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The Ride of the Rohirri as he lay on the ground rolled in a blanket; yet though the night was airless and windless, all about hi softly He lifted his head Then he heard it again: a sound like faint drums in the wooded hills and mountain-steps The throb would cease suddenly and then be taken up again at some other point, now nearer, now further off He wondered if the watchmen had heard it

He could not see them, but he knew that all round him were the companies of the Rohirrim He could ss and their soft staround The host was bivouacked in the pine-woods that clustered about Eilenach Beacon, a tall hill standing up froreat road in East Anorien

Tired as he was Merry could not sleep He had ridden now for four days on end, and the ever-deepening glooan to wonder why he had been so eager to coiven every excuse, even his lord&039;s co knew that he had been disobeyed and was angry Perhaps not There see between Dernhelm and Elfhelm, the Marshal who co He and all his nored Merry and pretended not to hear if he spoke HeDernhelm was no comfort: he never spoke to anyone Merry felt small, unwanted, and lonely Now the time was anxious, and the host was in peril They were less than a day&039;s ride from the out-walls of Minas Tirith that encircled the townlands Scouts had been sent ahead So back had reported that the road was held in force against them A host of the enemy was encamped upon it, three th ofthe road and was noin the hills and woods along the roadside The king and eoht

Merry wanted soht of Pippin But that only increased his restlessness Poor Pippin, shut up in the great city of stone, lonely and afraid Merry wished he was a tall Rider like eo to his rescue He sat up, listening to the druain, now nearer at hand Presently he heard voices speaking low, and he saw dih the trees Men nearby began to ure loonized the voice of the Marshal, Elfhelm

&039;I a, but a bruised hobbit The least you can do in amends is to tellthat can keep so in this devil&039;s mirk,&039; answered Elfhelm &039;But my lord sends word that we must set ourselves in readiness: orders may come for a suddenthen?&039; asked Merry anxiously &039;Are those their dru them, as no one else seemed to take any notice of them&039;

&039;Nay, nay,&039; said Elfhelm, &039;the enemy is on the road not in the hills You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods: thus they talk together from afar They still haunt Druadan Forest, it is said Re few and secretly, wild and wary as the beasts They go not to ith Gondor or the Mark; but now they are troubled by the darkness and the co, as see us: for they use poisoned arrows, it is said, and they are woodcrafty beyond compare But they have offered their services to Theoden Even now one of their headhts So much I have heard but no more And now I must busy myself with !&039; He vanished into the shadows

Merry did not like this talk of wild ht of dread was on hi to happen He got up and soon alking warily in pursuit of the last lantern before it disappeared a the trees

Presently he came to an open space where a sreat tree A large lantern, covered above, was hanging froht below There sat Theoden and eoe squat shape of a narled as an old stone, and the hairs of his scanty beard straggled on his lued and fat-arrass about his waist Merry felt that he had seen him before somewhere, and suddenly he remembered the Pukel-ht to life, or h endless years froo

There was a silence as Merry crept nearer, and then the Wild Man began to speak, in answer to souttural, yet to Merry&039;s surprise he spoke the Co fashion, and uncouth words were led with it

&039;No, father of Horse-un in woods, hate orc-folk You hate gorgun too We help as we can Wild Men have long ears and long eyes; know all paths Wild Men live here before Stone-houses; before Tall Men come up out of Water&039;

&039;But our need is for aid in battle,&039; said eomer &039;Hoill you and your folk help us?&039;

&039;Bring news,&039; said the Wild Man &039;We look out fro mountain and look down Stone-city is shut Fire burns there outside; now inside too You wish to coun and narled arm eastward, &039;sit on horse-road Very many, more than Horse-men&039;

&039;How do you know that?&039; said eomer

The old , but his voice was sullen with displeasure &039;Wild men are wild, free, but not children,&039; he answered &039;I as: stars in sky, leaves on trees, men in the dark You have a score of scores counted ten tiht, and in? And many more walk round walls of Stone-houses&039;

&039;Alas! he speaks all too shrewdly,&039; said Theoden &039;And our scouts say that they have cast trenches and stakes across the road We cannot sweep them away in sudden onset&039;

&039;And yet we need great haste,&039; said eo is on fire!&039;

