The Return Of The Shadow Part 3

Now far ahead the Road has gone, And we must follow if we can, Pursuing it with weary feet, Until it joins some larger way, Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? We cannot say.(6) 'That sounds like a bit of Old Bilbo's rhyming,' said Odo. 'Or is it one of Bingo's imitations? It does not sound altogether encouraging.'

'No, I made it up, or at any rate it came to me,' said Frodo.

'I've never heard it before, certainly,' said Bingo. 'But it reminds me very much of Bilbo in the last years, before he went away. He used often to say that there was only one Road in all the land; that it was like a great river: its springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary. "It's a dangerous business, Bingo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might get swept off to. Do you realize that this is the very path that goes through Mirkwood, and that if you let it, it might take you to even farther and worse places than the Lonely Mountain?" He used to say that on the path outside the front-door at Bag-end; especially after he had been out for a walk.'

'Well, the Road won't sweep me anywhere for an hour at least,' said Odo, unslinging his pack. The others followed his example, putting their packs against the bank and their legs out into the road. After a rest they had lunch (a frugal one) and then more rest.

The sun was beginning to get lower and the light of afternoon was on the land as they went down the hill. So far they had not met a soul on the road. This way was not much used, and the ordinary way to Buckland was along the East Road to the meeting of the Water and the Brandywine River, where there was a bridge, and then south along the River. They had been jogging along again for an hour or more, when Frodo stopped a moment as if listening. They were now on level ground, and the road, after much winding, lay straight ahead through gra.s.sland sprinkled with tall trees, outliers of the approaching woods.

'I can hear a horse or a pony coming along the road behind,' said Frodo.

They looked back, but the turn of the road prevented them from seeing far.

'I think we had better get out of sight,' said Bingo; 'or you two at any rate. Of course, it does not matter much, but I have a feeling that I would rather not be seen by anyone just now.'

Odo and Frodo ran quickly to the left, down into a little hollow not far from the road, and lay flat. Bingo slipped on his ring and stepped behind a tree. The sound of hoofs drew nearer. Round the turn came a black horse, no hobbit-pony but a full-sized horse; and on it sat a bundle, or that is what it looked like: a broad squat man, completely wrapped in a great black cloak and hood, so that only his boots in the stirrups showed below: his face was shadowed and invisible.

When it came on a level with Bingo, the horse stopped. The riding figure sat quite still, as if listening. From inside the hood came a noise as of someone sniffing to catch an elusive scent; the head turned from side to side of the road. At last the horse moved on again, walking slowly at first, and then taking to a gentle trot.

Bingo slipped to the edge of the road and watched the rider, until he dwindled in the distance. He could not be quite sure, but it seemed to him that suddenly, before they pa.s.sed out of sight, the horse and rider turned aside and rode into the trees.

'Well, I call that very queer, and even a little disturbing,' said Bingo to himself, as he walked back to his companions. They had remained flat in the gra.s.s, and had seen nothing; so Bingo described to them the rider and his strange behaviour. 'I can't say why, but I felt perfectly certain he was looking or smelling for me: and also I felt very clearly that I did not want him to discover me. I've never seen or felt anything quite like it in the Shire before.'

'But what has one of the Big People got to do with us?' said Odo. 'And what is he doing in this part of the world at all? Except for those Men from Dale the other day (7) I haven't seen one of that Kind in our Shire(8) for years.'

'I have though,' said Frodo, who had listened intently to Bingo's description of the black rider. 'It reminds me of something I had almost forgotten. I was walking away up in the North Moor - you know, right up on the northern borders of the Shire - early last spring, when a similar rider met me. He was riding south, and he stopped and spoke, though he did not seem able to speak our language very well; he asked me if I knew where a place called Hobbiton was, and if there were any folk called Baggins there. I thought it very queer at the time; and I had a queer uncomfortable feeling, too. I could not see any face under his hood. I never heard whether he turned up in Hobbiton or not. If I did not tell you, I meant to.'

'You didn't tell me, and I wish you had,' said Bingo. 'I should have asked Gandalf about it; and probably we should have taken more care on the road.'

'Then you know or guess something about the rider?' said Frodo. 'What is he?'

