Page 18 (1/2)

The Grey Havens

The clearing up certainly needed a lot of work, but it took less time than Sam had feared The day after the battle Frodo rode to Michel Delving and released the prisoners from the Lockholes One of the first that they found was poor Fredegar Bolger, Fatty no longer He had been taken when the ruffians ss up in the Brockenbores by the hills of Scary

&039;You would have done better to coar!&039; said Pippin, as they carried him out too weak to walk

He opened an eye and tried gallantly to siant with the loud voice?&039; he whispered &039;Not little Pippin! What&039;s your size in hats now?&039;

Then there was Lobelia Poor thing, she looked very old and thin when they rescued her fro out on her own feet; and she had such a welco when she appeared, leaning on Frodo&039;s ar her umbrella, that she was quite touched, and drove away in tears She had never in her life been popular before But she was crushed by the news of Lotho&039;s ave it back to Frodo, and went to her own people, the Bracegirdles of Hardbottle

When the poor creature died next Spring-she was after all more than a hundred years old �C Frodo was surprised and much moved: she had left all that remained of herhobbits made homeless by the troubles So that feud was ended

Old Will Whitfoot had been in the Lockholes longer than any, and though he had perhaps been treated less harshly than so up before he could look the part of Mayor; so Frodo agreed to act as his Deputy, until Mr Whitfoot was in shape again The only thing that he did as Deputy Mayor was to reduce the Shirriffs to their proper functions and nu out the last remnant of the ruffians was left to Merry and Pippin, and it was soon done The southern gangs, after hearing the news of the Battle of Bywater, fled out of the land and offered little resistance to the Thain Before the Year&039;s End the few survivors were rounded up in the woods, and those that surrendered were shown to the borders

Meanwhile the labour of repair went on apace, and Sam was kept very busy Hobbits can work like bees when the mood and the need co hands of all ages, from the small but nimble ones of the hobbit lads and lasses to the orn and horny ones of the gaffers and ga of the new Shirriff-houses or of anything that had been built by &039;Sharkey&039;s Men&039;; but the bricks were used to repair er and drier Great stores of goods and food, and beer, were found that had been hidden away by the ruffians in sheds and barns and deserted holes, and especially in the tunnels at Michel Delving and in the old quarries at Scary; so that there was a great deal better cheer that Yule than anyone had hoped for

One of the first things done in Hobbiton, before even the re End, and the restoration of Bagshot Row The front of the new sand-pit was all levelled andin the southward face, back into the Hill, and they were lined with brick The Gaffer was restored to Number Three; and he said often and did not care who heard it:

&039;It&039;s an ill wind as blows nobody no good, as I always say And All&039;s well as ends Better!&039;

There was soiven Battle Gardens was thought of, or Better Smials But after a while in sensible hobbit-fashion it was just called Ne It was a purely Bywater joke to refer to it as Sharkey&039;s End

The trees were the worst loss and da they had been cut down recklessly far and wide over the Shire; and Sa, this hurt would take long to heal, and only his great-grandchildren, he thought, would see the Shire as it ought to be

Then suddenly one day, for he had been too busy for weeks to give a thought to his adventures, he reht the box out and showed it to the other Travellers (for so they were now called by everyone), and asked their advice

&039;I wondered when you would think of it,&039; said Frodo &039;Open it!&039;

Inside it was filled with a grey dust, soft and fine, in the middle of which was a seed, like a small nut with a silver shale &039;What can I do with this?&039; said Sam

&039;Throw it in the air on a breezy day and let it do its work!&039; said Pippin

&039;On what?&039; said Sam

&039;Choose one spot as a nursery, and see what happens to the plants there,&039; said Merry

&039;But I&039;arden, now so many folk have suffered,&039; said Sae you have of your own, Saift to help your work and better it And use it sparingly There is not rain has a value&039;

So Sas in all the places where specially beautiful or beloved trees had been destroyed, and he put a grain of the precious dust in the soil at the root of each He went up and down the Shire in this labour; but if he paid special attention to Hobbiton and Bywater no one blamed him And at the end he found that he still had a little of the dust left; so he went to the Three-Farthing Stone, which is as near the centre of the Shire as noThe little silver nut he planted in the Party Field where the tree had once been; and he wondered ould coh the winter he remained as patient as he could, and tried to restrain hi was happening

Spring surpassed his wildest hopes His trees began to sprout and grow, as if time was in a hurry and wished to make one year do for twenty In the Party Field a beautiful young sapling leaped up: it had silver bark and long leaves and burst into golden flowers in April It was indeed a hbourhood In after years, as it grew in grace and beauty, it was known far and wide and people would co journeys to see it: the only mallorn west of the Mountains and east of the Sea, and one of the finest in the world

Altogether 1420 in the Shire was a marvellous year Not only was there wonderful sunshine and delicious rain, in due ti leam of a beauty beyond that of mortal summers that flicker and pass upon this Middle-earth All the children born or begotten in that year, and there were , and olden hair that had before been rare a hobbits very nearly bathed in strawberries and cream; and later they sat on the lawns under the plum-trees and ate, until they had made piles of stones like small pyramids or the heaped skulls of a conqueror, and then they moved on And no one was ill, and everyone was pleased except those who had tothe vines were laden, and the yield of &039;leaf&039; was astonishing; and everywhere there was so much corn that at Harvest every barn was stuffed &039;The Northfarthing barley was so fine that the beer of 1420 eneration later one ood pint of well-earned ale, put down his h: &039;Ah! that was proper fourteen-twenty, that was!&039;

