt refreshed, as if they had had a night of unbroken sleep. Already they were getting used to much walking on short commons - shorter at any rate than what in the Shire they would have thought barely enough to keep them on their legs. Pippin declared that Frodo was looking twice the hobbit that he had been.
''Very odd,'' said Frodo, tightening his belt, ''considering that there is actually a good deal less of me. I hope the thinning process will not go on indefinitely, or I shall become a wraith.''
''Do not speak of such things!'' said Strider quickly, and with surprising earnestness.
The hills drew nearer. They made an undulating ridge, often rising almost to a thousand feet, and here and there falling again to low clefts or passes leading into the eastern land beyond. Along the crest of the ridge the hobbits could see what looked to be the remains of green-grown walls and dikes, and in the clefts there still stood the ruins of old works of stone. By night they had reached the feet of the westward slopes, and there they camped. It was the night of the fifth of October, and they were six days out from Bree.
In the morning they found, for the first time since they had left the Chetwood, a track plain to see. They turned right and followed it southwards. It ran cunningly, taking a line that seemed chosen so as to keep as much hidden as possible from the view, both of the hill-tops above and of the flats to the west. It dived into dells, and hugged steep banks; and where it passed over flatter and more open ground on either side of it there were lines of large boulders and hewn stones that screened the travellers almost like a hedge.
''I wonder who made this path, and what for,'' said Merry, as they walked along one of these avenues, where the stones were unusually large and closely set. ''I am not sure that I like it: it has a - well, rather a barrow-wightish look. Is there any barrow on Weathertop?''
''No. There is no barrow on Weathertop, nor on any of these hills,'' answered Strider. ''The Men of the West did not live here; though in their latter days they defended the hills for a while against the evil that came out of Angmar. This path was made to serve the forts along the walls. But long before, in the first days of the North Kingdom, they built a great watch-tower on Weathertop, Amon Sằl they called it. It was burned and broken, and nothing remains of it now but a tumbled ring, like a rough crown on the old hill''s head. Yet once it was tall and fair. It is told that Elendil stood there watching for the coming of Gil-galad out of the West, in the days of the Last Alliance.''
The hobbits gazed at Strider. It seemed that he was learned in old lore, as well as in the ways of the wild. ''Who was Gil-galad?'' asked Merry; but Strider did not answer, and seemed to be lost in thought. Suddenly a low voice murmured:

Gil-galad was an Elven-king.
Of him the harpers sadly sing:
the last whose realm was fair and free
between the Mountains and the Sea.
His sword was long, his lance was keen,
his shining helm afar was seen;
the countless stars of heaven''s field
were mirrored in his silver shield.
But long ago he rode away,
and where he dwelleth none can say;
for into darkness fell his star
in Mordor where the shadows are.
​

The others turned in amazement, for the voice was Sam''s.
''Don''t stop!'' said Merry.
''That''s all I know,'' stammered Sam, blushing. ''I learned it from Mr. Bilbo when I was a lad. He used to tell me tales like that, knowing how I was always one for hearing about Elves. It was Mr. Bilbo as taught me my letters. He was mighty book-learned was dear old Mr. Bilbo. And he wrote poetry. He wrote what I have just said.''
''He did not make it up,'' said Strider. ''It is pan of the lay that is called The Fall of Gil-galad, which is in an ancient tongue. Bilbo must have translated it. I never knew that.''
''There was a lot more,'' said Sam, ''all about Mordor. I didn''t learn that part, it gave me the shivers I never thought I should be going that way myself!''
''Going to Mordor!'' cried Pippin. ''I hope it won''t come to that!''
''Do not speak that name so loudly!'' said Strider.
It was already mid-day when they drew near the southern end of the path, and saw before them, in the pale clear light of the October sun, a grey-green bank, leading up like a bridge on to the northward slope of the hill They decided to make for the top at once, while the daylight was broad Concealment was no longer possible, and they could only hope that no enemy or spy was observing them. Nothing was to be seen moving on the hill. If Gandalf was anywhere about, there was no sign of him.
On the western flank of Weathertop they found a sheltered hollow, at the bottom of which there was a bowl-shaped dell with grassy sides. There they left Sam and Pippin with the pony and their packs and luggage. The other three went on. After half an hour''s plodding climb Strider reached the crown of the hill; Frodo and Merry followed, tired and breathless. The last slope had been steep and rocky.
On the top they found, as Strider had said, a wide ring of ancient stonework, now crumbling or covered with age-long grass. But in the centre a cairn of broken stones had been piled. They were blackened as if with fire. About them the turf was burned to the roots and all within the ring the grass was scorched and shrivelled, as if flames had swept the hill-top; but there was no sign of any living thing.
Standing upon the rim of the ruined circle, they saw all round below them a wide prospect, for the most pan of lands empty and featureless, except for patches of woodland away to the south, beyond which they caught here and there the glint of distant water. Beneath them on this southern side there ran like a ribbon the Old Road, coming out of the West and winding up and down, until it faded behind a ridge of dark land to the east. Nothing was moving on it. Following its line eastward with their eyes they saw the Mountains: the nearer foothills were brown and sombre;
behind them stood taller shapes of grey, and behind those again were high white peaks glimmering among the clouds.
''Well, here we are!'' said Merry. ''And very cheerless and uninviting it looks! There is no water and no shelter. And no sign of Gandalf. But I don''t blame him for not waiting - if he ever came here.''
''I wonder,'' said Strider, looking round thoughtfully. ''Even if he was a day or two behind us at Bree, he could have arrived here first. He can ride very swiftly when need presses.'' Suddenly he stooped and looked at the stone on the top of the cairn; it was flatter than the others, and whiter, as if it had escaped the fire. He picked it up and examined it, turning it in his fingers. "This has been handled recently,'' he said. ''What do you think of these marks?''
On the flat under-side Frodo saw some scratches: ''There seems to he a stroke, a dot, and three more strokes,'' he said.
''The stroke on the left might be a G-rune with thin branches,'' said Strider. ''It might be a sign left by Gandalf, though one cannot be sure. The scratches are fine, and they certainly look fresh. But the marks might mean something quite different, and have nothing to do with us. Rangers use runes, and they come here sometimes.''
''What could they mean, even if Gandalf made them?'' asked Merry
''I should say,'' answered Strider, ''that they stood for G3, and were a sign that Gandalf was here on October the third: that is three days ago now. It would also show that he was in a hurry and danger was at hand, so that he had no time or did not dare to write anything longer or plainer. If that is so, we must be wary.''
''I wish we could feel sure that he made the marks, whatever they may mean,'' said Frodo ''It would be a great comfort to know that he was on the way, in front of us or behind us.''
''Perhaps,'' said Strider. ''For myself, I believe that he was here, and was in danger. There have been scorching flames here; and now the light that we saw three nights ago in the eastern sky comes back to my mind. I guess that he was attacked on this hill-top, but with what result I cannot tell. He is here no longer, and we must now look after ourselves and make our own way to Rivendell, as best we can ''
''How far is Rivendell?'' asked Merry, gazing round wearily. The world looked wild and wide from Weathertop.
''I don''t know if the Road has ever been measured in miles beyond the Forsaken Inn, a day''s journey east of Bree,'' answered Strider. ''Some say it is so far, and some say otherwise. It is a strange road, and folk are glad to reach their journey''s end, whether the time is long or short. But I know how long it would take me on my own feet, with fair weather and no ill fortune twelve days from here to the Ford of Bruinen, where the Road crosses the Loudwater that runs out of Rivendell. We have at least a fortnight''s journey before us, for I do not think we shall be able to use the Road.''
''A fortnight!'' said Frodo. ''A lot may happen in that time.''
''It may,'' said Strider.
They stood for a while silent on the hill-top, near its southward edge. In that lonely place Frodo for the first time fully realized his homelessness and danger. He wished bitterly that his fortune had left him in the quiet and beloved Shire. He stared down at the hateful Road, leading back westward - to his home. Suddenly he was aware that two black specks were moving slowly along it, going westward; and looking again he saw that three others were creeping eastward to meet them. He gave a cry and clutched Strider''s arm.
''Look,'' he said, pointing downwards.
At once Strider flung himself on the ground behind the ruined circle, pulling Frodo down beside him. Merry threw himself alongside.
''What is it?'' he whispered.