'I don't know, and I don't want to guess,' said Bingo. 'But somehow I don't believe either of these riders (if there are two) was really one of the Big People, not one of the kind like Dale- men, I mean. I wish Gandalf was here; but now it will be a long time before we find him. In a way I suppose I ought to be pleased; but I am not quite prepared for adventures yet, and I was not expecting any in our own Shire. Do you two wish to go on with the Journey?'

'Of course! ' said Frodo. 'I am not going to turn back, not for an army of goblins.'

'I shall go where Uncle Bingo goes,' said Odo. 'But what is the next thing to do? Shall we go on at once, or stay here and have some food?(9) I should like a bite and a sip, but somehow I think we had better move on from here. Your talk of sniffing riders with invisible noses has made me feel quite uncomfortable.'

'I think we will move on now,' said Bingo; 'but not on the road, in case that rider comes back, or another one follows him. We ought to do a good step more today; Buckland is still miles away.'

The shadows of the trees were long and thin on the gra.s.s, as they started off again. They now kept a stone's throw to the left of the road, but their going was slow, for the gra.s.s was thick and tussocky and the ground uneven. The sun had gone down red behind the hills at their back, and evening was coming on, by the time they had come to the end of the straight stretch. There the road bent southward, and began to wind again as it entered a wood of ancient scattered oak trees.'(10) Close to the road they came on the huge hulk of an aged tree(11). It was still alive and had leaves on small branches that it had put out round the broken stumps of its long fallen limbs; but it was hollow, and could be entered by a great crack on the far side. The hobbits went in and sat upon the floor of old leaves and decayed wood. There they rested and had a meal, talking quietly and listening in between.

They had just finished and were thinking of setting out again, when they heard quite clearly the sound of hoofs walking slow along the road outside. They did not move. The hoofs stopped, as far as they could judge, on the road beside their tree, but only for a moment. Soon they went on again and faded away - down the road, in the direction of Buckland. When Bingo at last stole out of the tree and peered up and down the road, there was nothing to be seen.

'Most peculiar!' he said, coming back to the others. 'I think we had better wait inside here for a bit.'

It grew almost dark inside the tree-trunk. 'I really think we shall have to go on now,' said Bingo. 'We have done very little to-day and we shan't get to Buckland tomorrow night at this rate.'

Twilight was about them, when they crept out. There was no living sound, not even a bird-call in the wood. The West wind was sighing in the branches. They stepped into the road and looked up and down again.

'We had better risk the road,' said Odo. 'The ground is much too rough off the track, especially in a fading light. We are probably making a fuss about nothing. It is very likely only a wandering stranger who has got lost; and if he met us, he would just ask us the way to Buckland or Brandywine Bridge, and ride on.'

'I hope you are right,' said Bingo. 'But anyway there is nothing for it but the open road. Luckily it winds a good deal.' '

What if he stops us and asks if we know where Mr Bolger- Baggins lives?'said Frodo.

'Give him the true answer: Nowhere,' said Bingo. 'Forward!'

They were now entering the Woody End, and the road began to fall gently but steadily, making south-east towards the lowlands of the Brandywine River. A star came out in the darkening East. They went abreast and in step, and their spirits rose; the uncomfortable feeling vanished, and they no longer listened for the sound of hoofs. After a mile or two they began to hum softly, as hobbits have a way of doing when twilight closes in and the stars come out. With most hobbits it is a bed-song or a supper-song; but these hobbits hummed a walking-song (though not, of course, without any mention of bed and supper). Bilbo Baggins had made the words (the tune was as old as the hills), and taught it to Bingo as they walked in the lanes of the Water-valley and talked about Adventure.

Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet, Still mund the corner me may meet A sudden tree or standing stone That none have seen, but me alone.

Tree and flower and leaf and gra.s.s, Let them pa.s.s! Let them pa.s.s!

Hill and mater under sky, Pa.s.s them by! Pa.s.s them by!

Still round the corner there may wait A new road or a secret gate, And even if me pa.s.s them by, We still shall know which way they lie, And whether hidden pathways run Towards the Moon or to the Sun.

Apple, thorn, and nut and sloe, Let them go! Let them go!

Sand and stone and pool and dell, Fare you mell! Fare you mell!

Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadow to the edge of night, Until the stars are all alight.

Then world behind and home ahead, We'll wander back to fire and bed.

Mist and twilight, cloud and shade, Away shall fade! Away shall fade!

