Page 9 (1/2)

Flotsa&039;s co eastward to orn, Gi Arod and Hasufel to stray in search of grass, they came and sat beside the hobbits

&039;Well, well! The hunt is over, and we ht to coreat ones have gone to discuss high olas, &039;the hunters can perhaps learn the answers to their own small riddles We tracked you as far as the forest, but there are still s that I should like to know the truth of&039;

&039;And there is a great deal, too, that ant to know about you,&039; said Merry &039;We have learnt a few things through Treebeard, the Old Ent, but that is not nearly enough&039;

&039;All in good tiolas &039;We were the hunters, and you should give an account of yourselves to us first&039;

&039;Or second,&039; said Gio better after a meal I have a sore head; and it is pastus some of the plunder that you spoke of Food and drink would pay off soainst you&039;

&039;Then you shall have it,&039; said Pippin &039;Will you have it here, or in uard-house �C over there under the arch? We had to picnic out here, so as to keep an eye on the road&039;

&039;Less than an eye!&039; said Gio into any orc-house nor touch Orcs&039;that they have mauled&039;

&039;We wouldn&039;t ask you to,&039; said Merry &039;We have had enough of Orcs ourselves to last a life-tiard Saruuard his gates: some of his most faithful servants, I suppose Anyway they were favoured and got good provisions&039;

&039;And pipe-weed?&039; asked Gimli

&039;No, I don&039;t think so,&039; Merry laughed &039;But that is another story, which can wait until after lunch&039;

&039;Well let us go and have lunch then!&039; said the Dwarf

The hobbits led the way; and they passed under the arch and came to a wide door upon the left, at the top of a stair It opened direct into a large chamber, with other smaller doors at the far end, and a hearth and chimney at one side The chamber was hewn out of the stone; and it must once have been dark, for its s looked out only into the tunnel But light cah the broken roof On the hearth as burning

&039;I lit a bit of fire,&039; said Pippin &039;It cheered us up in the fogs There were few faggots about, and reat draught in the chih the rock, and fortunately it has not been blocked A fire is handy I will make you some toast The bread is three or four days old, I aorn and his co table, and the hobbits disappeared through one of the inner doors &039;Store-room in there, and above the woods, luckily,&039; said Pippin, as they came back laden with dishes, bowls, cups, knives, and food of various sorts

&039;And you need not turn up your nose at the provender, Master Gimli,&039; said Merry &039;This is not orc-stuff, but man-food, as Treebeard calls it Will you have wine or beer? There&039;s a barrel inside there �C very passable And this is first-rate salted pork Or I can cut you some rashers of bacon and broil thereen stuff: the deliveries have been rather interrupted in the last few days! I cannot offer you anything to follow but butter and honey for your bread Are you content?&039;

&039;Indeed yes,&039; said Gimli &039;The score is much reduced&039;

The three were soon busy with their meal; and the two hobbits, unabashed, set to a second tiuests company,&039; they said

&039;You are full of courtesy this olas &039;But maybe, if we had not arrived, you would already have been keeping one another coain&039;

&039;Maybe; and why not?&039; said Pippin &039;We had foul fare with the Orcs, and little enough for days before that It see while since we could eat to heart&039;s content&039;

&039;It does not seeorn &039;Indeed you look in the bloom of health&039;

&039;Aye, you do indeed,&039; said Gi them up and down over the top of his cup &039;Why, your hair is twice as thick and curly as e parted; and I would swear that you have both grown soe This Treebeard at any rate has not starved you&039;

&039;He has not,&039; said Merry &039;But Ents only drink, and drink is not enough for content Treebeard&039;s draughtssolid And even lee&039;

&039;You have drunk of the waters of the Ents, have you?&039; said Legolas &039;Ah, then I think it is likely that Gis have been sung of the draughts of Fangorn&039;

&039;Many strange tales have been told about that land,&039; said Aragorn &039;I have never entered it Come, tell me more about it, and about the Ents!&039;

&039;Ents,&039; said Pippin, &039;Ents are �C well Ents are all different for on thing But their eyes now, their eyes are very odd&039; He tried a few fu words that trailed off into silence &039;Oh, well,&039; he went on, &039;you have seen some at a distance, already-they saw you at any rate, and reported that you were on the way-and you will see many others, I expect, before you leave here You must form your own ideas&039;

&039;No!&039; said Gi the story in thewith that strange day when our fellowship was broken&039;

&039;You shall have it, if there is time,&039; said Merry &039;But first �C if you have finished eating �C you shall fill your pipes and light up And then for a little while we can pretend that we are all back safe at Bree again, or in Rivendell&039;

He produced a s full of tobacco &039;We have heaps of it,&039; he said, &039;and you can all pack as e-work thisabout It was Pippin who found two small barrels, washed up out of some cellar or store-house, I suppose When we opened them, we found they were filled with this: as fine a pipe-weed as you could wish for, and quite unspoilt&039;