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

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''I do not know, but I fear the worst,'' answered Strider.
Slowly they crawled up to the edge of the ring again, and peered through a cleft between two jagged stones. The light was no longer bright, for the clear morning had faded, and clouds creeping out of the East had now overtaken the sun, as it began to go down. They could all see the black specks, but neither Frodo nor Merry could make out their shapes for certain; yet something told them that there, far below, were Black Riders assembling on the Road beyond the foot of the hill.
''Yes,'' said Strider, whose keener sight left him in no doubt. ''The enemy is here!''
Hastily they crept away and slipped down the north side of the hill to find their companions.
Sam and Peregrin had not been idle. They had explored the small dell and the surrounding slopes. Not far away they found a spring of clear water in the hillside, and near it footprints not more than a day or two old. In the dell itself they found recent traces of a fire, and other signs of a hasty camp. There were some fallen rocks on the edge of the dell nearest to the hill. Behind them Sam came upon a small store of firewood neatly stacked.
''I wonder if old Gandalf has been here,'' he said to Pippin. ''Whoever it was put this stuff here meant to come back it seems.''
Strider was greatly interested in these discoveries. ''I wish I had waited and explored the ground down here myself,'' he said, hurrying off to the spring to examine the footprints.
''It is just as I feared,'' he said, when he came back. ''Sam and Pippin have trampled the soft ground, and the marks are spoilt or confused. Rangers have been here lately. It is they who left the firewood behind. But there are also several newer tracks that were not made by Rangers. At least one set was made, only a day or two ago, by heavy boots. At least one. I cannot now be certain, but I think there were many booted feet.'' He paused and stood in anxious thought.
Each of the hobbits saw in his mind a vision of the cloaked and booted Riders. If the horsemen had already found the dell, the sooner Strider led them somewhere else the better. Sam viewed the hollow with great dislike, now that he had heard news of their enemies on the Road, only a few miles away.
''Hadn''t we better clear out quick, Mr. Strider?'' he asked impatiently. ''It is getting late, and I don''t like this hole: it makes my heart sink somehow.''
''Yes, we certainly must decide what to do at once,'' answered Strider, looking up and considering the time and the weather. ''Well, Sam,'' he said at last, ''I do not like this place either; but I cannot think of anywhere better that we could reach before nightfall. At least we are out of sight for the moment, and if we moved we should be much more likely to be seen by spies. All we could do would be to go right out of our way back north on this side of the line of hills, where the land is all much the same as it is here. The Road is watched, but we should have to cross it, if we tried to take cover in the thickets away to the south. On the north side of the Road beyond the hills the country is bare and flat for miles.''
''Can the Riders see?'' asked Merry. ''I mean, they seem usually to have used their noses rather than their eyes, smelling for us, if smelling is the right word, at least in the daylight. But you made us lie down flat when you saw them down below; and now you talk of being seen, if we move.''
''I was too careless on the hill-top,'' answered Strider. ''I was very anxious to find some sign of Gandalf; but it was a mistake for three of us to go up and stand there so long. For the black horses can see, and the Riders can use men and other creatures as spies, as we found at Bree. They themselves do not see the world of light as we do, but our shapes cast shadows in their minds, which only the noon sun destroys; and in the dark they perceive many signs and forms that are hidden from us: then they are most to be feared. And at all times they smell the blood of living things, desiring and hating it. Senses, too, there are other than sight or smell. We can feel their presence - it troubled our hearts, as soon as we came here, and before we saw them; they feel ours more keenly. Also,'' he added, and his voice sank to a whisper, ''the Ring draws them.''
''Is there no escape then?'' said Frodo, looking round wildly. ''If I move I shall be seen and hunted! If I stay, I shall draw them to me!''
Strider laid his hand on his shoulder. ''There is still hope,'' he said. ''You are not alone. Let us take this wood that is set ready for the fire as a sign. There is little shelter or defence here, but fire shall serve for both. Sauron can put fire to his evil uses, as he can all things, but these Riders do not love it, and fear those who wield it. Fire is our friend in the wilderness.''
''Maybe,'' muttered Sam. ''It is also as good a way of saying "here we are" as I can think of, bar shouting.''
