THE HOBBIT

by J. R. R. Tolkien

Chapter One

An Unexpected Party

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and a bad smell, nor yet a dry, sandy hole with nothing in it: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

It had a round door like a porthole, painted green with a shiny yellow brass knob in the middle. Behind the door there was a hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke. On the floor there were carpets and chairs, and on the walls there were lots of pegs for hats and coats - the hobbit liked visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going into the side of the hill - The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it - and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another. Bedrooms, bathrooms, cellars, pantries, wardrobes, kitchens, dining-rooms, all were on the same floor. The best rooms were all on the left-hand side, because only they had windows, round windows looking over his garden and meadows, going down to the river.

This hobbit was a very rich hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for a long time, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them were rich, but also because they never had any adventures or did anything unexpected. This is a story of how a Baggins had an adventure, and did completely unexpected things. Maybe, as a result, he lost the neighbours' respect, but he gained - well, you will see whether he gained anything in the end.

The mother of our hobbit... what is a hobbit? I suppose hobbits need some description nowadays, because they have become rare and shy of the Big People, as they call us. They are (or were) a little people, about half our height, and smaller than the Dwarves. Hobbits have no beards. There is little or no magic about them, but they can disappear quietly and quickly when the Big People come along, making a noise like elephants. They are often fat in the stomach; they dress in bright colours (especially green and yellow); wear no shoes, because the soles of their feet are leathery and covered with thick warm hair. They have brown curly hair on their heads, long brown fingers and friendly faces. Hobbits laugh deep fruity laughs (especially after dinner, which they have twice a day). Now you know enough. As I was saying, the mother of this hobbit - of Bilbo Baggins - was Belladonna Took, one of the three daughters of the Old Took, head of the hobbits who lived across The Water, the small river that ran at the foot of The Hill. They said that long ago one of the Tooks had a fairy wife. That was, of course, absurd, but certainly there was something strange about them, - and sometimes members of the Took-clan went away and had adventures.

Mr Bungo Baggins, Bilbo's father, built a luxurious hobbit-hole for his wife (and partly with her money), and there they remained to the end of their days. Still it is probable that Bilbo, their only son, although he looked and behaved exactly like his father, got something a bit queer from the Tooks, something that only waited for a chance to come out. The chance never arrived, until Bilbo Baggins was grown up, about fifty years old.

One morning, when Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking a long wooden pipe, Gandalf came by. Gandalf! He had been away over The Hill on his own business since the Old Took died.

So that morning Bilbo saw an old man with a stick. He had a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which a white beard hung down below his waist, and huge black boots. "Good morning!" said Bilbo. The morning was really good: the sun was shining, and the grass was very green. But Gandalf looked at him from under long bushy eyebrows. "What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning?"

"All of them at once," said Bilbo. "And that's also a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors. If you have a pipe, sit down and let's smoke!" Then Bilbo sat down on a seat by his door, crossed his legs, and blew out a beautiful grey ring of smoke that floated away over The Hill.

"Very pretty!" said Gandalf. "But I have no time to blow smoke-rings this morning. I am looking for a companion in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone."

"Of course - in these parts! We are plain quiet folk and don't like adventures. I can't think what anybody sees in them," said our Mr Baggins. Then he took out his morning letters, and began to read. He wanted Gandalf to go away. But the old man did not move. He stood leaning on his stick and gazing at the hobbit without saying anything, till Bilbo got quite uncomfortable and even a little angry.

"Good morning!" he said at last. "We don't want any adventures here, thank you!" By this he meant that the conversation was at an end.

"Now you say 'Good morning' and mean that you want to get rid of me," said Gandalf.

"Not at all, not at all, my dear sir! Let me see, do I know your name?"

"Yes, yes, my dear sir - and I know your name, Mr Bilbo Baggins. And you really know my name. I am Gandalf!"

"Gandalf, Gandalf! You are the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs! You are the fellow who used to tell wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses! You are the man that used to make fantastic fireworks! I remember those! Splendid! You were responsible for so many quiet young hobbits that went off for mad adventures! I beg your pardon, I had no idea that you were still in business."

"Where else should I be?" said the wizard. "But I am pleased that you remember something about me. So I will give you what you asked for."

"I beg your pardon, I haven't asked for anything!"

"Yes, you have! Twice now. My pardon. I give it you. In fact I will even send you on this adventure. It will be very amusing for me and very good for you too."

"Sorry! I don't want any adventures, thank you. Not today. But please come to tea - any time you like! Why not tomorrow? Come tomorrow! Good-bye!"

With that the hobbit turned and ran inside his round green door.

"Why did I ask him to tea?" he said to himself, as he went to the pantry. He had only just had breakfast, but he thought a cake or two and a drink of something would do him good after his fright.

Gandalf was still standing outside the door, and laughing long but quietly. Then he scratched a queer sign on the hobbit's beautiful green front-door and went away.

The next day Bilbo almost forgot about Gandalf, but just before tea-time, when a tremendous ring on the front-door bell came, he remembered! He rushed and put on the kettle, and put out another cup and saucer and an extra cake or two, and ran to the door. "I am so sorry to keep you waiting!" he was going to say, when he saw that it was not Gandalf at all. It was a dwarf with a blue beard tucked into a golden belt, and very bright eyes under his dark-green hood. As soon as the door was opened, he pushed inside, hung his hooded cloak on the nearest peg, and "Dwalin at your service!" he said with a low bow.