Fire and lamp and meat and bread, And then to bed! And then to bed! (12) The song ended. 'And now to bed! And now to bed!' sang Odo in a loud voice. 'Hush! ' said Frodo. 'I think I hear hoofs again.'

They stopped suddenly, and stood as silent as tree-shadows, listening. There was a sound of hoofs on the road some way behind, but coming slow and clear in the stillness of the evening. Quickly and quietly they slipped off the road and ran into the deeper shade under the oak-trees.

'Don't let's go too far!' said Bingo. 'I don't want to be seen, but I want to see what I can this time.'

'Very well! ' said Odo; 'but don't forget the sniffing!'

The hoofs drew nearer. They had no time to find any hiding- place (13) better than the general darkness under the trees., so Odo and Frodo lay behind a large tree-trunk, while Bingo slipped on his ring and crept forward a few yards towards the road. It showed grey and pale, a line of fading light through the wood. Above it the stars were now coming out thick in the dim sky, but there was no moon.

The sound of hoofs ceased. As Bingo watched he saw something dark pa.s.s across the lighter s.p.a.ce between two trees, and then halt. It looked like the black shade of a horse led by a smaller black shadow. The black shadow stood close to the point where they had left the road, and it swayed from side to side. Bingo thought he heard the sound of sniffing. The shadow bent to the ground, and then began to crawl towards him.

At that moment there came a sound like mingled song and laughter. Voices clear and fair rose and fell in the starlit air. The black shadow straightened and retreated.(14) It climbed on to the shadowy horse and seemed to vanish across the road into the darkness on the other side. Bingo breathed again.

'Elves! ' said Frodo in an excited whisper behind him. 'Elves! How wonderful! I have always wished to hear elves singing under the stars; but I did not know any lived in the Shire.'

'Oh yes! ' said Bingo. 'Old Bilbo knew there were some down in the Woody End. They don't really live here, though; but they often come across the river in spring and autumn. I am very glad they do!'

'Why?' said Odo.

'You didn't see, of course,' said Bingo; 'but that black rider (or another of the same sort) stopped just here and was actually crawling towards us, when the song started. As soon as he heard the voices he slipped away.'

'Did he sniff?' asked Odo.

'He did,' said Bingo. 'It is mysterious, urcomfortably mysterious.'

'Let's find the Elves, if we can,' said Frodo.

'Listen! They are coming this way,' said Bingo. 'We have only to wait by the road.'

The singing drew nearer. One clear voice rose above the others. It seemed to be singing in the secret elf-tongue, of which Bingo knew only a little, and the others knew nothing, yet the sound of the words blending with the tune seemed to turn into words in their own listening thought, which they only partly understood.

Frodo and Bingo afterwards agreed that the song went something like this: Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!

O Queen beyond the Western Seas!

O Light to us that wander here Amid the world of woven trees!

Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!

Clear are thy eyes and cold thy breath!

Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee In a far land beyond the Sea.

O Stars that in the Sunless Year With shining hand by her were sown, In windy fields now bright and clear We see your silver blossom blown!

O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!

We still remember, we who dwell In this far land beneath the trees, Thy starlight on the Western Seas.(15) The hobbits sat in shadow by the roadside. Before long the Elves came down the road towards the valley. They pa.s.sed slowly and the hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes.(16) They bore no lights, yet as they walked a shimmer, like the light of the moon above the rim of the hills before it rises, seemed to fall about their feet. They had stopped singing, and as the-last elf pa.s.sed he turned and looked towards the hobbits, and laughed.

'Hail Bingo! ' he said. 'You are out late - or are you perhaps lost? ' Then he called aloud in the elf-tongue, and all the company stopped and gathered round.

'Well! Isn't this wonderful! ' they said. 'Three hobbits in a wood at night! What is the meaning of this? We haven't seen anything like it, since dear Bilbo went away.'

'The meaning of this, my good Elves,' said Bingo, 'is simply that we seem to be going the same way as you are. I was brought up by Bilbo, so I like walking, even under the stars. And I can put up with Elves for lack of other company! '

'But we have no need of other company, and hobbits are so dull,' they laughed. 'Come along now, tell us all about it! We see you are simply swelling with secrets we should like to hear. Though some we know, of course, and some we guess. Many Happy Returns of yesterday - we have heard all about that, of course, from the Rivendell people.'(17) 'Then who are you, and who is your lord?' said Bingo.