Down in the lowest and most sheltered corner of the dell they lit a fire, and prepared a meal. The shades of evening began to fall, and it grew cold. They were suddenly aware of great hunger, for they had not eaten anything since breakfast; but they dared not make more than a frugal supper. The lands ahead were empty of all save birds and beasts, unfriendly places deserted by all the races of the world. Rangers passed at times beyond the hills, but they were few and did not stay. Other wanderers were rare, and of evil sort: trolls might stray down at times out of the northern valleys of the Misty Mountains. Only on the Road would travellers be found, most often dwarves, hurrying along on business of their own, and with no help and few words to spare for strangers.
''I don''t see how our food can be made to last,'' said Frodo. ''We have been careful enough in the last few days, and this supper is no feast; but we have used more than we ought, if we have two weeks still to go, and perhaps more.''
''There is food in the wild,'' said Strider; ''berry, root, and herb; and I have some skill as a hunter at need. You need not be afraid of starving before winter comes. But gathering and catching food is long and weary work, and we need haste. So tighten your belts, and think with hope of the tables of Elrond''s house!''
The cold increased as darkness came on. Peering out from the edge of the dell they could see nothing but a grey land now vanishing quickly into shadow. The sky above had cleared again and was slowly filled with twinkling stars. Frodo and his companions huddled round the fire, wrapped in every garment and blanket they possessed; but Strider was content with a single cloak, and sat a little apart, drawing thoughtfully at his pipe.
As night fell and the light of the fire began to shine out brightly he began to tell them tales to keep their minds from fear. He knew many histories and legends of long ago, of Elves and Men and the good and evil deeds of the Elder Days. They wondered how old he was, and where he had learned all this lore.
''Tell us of Gil-galad,'' said Merry suddenly, when he paused at the end of a story of the Elf-Kingdoms. ''Do you know any more of that old lay that you spoke of?''
''I do indeed,'' answered Strider. ''So also does Frodo, for it concerns us closely.'' Merry and Pippin looked at Frodo, who was staring into the fire.
''I know only the little that Gandalf has told me,'' said Frodo slowly. ''Gil-galad was the last of the great Elf-kings of Middle-earth. Gil-galad is Starlight in their tongue. With Elendil, the Elf-friend, he went to the land of?"?"?"''
''No!'' said Strider interrupting, ''I do not think that tale should be told now with the servants of the Enemy at hand. If we win through to the house of Elrond, you may hear it there, told in full.''
''Then tell us some other tale of the old days,'' begged Sam; ''a tale about the Elves before the fading time. I would dearly like to hear more about Elves; the dark seems to press round so close.''
''I will tell you the tale of Tinúviel,'' said Strider, ''in brief - for it is a long tale of which the end is not known; and there are none now, except Elrond, that remember it aright as it was told of old. It is a fair tale, though it is sad, as are all the tales of Middle-earth, and yet it may lift up your hearts.'' He was silent for some time, and then he began not to speak but to chant softly:

The leaves were long, the grass was green,
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering.
Tinúviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair,
And in her raiment glimmering.
There Beren came from mountains cold,
And lost he wandered under leaves,
And where the Elven-river rolled
He walked alone and sorrowing.
He peered between the hemlock-leaves
And saw in wander flowers of gold
Upon her mantle and her sleeves,
And her hair like shadow following.
Enchantment healed his weary feet
That over hills were doomed to roam;
And forth he hastened, strong and fleet,
And grasped at moonbeams glistening.
Through woven woods in Elvenhome
She tightly fled on dancing feet,
And left him lonely still to roam
In the silent forest listening.
He heard there oft the flying sound
Of feet as light as linden-leaves,
Or music welling underground,
In hidden hollows quavering.
Now withered lay the hemlock-sheaves,
And one by one with sighing sound
Whispering fell the beechen leaves
In the wintry woodland wavering.
He sought her ever, wandering far
Where leaves of years were thickly strewn,
By light of moon and ray of star
In frosty heavens shivering.
Her mantle glinted in the moon,
As on a hill-top high and far
She danced, and at her feet was strewn
A mist of silver quivering.
When winter passed, she came again,
And her song released the sudden spring,
Like rising lark, and falling rain,
And melting water bubbling.
He saw the elven-flowers spring
About her feet, and healed again
He longed by her to dance and sing
Upon the grass untroubling.
Again she fled, but swift he came.
Tinúviel! Tinúviel!
He called her by her elvish name;
And there she halted listening.
One moment stood she, and a spell
His voice laid on her: Beren came,
And doom fell on Tinúviel
That in his arms lay glistening.
As Beren looked into her eyes
Within the shadows of her hair,
The trembling starlight of the skies
He saw there mirrored shimmering.
Tinúviel the elven-fair,
Immortal maiden elven-wise,
About him cast her shadowy hair
And arms like silver glimmering.
Long was the way that fate them bore,
O''er stony mountains cold and grey,
Through halls of iron and darkling door,
And woods of nightshade morrowless.
The Sundering Seas between them lay,
And yet at last they met once more,
And long ago they passed away
In the forest singing sorrowless.
​