Sam stayed at first at the Cottons&039; with Frodo; but when the Neas ready he ith the Gaffer In addition to all his other labours he was busy directing the cleaning up and restoring of Bag End; but he was often away in the Shire on his forestry work So he was not at home in early March and did not know that Frodo had been ill On the thirteenth of thaton his bed; he was clutching a white ge on a chain about his neck and he seeone for ever,&039; he said, &039;and now all is dark and eot back on the twenty-fifth, Frodo had recovered, and he said nothing about hi End had been set in order, and Merry and Pippin ca back all the old furniture and gear, so that the old hole soon looked very much as it always had done

When all was at last ready Frodo said: &039;When are you going to move in and join me, Sam?&039;

Sam looked a bit aard

&039;There is no need to come yet, if you don&039;t want to,&039; said Frodo &039;But you know the Gaffer is close at hand, and he will be very well looked after by Widow Rumble&039;

It s not that, Mr Frodo, said Sam, and he went very red

&039;Well, what is it?&039;

&039;It&039;s Rosie, Rose Cotton,&039; said Sa abroad at all, poor lass; but as I hadn&039;t spoken, she couldn&039;t say so And I didn&039;t speak, because I had a job to do first But now I have spoken, and she says: "Well, you&039;ve wasted a year, so ait longer?" "Wasted?" I says "I wouldn&039;t call it that" Still I see what she ht say&039;

&039;I see,&039; said Frodo; &039;you want to getEnd too? But my dear Sam, how easy! Get married as soon as you can, and thenEnd for as big a family as you could wish for&039;

And so it was settled Sa of 1420 (which was also fa End And if Saht himself lucky, Frodo knew that he was more lucky himself; for there was not a hobbit in the Shire that was looked after with such care When the labours of repair had all been planned and set going he took to a quiet life, writing a great deal and going through all his notes He resigned the office of Deputy Mayor at the Free Fair that mid-summer, and dear old Will Whitfoot had another seven years of presiding at Banquets

Merry and Pippin lived together for so between Buckland and Bag End The two young Travellers cut a great dash in the Shire with their songs and their tales and their finery, and their wonderful parties &039;Lordly&039; folk called theood; for it war by with theirand singing songs of far away; and if they were now large and ed otherwise, unless they were indeed more fairspoken and more jovial and full of merriment than ever before

Frodo and Sam, however, went back to ordinary attire, except that when there was need they both wore long grey cloaks, finely woven and clasped at the throat with beautiful brooches; and Mr Frodo wore always a white jewel on a chain that he often would finger

All things noell, with hope always of becoht as even a hobbit could wish Nothing for hiue anxiety about his s of the Shire, and Sam was pained to notice how little honour he had in his own country Few people kneanted to know about his deeds and adventures; their adiven rin and (if Sam had known it) to himself Also in the autumn there appeared a shadow of old troubles

One evening Sae He was very pale and his eyes sees far away

&039;What&039;s the matter, Mr Frodo?&039; said Sam

&039;I am wounded,&039; he answered, &039;wounded; it will never really heal&039;

But then he got up, and the turn seemed to pass, and he was quite himself the next day It was not until afterwards that Sam recalled that the date was October the sixth Two years before on that day it was dark in the dell under Weathertop

Tiain in March, but with a great effort he concealed it, for Sas to think about The first of Sam and Rosie&039;s children was born on the twenty-fifth of March, a date that Sam noted

&039;Well, Mr Frodo,&039; he said &039;I&039;m in a bit of a fix Rose and me had settled to call him Frodo, with your leave; but it&039;s not hih as pretty aafter Rose more than me, luckily So we don&039;t knohat to do&039;

&039;Well, Sa with the old customs? Choose a flower name like Rose Half the maidchildren in the Shire are called by such names, and what could be better?&039;

&039;I suppose you&039;re right, Mr Frodo,&039; said Sam &039;I&039;ve heard some beautiful narand for daily wear and tear, as you ht say The Gaffer, he says: "Make it short, and then you won&039;t have to cut it short before you can use it" But if it&039;s to be a flower-nath: it must be a beautiful flower, because, you see, I think she is very beautiful, and is going to be beautifuller still&039;

Frodo thought for a moment &039;Well, Saolden flower in the grass of Lothlorien?&039;

&039;You&039;re right again, Mr Frodo!&039; said Sahted &039;That&039;s what I wanted&039;

Little Elanor was nearly six months old, and 1421 had passed to its autumn, when Frodo called Sam into the study

&039;It will be Bilbo&039;s Birthday on Thursday, Sam,&039; he said &039;And he will pass the Old Took He will be a hundred and thirty-one!&039;

&039;So he will!&039; said Sam &039;He&039;s a marvel!&039;

&039;Well, Sam,&039; said Frodo &039;I want you to see Rose and find out if she can spare you, so that you and I can go off together You can&039;t go far or for a long time now, of course,&039; he said a little wistfully

&039;Well, not very well, Mr Frodo&039;