'I am Gildor,' said the Elf who had hailed him. 'Gildor Inglorion of the house of Finrod. We are exiles, one of the few companies that still remain east of the Sea, for our kindred went back to the West long ago. We are Wise-elves, and the elves of Rivendell are our kinsfolk.'(18) 'O Wise People,' said Frodo, 'tell us about the Black Rider!'

'The Black Rider!' they said in low voices. 'Why do you ask about the Black Rider?'

'Because three Black Riders have overtaken us today, or one three times,'(19) said Bingo; 'and only a few moments ago one slipped away as you drew near.'

The Elves did not answer at once, but spoke together softly in the elf-tongue. At last Gildor turned to the hobbits: 'We will not speak more of this here,' he said. 'We think you had better come with us. As you know, it is not our custom; but for Bilbo's sake we will take you on our road, and you shall lodge with us to-night, if you wish.'

'I thank you indeed, Gildor Inglorion,' said Bingo bowing. '0 Fair Folk! This is a good fortune beyond my best hope,' said Frodo. Odo also bowed, but said nothing aloud. 'Rather good luck?' he whispered to Bingo. 'I suppose we shall get a really good bed and supper?'

'You can reckon your luck in the morning,' said Gildor, as if he had been spoken to. 'We shall do what we can, though we have heard that hobbits are hard to satisfy.'

'I beg your pardon,' stammered Odo. Bingo laughed: 'You must be careful of Elvish ears, Odo!' 'We count our luck already,' he said to the Elves; 'and I think that you will find that we are very easy to please (for hobbits).' He added in the elf-tongue a greeting that Bilbo had taught him: 'The stars shine on the hour of our meeting.'

'Be careful, friends! ' cried Gildor laughing. 'Speak no secrets! Here is a scholar in the elf-latin.(20) Bilbo was indeed a good master! Hail! elf-friend,' he said, bowing to Bingo, 'come now and join our company! '(21) You had best walk in the middle, so that you will not stray. You may be weary before we halt.'

'Why? Where are you going?' asked Bingo.

'To the woods near Woodhall down in the valley. It is some miles; but it will shorten your journey to Buckland tomorrow.'

They marched along in silence, and pa.s.sed like shadows and faint lights; for both Elves and hobbits could walk when they wished without a sound. They sang no more songs. Odo began to feel sleepy, and stumbled once or twice; but each time a tall elf by his side put out his arm and saved him from a fall.

The woods on either side became denser; the trees were younger and more thick, and as the road went lower there were many deep brakes of hazel. At last they turned right from the road: a green ride lay almost unseen through the thicket This they followed until they came suddenly to a wide s.p.a.ce of gra.s.s, grey under the night. The wood bordered it on three sides; but on the east the ground fell steeply, and the tops of the dark trees growing in the fold below were level with their feet. Beyond them the low land lay dim and flat under the stars. Nearer at hand there was a twinkle of lights: the village of Woodhall.

The Elves sat on the gra.s.s, and seemed to take no further notice of the hobbits. They spoke together in soft voices. The hobbits wrapped themselves in cloak and blankets, and drowsiness crept over them. The night drew on, and the lights in the valley went out. Odo fell asleep, pillowed on a smooth hillock.

Out of the mists away eastward a pale gold light went up. The yellow moon rose; springing swiftly out of the shadow, and then climbing round and slow into the sky. The Elves all burst into song. Suddenly under the trees to one side a fire sprang up with a red light.

'Come! ' the Elves called to the hobbits. 'Come! Now is the time for speech and merriment.'

Odo sat up and rubbed his eyes. He shivered. 'Come, little Odo!' said an elf. 'There is a fire in the hall, and some food for hungry guests.'

On the south side of the green-sward the wood drew close. Here there was a s.p.a.ce green-floored, but entirely overshadowed by tall trees. Their trunks ran like pillars down each side, and their interlaced branches made a roof above. In the middle there was a wood-fire blazing; upon the sides of the tree-pillars torches with lights of gold and silver were burning steadily without smoke. The Elves sat round the fire upon the gra.s.s or upon the sawn rings of old trunks. Some went to and fro bearing cups and pouring drink; others brought food on heaped plates and dishes, and set them on the gra.s.s.

'This is poor fare,' they said to the hobbits; 'for we are lodging in the greenwood far from our halls. If ever you are our guests at home, we will treat you better.'