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

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Strider sighed and paused before he spoke again. ?~That is a song,'' he said, ''in the mode that is called ann-thennath among the Elves, but is hard to render in our Common Speech, and this is but a rough echo of it. It tells of the meeting of Beren son of Barahir and Lúthien Tinúviel. Beren was a mortal man, but Lúthien was the daughter of Thingol, a King of Elves upon Middle-earth when the world was young; and she was the fairest maiden that has ever been among all the children of this world. As the stars above the mists of the Northern lands was her loveliness, and in her face was a shining light. In those days the Great Enemy, of whom Sauron of Mordor was but a servant, dwelt in Angband in the North, and the Elves of the West coming back to Middle-earth made war upon him to regain the Silmarils which he had stolen; and the fathers of Men aided the Elves. But the Enemy was victorious and Barahir was slain, and Beren escaping through great peril came over the Mountains of Terror into the hidden Kingdom of Thingol in the forest of Neldoreth. There he beheld Lúthien singing and dancing in a glade beside the enchanted river Esgalduin; and he named her Tinúviel, that is Nightingale in the language of old. Many sorrows befell them afterwards, and they were parted long. Tinúviel rescued Beren from the dungeons of Sauron, and together they passed through great dangers, and cast down even the Great Enemy from his throne, and took from his iron crown one of the three Silmarils, brightest of all jewels, to be the bride-price of Lúthien to Thingol her father. Yet at the last Beren was slain by the Wolf that came from the gates of Angband, and he died in the arms of Tinúviel. But she chose mortality, and to die from the world, so that she might follow him; and it is sung that they met again beyond the Sundering Seas, and after a brief time walking alive once more in the green woods, together they passed, long ago, beyond the confines of this world. So it is that Lúthien Tinúviel alone of the Elf-kindred has died indeed and left the world, and they have lost her whom they most loved. But from her the lineage of the Elf-lords of old descended among Men. There live still those of whom Lúthien was the foremother, and it is said that her line shall never fail. Elrond of Rivendell is of that Kin. For of Beren and Lúthien was born Dior Thingol''s heir; and of him Elwing the White whom Eärendil wedded, he that sailed his ship out of the mists of the world into the seas of heaven with the Silmaril upon his brow. And of Eärendil came the Kings of Númenor, that is Westernesse.''
As Strider was speaking they watched his strange eager face, dimly lit in the red glow of the wood-fire. His eyes shone, and his voice was rich and deep. Above him was a black starry sky. Suddenly a pale light appeared over the crown of Weathertop behind him. The waxing moon was climbing slowly above the hill that overshadowed them, and the stars above the hill-top faded.
The story ended. The hobbits moved and stretched. ''Look!'' said Merry. ''The Moon is rising: it must be getting late.''
The others looked up. Even as they did so, they saw on the top of the hill something small and dark against the glimmer of the moonrise. It was perhaps only a large stone or jutting rock shown up by the pale light.
Sam and Merry got up and walked away from the fire. Frodo and Pippin remained seated in silence. Strider was watching the moonlight on the hill intently. All seemed quiet and still, but Frodo felt a cold dread creeping over his heart, now that Strider was no longer speaking. He huddled closer to the fire. At that moment Sam came running back from the edge of the dell.
''I don''t know what it is,'' he said, ''but I suddenly felt afraid. I durstn''t go outside this dell for any money; I felt that something was creeping up the slope.''
''Did you see anything?'' asked Frodo, springing to his feet.
''No, sir. I saw nothing, but I didn''t stop to look.''
''I saw something,'' said Merry; ''or I thought I did - away westwards where the moonlight was falling on the flats beyond the shadow of the hill-tops, I thought there were two or three black shapes. They seemed to be moving this way.''
''Keep close to the fire, with your faces outward!'' cried Strider. ''Get some of the longer sticks ready in your hands!''
For a breathless time they sat there, silent and alert, with their backs turned to the wood-fire, each gazing into the shadows that encircled them. Nothing happened. There was no sound or movement in the night. Frodo stirred, feeling that he must break the silence: he longed to shout out aloud.
''Hush!'' whispered Strider. ''What''s that?'' gasped Pippin at the same moment.
Over the lip of the little dell, on the side away from the hill, they felt, rather than saw, a shadow rise, one shadow or more than one. They strained their eyes, and the shadows seemed to grow. Soon there could be no doubt:
three or four tall black figures were standing there on the slope, looking down on them. So black were they that they seemed like black holes in the deep shade behind them. Frodo thought that he heard a faint hiss as of venomous breath and felt a thin piercing chill. Then the shapes slowly advanced.
Terror overcame Pippin and Merry, and they threw themselves flat on the ground. Sam shrank to Frodo''s side. Frodo was hardly less terrified than his companions; he was quaking as if he was bitter cold, but his terror was swallowed up in a sudden temptation to put on the Ring. The desire to do this laid hold of him, and he could think of nothing else. He did not forget the Barrow, nor the message of Gandalf; but something seemed to be compelling him to disregard all warnings, and he longed to yield. Not with the hope of escape, or of doing anything, either good or bad: he simply felt that he must take the Ring and put it on his finger. He could not speak. He felt Sam looking at him, as if he knew that his master was in some great trouble, but he could not turn towards him. He shut his eyes and struggled for a while; but resistance became unbearable, and at last he slowly drew out the chain, and slipped the Ring on the forefinger of his left hand.
Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim and dark, the shapes became terribly clear. He was able to see beneath their black wrappings. There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel. Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him. Desperate, he drew his own sword, and it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a firebrand. Two of the figures halted . The third was taller than the others: his hair was long and gleaming and on his helm was a crown. In one hand he held a long sword, and in the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it glowed with a pale light. He sprang forward and bore down on Frodo.
At that moment Frodo threw himself forward on the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud: O Elbereth! Gilthoniel! At the same time he struck at the feet of his enemy. A shrill cry rang out in the night; and he felt a pain like a dart of poisoned ice pierce his left shoulder. Even as he swooned he caught, as through a swirling mist, a glimpse of Strider leaping out of the darkness with a flaming brand of wood in either hand. With a last effort Frodo, dropping his sword, slipped the Ring from his finger and closed his right hand tight upon it.
End of chapter 11...