Gimli took soood, and it sood!&039; said Merry &039;My dear Gibottom Leaf! There were the Hornblower brandmarks on the barrels, as plain as plain How it caine For Saruman&039;s private use, I fancy I never knew that it went so far abroad But it comes in handy now?&039;

&039;It would,&039; said Gio with it Alas, I lost mine in Moria, or before Is there no pipe in all your plunder?&039;

&039;No, I am afraid not,&039; said Merry &039;We have not found any, not even here in the guardrooms Saruman kept this dainty to himself, it see on the doors of Orthanc to beg a pipe of hiood friends must at a pinch&039;

&039;Half ahis hand inside the breast of his jacket he pulled out a little soft wallet on a string &039;I keep a treasure or two near s to me Here&039;s one: my old wooden pipe And here&039;s another: an unused one I have carried it a long way, though I don&039;t knohy I never really expected to find any pipe-weed on the journey, when my own ran out But now it comes in useful after all&039; He held up a small pipe with a wide flattened bowl, and handed it to Gimli &039;Does that settle the score between us?&039; he said &039;Settle it!&039; cried Gimli &039;Most noble hobbit, it leaves oing back into the open air, to see what the wind and sky are doing!&039; said Legolas

&039;We will coorn

They went out and seated theateway They could see far down into the valley now; theaway upon the breeze

&039;Now let us take our ease here for a little!&039; said Aragorn &039;We will sit on the edge of ruin and talk, as Gandalf says, while he is busy elsewhere I feel a weariness such as I have seldorey cloak about his Then he lay back and sent from his lips a thin stream of smoke

&039;Look!&039; said Pippin &039;Strider the Ranger has come back!&039;

&039;He has never been away,&039; said Aragorn &039;I a both to Gondor and the North&039;

They smoked in silence for a while, and the sun shone on theh in the West Legolas lay still, looking up at the sun and sky with steady eyes, and singing softly to himself At last he sat up &039;Come now!&039; he said &039;Ti away, or would if you strange folk did not wreathe yourselves in smoke What of the tale?&039;

&039;Well,-up in an orc-camp,&039; said Pippin &039;Let me see, what is today?&039;

&039;The fifth of March in the Shire-reckoning,&039; said Aragorn

Pippin o!&039; he said2 &039;It seeh half of it was like a bad dream, I reckon that three very horrible days followed Merry will correctinto details: the whips and the filth and stench and all that; it does not bear reed into an account of Boroht and the orc-march from Emyn Muil to the Forest The others nodded as the various points were fitted in with their guesses

&039;Here are soorn &039;You will be glad to have them back&039; He loosened his belt from under his cloak and took from it the two sheathed knives

&039;Well!&039; said Merry &039;I never expected to see those again! I luk took the to stab s away as if they burned him&039;

&039;And here also is your brooch, Pippin,&039; said Aragorn &039;I have kept it safe, for it is a very precious thing&039;

&039;I know,&039; said Pippin &039;It was a wrench to let it go; but what else could I do?&039;

&039;Nothing else,&039; answered Aragorn &039;One who cannot cast away a treasure at need is in fetters You did rightly&039;

&039;The cutting of the bands on your wrists, that was smart work!&039; said Gimli &039;Luck served you there; but you seized your chance with both hands, one ht say&039;

&039;And set us a pretty riddle,&039; said Legolas &039;I wondered if you had groings!&039;

&039;Unfortunately not,&039; said Pippin &039;But you did not know about Grishnakh&039; He shuddered and said noMerry to tell of those last horriblehands, the hot breath, and the dreadful strength of Grishnakh&039;s hairy arms

&039;All this about the Orcs of Barad-dur, Lugburz as they call it, orn &039;The Dark Lord already knew too much and his servants also; and Grishnakh evidently sent soe across the River after the quarrel The Red Eye will be looking towards Isengard But Saru&039;

&039;Yes, whichever side wins, his outlook is poor,&039; said Merry &039;Things began to go all wrong for him from the moment his Orcs set foot in Rohan&039;

&039;We caught a glimpse of the old villain, or so Gandalf hints,&039; said Gie of the Forest&039;

&039;When was that?&039; asked Pippin

&039;Five nights ago,&039; said Aragorn

&039;Let o �C noe co about We ht ere at Wellinghall, one of his ent-houses The nextof Ents, that is, and the queerest thing I have ever seen in my life It lasted all that day and the next; and we spent the nights with an Ent called Quickbeam And then late in the afternoon in the third day of theirThe Forest had felt as tense as if a thunderstor inside it: then all at once it exploded I wish you could have heard their song as they marched&039;

&039;If Saruman had heard it, he would be a hundred s,&039; said Pippin

&039;Though Isengard be strong and hard, as cold as stone and bare as bone,