Part 3 (1/2)

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 s.h.i.+re 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 s.h.i.+re(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 s.h.i.+re - 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 s.h.i.+re. 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. 'Hus.h.!.+ ' 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 s.h.i.+re.'

'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.'