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

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Chapter 12​

Flight to the Ford​

When Frodo came to himself he was still clutching the Ring desperately. He was lying by the fire, which was now piled high and burning brightly. His three companions were bending over him. ''What has happened? Where is the pale king?'' he asked wildly. They were too overjoyed to hear him speak to answer for a while; nor did they understand his question. At length he gathered from Sam that they had seen nothing but the vague shadowy shapes coming towards them. Suddenly to his horror Sam found that his master had vanished; and at that moment a black shadow rushed past him, and he fell. He heard Frodo''s voice, but it seemed to come from a great distance, or from under the earth, crying out strange words. They saw nothing more, until they stumbled over the body of Frodo, lying as if dead, face downwards on the grass with his sword beneath him. Strider ordered them to pick him up and lay him near the fire, and then he disappeared. That was now a good while ago.
Sam plainly was beginning to have doubts again about Strider; but while they were talking he returned, appearing suddenly out of the shadows. They started, and Sam drew his sword and stood over Frodo; but Strider knelt down swiftly at his side.
''I am not a Black Rider, Sam,'' he said gently, ''nor in league with them. I have been trying to discover something of their movements; but I have found nothing. I cannot think why they have gone and do not attack again. But there is no feeling of their presence anywhere at hand.''
When he heard what Frodo had to tell, he became full of concern, and shook his head and sighed. Then he ordered Pippin and Merry to heat as much water as they could in their small kettles, and to bathe the wound with it. ''Keep the fire going well, and keep Frodo warm!'' he said. Then he got up and walked away, and called Sam to him. ''I think I understand things better now,'' he said in a low voice. ''There seem only to have been five of the enemy. Why they were not all here, I don''t know; but I don''t think they expected to be resisted. They have drawn off for the time being. But not far, I fear. They will come again another night, if we cannot escape. They are only waiting, because they think that their purpose is almost accomplished, and that the Ring cannot fly much further. I fear, Sam, that they believe your master has a deadly wound that will subdue him to their will. We shall see!'' Sam choked with tears. ''Don''t despair!'' said Strider. ''You must trust me now. Your Frodo is made of sterner stuff than I had guessed, though Gandalf hinted that it might prove so. He is not slain, and I think he will resist the evil power of the wound longer than his enemies expect. I will do all I can to help and heal him. Guard him well, while I am away!'' He hurried off and disappeared again into the darkness.
Frodo dozed, though the pain of his wound was slowly growing, and a deadly chill was spreading from his shoulder to his arm and side. His friends watched over him, warming him, and bathing his wound. The night passed slowly and wearily. Dawn was growing in the sky, and the dell was filling with grey light, when Strider at last returned.
''Look!'' he cried; and stooping he lifted from the ground a black cloak that had lain there hidden by the darkness. A foot above the lower hem there was a slash. ''This was the stroke of Frodo''s sword,'' he said. ''The only hurt that it did to his enemy, I fear; for it is unharmed, but all blades perish that pierce that dreadful King. More deadly to him was the name of Elbereth.''
''And more deadly to Frodo was this!'' He stooped again and lifted up a long thin knife. There was a cold gleam in it. As Strider raised it they saw that near the end its edge was notched and the point was broken off. But even as he held it up in the growing light, they gazed in astonishment, for the blade seemed to melt, and vanished like a smoke in the air, leaving only the hilt in Strider''s hand. ''Alas!'' he cried. ''It was this accursed knife that gave the wound. Few now have the skill in healing to match such evil weapons. But I will do what I can.''
He sat down on the ground, and taking the dagger-hilt laid it on his knees, and he sang over it a slow song in a strange tongue. Then setting it aside, he turned to Frodo and in a soft tone spoke words the others could not catch. From the pouch at his belt he drew out the long leaves of a plant.
''These leaves,'' he said, ''I have walked far to find; for this plant does not grow in the bare hills; but in the thickets away south of the Road I found it in the dark by the scent of its leaves.'' He crushed a leaf in his fingers, and it gave out a sweet and pungent fragrance. ''It is fortunate that I could find it, for it is a healing plant that the Men of the West brought to Middle-earth. Athelas they named it, and it grows now sparsely and only near places where they dwelt or camped of old; and it is not known in the North, except to some of those who wander in the Wild. It has great virtues, but over such a wound as this its healing powers may be small.''
He threw the leaves into boiling water and bathed Frodo''s shoulder. The fragrance of the steam was refreshing, and those that were unhurt felt their minds calmed and cleared. The herb had also some power over the wound, for Frodo felt the pain and also the sense of frozen cold lessen in his side; but the life did not return to his arm, and he could not raise or use his hand. He bitterly regretted his foolishness, and reproached himself for weakness of will; for he now perceived that in putting on the Ring he obeyed not his own desire but the commanding wish of his enemies. He wondered if he would remain maimed for life, and how they would now manage to continue their journey. He fell too weak to stand.
The others were discussing this very question. They quickly decided to leave Weathertop as soon as possible. ''I think now,'' said Strider, ''that the enemy has been watching this place for some days. If Gandalf ever came here, then he must have been forced to ride away, and he will not return. In any case we are in great peril here after dark, since the attack of last night, and we can hardly meet greater danger wherever we go.''