&039;Let Ghan-buri-Ghan finish!&039; said the Wild Man &039;More than one road he knows He will lead you by road where no pits are, no gorgun walk, only Wild Men and beasts Many paths were er They carved hills as hunters carve beast-flesh Wild Men think they ate stone for food They went through Druadan to Riotten, but not by Wild Men Over hill and behind hill it lies still under grass and tree, there behind Rimmon and down to Dîn, and back at the end to Horse-men&039;s road Wild Men will show you that road Then you will kill gorgun and drive away bad dark with bright iron, and Wild Men can go back to sleep in the oods&039;

eoth Theoden turned to the Wild Man &039;We will receive your offer,&039; he said &039;For though we leave a host of foes behind, what matter? If the Stone-city falls, then we shall have no returning If it is saved, then the orc-host itself will be cut off If you are faithful, Ghan-buri-Ghan, then ill give you rich reward, and you shall have the friendship of the Mark for ever&039;

&039;Dead ifts,&039; said the Wild Man &039;But if you live after the Darkness, then leave Wild Men alone in the woods and do not hunt them like beasts any o hi, you will kill him&039;

&039;So be it!&039; said Theoden

&039;How long will it take to pass by the enemy and coo at foot-pace, if you guide us; and I doubt not the way is narrow&039;

&039;Wild Men go quick on feet,&039; said Ghan &039;Way is wide for four horses in Stonewain Valley yonder,&039; he waved his hand southwards, &039;but narrow at beginning and at end Wild Man could walk from here to Din between sunrise and noon&039;

&039;Then we must allow at least seven hours for the leaders,&039; said eomer, &039;but we s unforeseenout, it will be long ere it can be set in order e issue from the hills What is the hour now?&039;

&039;Who knows?&039; said Theoden &039;All is night now&039;

&039;It is all dark, but it is not all night&039; said Ghan &039;When Sun comes we feel her, even when she is hidden Already she cli of day in the sky-fields&039;

&039;Then we must set out as soon as may be,&039; said eomer &039;Even so we cannot hope to come to Gondor&039;s aid today&039;

Merry waited to hear no et ready for the sue before the battle It did not seem likely to hiht of Pippin and the flames in Minas Tirith and thrust down his own dread

All ell that day, and no sight or sound had they of the ene to waylay them The Wild Men had put out a screen of wary hunters, so that no orc or roving spy should learn of the ht was uered city, and the Riders passed in long files like dark shadows of uided by a ood The start had been slower than was hoped, for it had taken ti their horses, to find paths over the thickly wooded ridges behind their camp and down into the hidden Stonewain Valley It was late in the afternoon when the leaders ca beyond the eastward side of Aap in the line of hills that frootten wain-road long ago had run down, back into the h Anorien; but now for many lives of men trees had had their ith it, and it had vanished, broken and buried under the leaves of uncounted years But the thickets offered to the Riders their last hope of cover before they went into open battle; for beyond them lay the road and the plains of Anduin, while east and southwards the slopes were bare and rocky, as the writhen hills gathered theether and clireatcompany was halted, and as those behind filed up out of the trough of the Stonewain Valley they spread out and passed to ca summoned the captains to council eomer sent out scouts to spy upon the road; but old Ghan shook his head

&039;No good to send Horse-men,&039; he said &039;Wild Men have already seen all that can be seen in the bad air They will come soon and speak to me here&039;

The captains came; and then out of the trees crept warily other pukel-shapes so like old Ghan that Merry could hardly tell thee

Presently Ghan turned to the king &039;Wild Men say s,&039; he said &039;First, be wary! Still many men in camp beyond Dîn, an hour&039;s walk yonder,&039; he waved his arm west towards the black beacon &039;But none to see between here and Stone-folk&039;s nealls Many busy there Walls stand up no longer: gorgun knock them doith earth-thunder and with clubs of black iron They are unwary and do not look about them They think their friends watch all roads!&039; At that old Ghan hing

&039;Good tidings!&039; cried eoain Our Enemy&039;s devices oft serve us in his despite The accursed darkness itself has been a cloak to us And now, lusting to destroy Gondor and throw it down stone froreatest fear The out-wall could have been held long against us Noe can sweep through �C if once in so far&039;