'It seems to me good enough for a birthday party,' said Bingo.

Actually it was Odo that ate the least after all. The drink in his cup seemed sweet and fragrant; he drained it, and felt all weariness slip away, and yet sleep came softly down upon him. He was already half wrapped in warm dreams as he ate; and afterwards he could remember nothing more than the taste of bread - yet a bread that was like the best hobbit-bread ever baked (and that was Bread indeed) eaten after a long fast, only this bread was better. Frodo afterwards recalled little of either food or drink, for his mind was filled with the light under the trees, the elf-faces, the sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a waking dream. But he remembered taking a draught that had the warmth of a golden autumn afternoon and the cool of a clear fountain; and he remembered too the taste of fruits, sweet as wild berries, richer than the tended fruits of hobbit-gardens (and those are fruits indeed).

Bingo sat and ate and drank and talked, and simply remembered having had something of all the foods he liked best; but his mind was chiefly on the talk. He knew something of the elf- tongue, and listened eagerly. Now and again he spoke to those that served him and thanked them in their own language. They smiled on him and said laughing: 'Here is a jewel among hobbits!'(22) After a while Odo and Frodo fell fast asleep, and were lifted up and borne away to bowers under the trees; they were laid there upon soft beds and slept the night away. But Bingo remained talking with Gildor, the leader of the Elves.(23) 'Why did you choose this moment to set out?' asked Gildor.

'Well, really it chose itself,' answered Bingo. 'I had come to the end of my treasure. It had always held me back from the Journey which half of my heart wished for, ever since Bilbo went away; but now it was gone. So I said to my stay-at-home half: "There is nothing to keep you here. The Journey might bring you some more treasure, as it did for old Bilbo; and anyway on the road you will be able to live more easily without any. Of course if you like to stay in Hobbiton and earn your living as a gardener or a carpenter, you can." The stay-at-home half surrendered; it did not want to make other people's chairs or grow other people's potatoes. It was soft and fat. I think the Journey will do it good. But of course the other half is not really looking for treasure, but for Adventure - later rather than sooner. At the moment it also is soft and fat, and finding walking over the Shire quite enough.'

'Yes!' laughed Gildor. 'You still look just like an ordinary hobbit!'

'I daresay,' said Bingo. 'But my birthday the day before yesterday (24) seems already a long way behind. Still a hobbit I am, and a hobbit I shall always be.'

'I only said look,' replied the Elf. 'You seem to me a most peculiar hobbit inside, quite as peculiar as Bilbo; and I think strange things will happen to you and your friends. If you go looking for Adventure, you usually find as much of it as you can manage. And it often happens that when you think it is ahead, it comes on you unexpectedly from behind.'

'So it seems,' said Bingo. 'But I did not expect it ahead or behind so soon - not in our own Shire.'

'But it is not your Shire alone, nor for ever,' said Gildor. 'The Wide World is all about it. You can fence yourselves in, but you have no means of fencing it out.'

'All the same, it is disturbing,' said Bingo. 'I want to get to Rivendell, if I can - though I hear the road has not grown easier of late years. Can you tell me anything to guide me or help me?'

'I do not think you will find the road too hard. But if you are thinking of what you call the Black Rider, that is another matter. Have you told me all your reasons for leaving secretly? Did Gandalf tell you nothing?'

'Not even a hint, at least none that I understood. I seldom saw him after Bilbo went away, twice a year at most. I saw him last spring, when he turned up unexpectedly one night; and I told him then of the plan I was beginning to make for the Journey. He seemed pleased, and told me not to put it off later than the autumn. He came again to help me with the Party, but we were too busy then to talk much, and he went off with the dwarves and the Rivendell elves as soon as the fireworks were over. He did hint that I might meet him again in Rivendell, and suggested that I should make for that place first.'

'Not later than the autumn! ' said Gildor. 'I wonder. He may all the same not have known that they were in the Shire; yet he knows more about them than we do. If he did not tell you any more, I do not feel inclined to do so, for fear of frightening you from the Journey. Because I think it is clear that your Journey started none too soon; by what seems strange good luck you went just in time. You ought to go on, and not turn back, though you have met adventure, and danger, much sooner than you expected. You ought to go quickly; but you must be careful, and look not only ahead, but also behind, and even perhaps to both sides as well.'