As soon as the daylight was full, they had some hurried food and packed. It was impossible for Frodo to walk, so they divided the greater part of their baggage among the four of them, and put Frodo on the pony. In the last few days the poor beast had improved wonderfully; it already seemed fatter and stronger, and had begun to show an affection for its new masters, especially for Sam. Bill Ferny''s treatment must have been very hard for the journey in the wild to seem so much better than its former life.
They started off in a southerly direction. This would mean crossing the Road, but. it was the quickest way to more wooded country. And they needed fuel; for Strider said that Frodo must be kept warm, especially at night, while fire would be some protection for them all. It was also his plan to shorten their journey by cutting across another great loop of the Road: east beyond Weathertop it changed its course and took a wide bend northwards.
They made their way slowly and cautiously round the south-western slopes of the hill, and came in a little while to the edge of the Road. There was no sign of the Riders. But even as they were hurrying across they heard far away two cries: a cold voice calling and a cold voice answering. Trembling they sprang forward, and made for the thickets that lay ahead. The land before them sloped away southwards, but it was wild and pathless; bushes and stunted trees grew in dense patches with wide barren spaces in between. The grass was scanty, coarse, and grey; and the leaves in the thickets were faded and falling. It was a cheerless land, and their journey was slow and gloomy. They spoke little as they trudged along. Frodo''s heart was grieved as he watched them walking beside him with their heads down, and their backs bowed under their burdens. Even Strider seemed tired and heavy-hearted.
Before the first day''s march was over Frodo''s pain began to grow again, but he did not speak of it for a long time. Four days passed, without the ground or the scene changing much, except that behind them Weathertop slowly sank, and before them the distant mountains loomed a little nearer. Yet since that far cry they had seen and heard no sign that the enemy had marked their flight or followed them. They dreaded the dark hours, and kept watch in pairs by night, expecting at any time to see black shapes stalking in the grey night, dimly lit by the cloud-veiled moon; but they saw nothing, and heard no sound but the sigh of withered leaves and grass. Not once did they feel the sense of present evil that had assailed them before the attack in the dell. It seemed too much to hope that the Riders had already lost their trail again. Perhaps they were waiting to make some ambush in a narrow place?
At the end of the fifth day the ground began once more to rise slowly out of the wide shallow valley into which they had descended. Strider now turned their course again north-eastwards, and on the sixth day they reached the top of a long slow-climbing slope, and saw far ahead a huddle of wooded hills. Away below them they could see the Road sweeping round the feet of the hills; and to their right a grey river gleamed pale in the thin sunshine. In the distance they glimpsed yet another river in a stony valley half-veiled in mist.
"I am afraid we must go back to the Road here for a while,'' said Strider. ''We have now come to the River Hoarwell, that the Elves call Mitheithel. It flows down out of the Ettenmoors, the troll-fells north of Rivendell, and joins the Loudwater away in the South. Some call it the Greyflood after that. It is a great water before it finds the Sea. There is no way over it below its sources in the Ettenmoors, except by the Last Bridge on which the Road crosses.''
''What is that other river we can see far away there?'' asked Merry.
''That is Loudwater, the Bruinen of Rivendell,'' answered Strider. ''The Road runs along the edge of the hills for many miles from the Bridge to the Ford of Bruinen. But I have not yet thought how we shall cross that water. One river at a time! We shall be fortunate indeed if we do not find the Last Bridge held against us.''
Next day, early in the morning, they came down again to the borders of the Road. Sam and Strider went forward, but they found no sign of any travellers or riders. Here under the shadow of the hills there had been some rain. Strider judged that it had fallen two days before, and had washed away all footprints. No horseman had passed since then, as far as he could see.
They hurried along with all the speed they could make, and after a mile or two they saw the Last Bridge ahead, at the bottom of a short steep slope. They dreaded to see black figures waiting there, but they saw none. Strider made them take cover in a thicket at the side of the Road, while he went forward to explore.
Before long he came hurrying back. ''I can see no sign of the enemy,'' he said, ''and I wonder very much what that means. But I have found something very strange.''
He held out his hand, and showed a single pale-green jewel. ''I found it in the mud in the middle of the Bridge,'' he said. ''It is a beryl, an elf-stone. Whether it was set there, or let fall by chance, I cannot say; but it brings hope to me. I will take it as a sign that we may pass the Bridge; but beyond that I dare not keep to the Road, without some clearer token.''
At once they went on again. They crossed the Bridge in safety, hearing no sound but the water swirling against its three great arches. A mile further on they came to a narrow ravine that led away northwards through the steep lands on the left of the Road. Here Strider turned aside, and soon they were lost in a sombre country of dark trees winding among the feet of sullen hills.
The hobbits were glad to leave the cheerless lands and the perilous Road behind them; but this new country seemed threatening and unfriendly. As they went forward the hills about them steadily rose. Here and there upon heights and ridges they caught glimpses of ancient walls of stone, and the ruins of towers: they had an ominous look. Frodo, who was not walking, had time to gaze ahead and to think. He recalled Bilbo''s account of his journey and the threatening towers on the hills north of the Road, in the country near the Troll''s wood where his first serious adventure had happened. Frodo guessed that they were now in the same region, and wondered if by chance they would pass near the spot.
''Who lives in this land?'' he asked. ''And who built these towers? Is this troll-country?''

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

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''No!'' said Strider. ''Trolls do not build. No one lives in this land. Men once dwelt here, ages ago; but none remain now. They became an evil people, as legends tell, for they fell under the shadow of Angmar. But all were destroyed in the war that brought the North Kingdom to its end. But that is now so long ago that the hills have forgotten them, though a shadow still lies on the land.''
''Where did you learn such tales, if all the land is empty and forgetful?'' asked Peregrin. ''The birds and beasts do not tell tales of that son.''
''The heirs of Elendil do not forget all things past,'' said Strider; ''and many more things than I can tell are remembered in Rivendell.'' ''Have you often been to Rivendell?'' said Frodo. ''I have,'' said Strider. ''I dwelt there once, and still I return when I may.
There my heart is; but it is not my fate to sit in peace, even in the fair house of Elrond.''
The hills now began to shut them in. The Road behind held on its way to the River Bruinen, but both were now hidden from view. The travellers came into a long valley; narrow, deeply cloven, dark and silent. Trees with old and twisted roots hung over cliffs, and piled up behind into mounting slopes of pine-wood.
The hobbits grew very weary. They advanced slowly, for they had to pick their way through a pathless country, encumbered by fallen trees and tumbled rocks. As long as they could they avoided climbing for Frodo''s sake, and because it was in fact difficult to find any way up out of the narrow dales. They had been two days in this country when the weather turned wet. The wind began to blow steadily out of the West and pour the water of the distant seas on the dark heads of the hills in fine drenching rain. By nightfall they were all soaked, and their camp was cheerless, for they could not get any fire to burn. The next day the hills rose still higher and steeper before them, and they were forced to turn away northwards out of their course. Strider seemed to be getting anxious: they were nearly ten days out from Weathertop, and their stock of provisions was beginning to run low. It went on raining.
That night they camped on a stony shelf with a rock-wall behind them, in which there was a shallow ****, a mere scoop in the cliff. Frodo was restless. The cold and wet had made his wound more painful than ever, and the ache and sense of deadly chill took away all sleep. He lay tossing and turning and listening fearfully to the stealthy night-noises: wind in chinks of rock, water dripping, a crack, the sudden rattling fall of a loosened stone. He felt that black shapes were advancing to smother him; but when he sat up he saw nothing but the back of Strider sitting hunched up, smoking his pipe, and watching. He lay down again and passed into an uneasy dream, in which he walked on the grass in his garden in the Shire, but it seemed faint and dim, less clear than the tall black shadows that stood looking over the hedge.
In the morning he woke to find that the rain had stopped. The clouds were still thick, but they were breaking, and pale strips of blue appeared between them. The wind was shifting again. They did not start early. Immediately after their cold and comfortless breakfast Strider went off alone, telling the others to remain under the shelter of the cliff, until he came back. He was going to climb up, if he could, and get a look at the lie of the land.
When he returned he was not reassuring. ''We have come too far to the north,'' he said, ''and we must find some way to turn back southwards again. If we keep on as we are going we shall get up into the Ettendales far north of Rivendell. That is troll-country, and little known to me. We could perhaps find our way through and come round to Rivendell from the north; but it would take too long, for I do not know the way, and our food would not last. So somehow or other we must find the Ford of Bruinen.''
The rest of that day they spent scrambling over rocky ground. They found a passage between two hills that led them into a valley running south-east, the direction that they wished to take; but towards the end of the day they found their road again barred by a ridge of high land; its dark edge against the sky was broken into many bare points like teeth of a blunted saw. They had a choice between going back or climbing over it.
They decided to attempt the climb, but it proved very difficult. Before long Frodo was obliged to dismount and struggle along on foot. Even so they often despaired of getting their pony up, or indeed of finding a path for themselves, burdened as they were. The light was nearly gone, and they were all exhausted, when at last they reached the top. They had climbed on to a narrow saddle between two higher points, and the land fell steeply away again, only a short distance ahead. Frodo threw himself down, and lay on the ground shivering. His left arm was lifeless, and his side and shoulder felt as if icy claws were laid upon them. The trees and rocks about him seemed shadowy and dim.
''We cannot go any further,'' said Merry to Strider. ''I am afraid this has been too much for Frodo. I am dreadfully anxious about him. What are we to do? Do you think they will be able to cure him in Rivendell, if we ever get there?''
''We shall see,'' answered Strider. ''There is nothing more that I can do in the wilderness; and it is chiefly because of his wound that I am so anxious to press on. But I agree that we can go no further tonight.''
''What is the matter with my master?'' asked Sam in a low voice, looking appealingly at Strider. ''His wound was small, and it is already closed. There''s nothing to be seen but a cold white mark on his shoulder.''
''Frodo has been touched by the weapons of the Enemy,'' said Strider, ''and there is some poison or evil at work that is beyond my skill to drive out. But do not give up hope, Sam!''
Night was cold up on the high ridge. They lit a small fire down under the gnarled roots of an old pine, that hung over a shallow pit: it looked as if stone had once been quarried there. They sat huddled together. The wind blew chill through the pass, and they heard the tree-tops lower down moaning and sighing. Frodo lay half in a dream, imagining that endless dark wings were sweeping by above him, and that on the wings rode pursuers that sought him in all the hollows of the hills.
The morning dawned bright and fair; the air was clean, and the light pale and clear in a rain-washed sky. Their hearts were encouraged, but (hey longed for the sun to warm their cold stiff limbs. As soon as it was light, Strider took Merry with him and went *****rvey the country from the height to the east of the pass. The sun had risen and was shining brightly when he returned with more comforting news. They were now going more or less in the right direction. If they went on, down the further side of the ridge, they would have the Mountains on their left. Some way ahead Strider had caught a glimpse of the Loudwater again, and he knew that, though it was hidden from view, the Road to the Ford was not far from the River and lay on the side nearest to them.
''We must make for the Road again,'' he said. ''We cannot hope to find a path through these hills. Whatever danger may beset it, the Road is our only way to the Ford.''
As soon as they had eaten they set out again. They climbed slowly down the southern side of the ridge; but the way was much easier than they had expected, for the slope was far less steep on this side, and before long Frodo was able to ride again. Bill Ferny''s poor old pony was developing an unexpected talent for picking out a path, and for sparing its rider as many jolts as possible. The spirits of the party rose again. Even Frodo felt better in the morning light, but every now and again a mist seemed to obscure his sight, and he passed his hands over his eyes.
Pippin was a little ahead of the others. Suddenly he turned round and called to them. ''There is a path here!'' he cried.
When they came up with him, they saw that he had made no mistake:
there were clearly the beginnings of a path, that climbed with many windings out of the woods below and faded away on the hill-top behind. In places it was now faint and overgrown, or choked with fallen stones and trees; but at one time it seemed to have been much used. It was a path made by strong arms and heavy feet. Here and there old trees had been cut or broken down, and large rocks cloven or heaved aside to make a way.
They followed the track for some while, for it offered much the easiest way down, but they went cautiously, and their anxiety increased as they came into the dark woods, and the path grew plainer and broader. Suddenly coming out of a belt of fir-trees it ran steeply down a slope, and turned sharply to the left round the comer of a rocky shoulder of the hill. When they came to the comer they looked round and saw that the path ran on over a level strip under the face of a low cliff overhung with trees. In the stony wall there was a door hanging crookedly ajar upon one great hinge.
Outside the door they all halted. There was a **** or rock-chamber behind, but in the gloom inside nothing could be seen. Strider, Sam, and Merry pushing with all their strength managed to open the door a little wider, and then Strider and Merry went in. They did not go far, for on the floor lay many old bones, and nothing else was to be seen near the entrance except some great empty jars and broken pots.
''Surely this is a troll-hole, if ever there was one!'' said Pippin. ''Come out, you two, and let us get away. Now we know who made the path -and we had better get off it quick.''
''There is no need, I think,'' said Strider, coining out. ''It is certainly a troll-hole, but it seems to have been long forsaken. I don''t think we need be afraid. But let us go on down warily, and we shall see.''
The path went on again from the door, and turning to the right again across the level space plunged down a thick wooded slope. Pippin, not liking to show Strider that he was still afraid, went on ahead with Merry. Sam and Strider came behind, one on each side of Frodo''s pony, for the path was now broad enough for four or five hobbits to walk abreast. But they had not gone very far before Pippin came running back, followed by Merry. They both looked terrified.
''There are trolls!'' Pippin panted. ''Down in a clearing in the woods not far below. We got a sight of them through the tree-trunks. They are very large!''
''We will come and look at them,'' said Strider, picking up a stick. Frodo said nothing, but Sam looked scared.
The sun was now high, and it shone down through the half-stripped branches of the trees, and lit the clearing with bright patches of light. They halted suddenly on the edge, and peered through the tree-trunks, holding their breath. There stood the trolls: three large trolls. One was stooping, and the other two stood staring at him.
Strider walked forward unconcernedly. ''Get up, old stone!'' he said, and broke his stick upon the stooping troll.
Nothing happened. There was a gasp of astonishment from the hobbits, and then even Frodo laughed. ''Well!'' he said. ''We are forgetting our family history! These must be the very three that were caught by Gandalf, quarrelling over the right way to cook thirteen dwarves and one hobbit.''
''I had no idea we were anywhere near the place!'' said Pippin. He knew the story well. Bilbo and Frodo had told it often; but as a matter of fact he had never more than half believed it. Even now he looked at the stone trolls with suspicion, wondering if some magic might not suddenly bring them to life again.
''You are forgetting not only your family history, but all you ever knew about trolls,'' said Strider. ''It is broad daylight with a bright sun, and yet you come back trying to scare me with a tale of live trolls waiting for us in this glade! In any case you might have noticed that one of them has an old bird''s nest behind his ear. That would be a most unusual ornament for a live troll!''
They all laughed. Frodo felt his spirits reviving: the reminder of Bilbo''s first successful adventure was heartening. The sun, too, was warm and comforting, and the mist before his eyes seemed to be lifting a little. They rested for some time in the glade, and took their mid-day meal right under the shadow of the trolls'' large legs.
''Won''t somebody give us a bit of a song, while the sun is high?'' said Merry, when they had finished. ''We haven''t had a song or a tale for days.''
''Not since Weathertop,'' said Frodo. The others looked at him. ''Don''t worry about me!'' he added. ''I feel much better, but I don''t think I could sing. Perhaps Sam could dig something out of his memory.''
''Come on, Sam!'' said Merry. ''There''s more stored in your head than you let on about.''
''I don''t know about that,'' said Sam. ''But how would this suit? It ain''t what I call proper poetry, if you understand me: just a bit of nonsense. But these old images here brought it to my mind.'' Standing up, with his hands behind his back, as if he was at school, he began to sing to an old tune.

TO BE A ROCK AND NOT TO ROLL​

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