"Bilbo Baggins at yours!" answered the hobbit, and added: "I am going to take tea; please come and have some with me."

Very soon there came another ring at the bell. "Excuse me!" said the hobbit, and went off to the door. "So you are here at last!" he was going to say to Gandalf this time. But it was not Gandalf. Instead there was a very old dwarf with a white beard and a scarlet hood; and he too hopped inside as soon as the door was open. He hung his red hood next to Dwalin's green one, and "Balin at your service!" he said.

"Thank you!" said Bilbo in surprise. He liked visitors, but he liked to know them before they arrived, and he preferred to invite them himself.

"Come in and have some tea!" he said after taking a deep breath.

"I would prefer a little mug of beer, if it is possible, my good sir," said Balin. "But I don't mind some seed-cake, if you have any."

"Lots!" Bilbo answered, to his own surprise; and he ran to the cellar to fill a pint beer-mug, and to the pantry to fetch two beautiful round seed-cakes which he had baked that afternoon.

When he got back, Balin and Dwalin were talking at the table like old friends (in fact, they were brothers). Bilbo put the beer and the cakes in front of them, when a loud ring came at the bell again, and then another ring.

"I am sure, this time it's Gandalf," he thought. But it was not. It was two more dwarves, both with blue hoods, silver belts, and yellow beards; and each of them carried a bag of tools and a spade. They hopped in, as soon as the door began to open - Bilbo was not surprised at all.

"What can I do for you, my dwarves?" he said.

"Kili at your service!" said the one. "And Fili!" added the other; and they both took off their blue hoods and bowed.

"At yours and your family's!" replied Bilbo.

So the four dwarves sat around the table and talked about mines and gold and troubles with the goblins and the dragons, and lots of other things, but then the bell rang again. "Someone is at the door!" Bilbo said, blinking.

Then the bell rang again louder than ever, and he had to run to the door. There were FIVE dwarves. Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, and Gloin were their names; and very soon two purple hoods, a grey hood, a brown hood, and a white hood were hanging on the pegs, and the dwarves joined the others. Some of them called for ale, and one for coffee, and all of them for cakes; so the hobbit was very busy for a while. Suddenly there came a loud knock. Somebody was banging with a stick!

Bilbo rushed along the passage, very angry. He quickly opened the door, and they all fell in, one on top of the other. More dwarves, four more! And there was Gandalf behind, leaning on his stick and laughing.

"Carefully! Carefully!" he said. "Let me introduce Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and especially Thorin!"

"At your service!" said Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur standing in a row. Then they hung up two yellow hoods and a pale green one; and also a sky-blue one with a long silver tassel. This last belonged to Thorin, a very important dwarf, who didn't like falling on Bilbo's mat with Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur on top of him.

"Now we are all here!" said Gandalf, looking at the row of thirteen hoods hanging on the pegs. "I hope there is something to eat and drink! What's that? Tea! No thank you! A little red wine, I think, for me."

"And for me," said Thorin.

"And raspberry jam and apple-pie," said Bifur.

"And some cheese," said Bofur.

"And pork-pie and salad," said Bombur.

"And more cakes, if you don't mind," called the other dwarves.

"And bring out a few eggs, the cold chicken and pickles!" Gandalf called after him, as the hobbit went to the pantries.

"They know as much about my pantries as I do myself!" thought Mr Baggins, who was feeling really confused. By the time he had got all the bottles and dishes and knives and forks and glasses and plates and spoons and things piled up on big trays, he was getting very hot, and red in the face, and annoyed.

Gandalf sat at the head of the party with the thirteen dwarves, and Bilbo sat on a stool at the fireside. The dwarves ate and ate, and talked and talked, and time went on. At last they pushed their chairs back, and Bilbo made a move to collect the plates and glasses. "I suppose you will all stay to supper?" he said very politely.

"Of course!" said Thorin. "And after. We will not finish the business till late, and we must have some music first. Now let's clear up!" And the dwarves jumped to their feet and made tall piles of all the things. They went off and the hobbit ran after them almost crying with fright: "please be careful!" But the dwarves only started to sing:

"Break the glasses and the plates!

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates -

Pour the milk right on the floor!

Splash the wine on every door!"

But of course they didn't do that, and everything was cleaned very quickly, while the hobbit was turning round and round in the middle of the kitchen trying to see what they were doing. Then they went back. "Now bring out the instruments!" said Thorin.

Kili and Fili brought little fiddles; Dori, Nori, and Ori took out flutes from their coats; Bombur brought a drum from the hall; Bifur and Bofur brought clarinets; Dwalin and Balin brought big viols and Thorin's harp. It was a beautiful golden harp, and when Thorin touched it, the music began suddenly, and it was so sweet that Bilbo forgot everything else. Soon the dark came into the room, but they continued playing. And suddenly first one and then another began to sing, and this is a fragment of their song:

"Far over the misty mountains cold

To dark deep caves and caverns old

We go away ere break of day

To seek the pale enchanted gold.

For ancient king and elvish lord

A lot of things of shiny gold

The dwarves produced, and light they caught

To hide in gems on hilt of sword."

And then the song told the story of a dragon that came and burned down the woods on the mountain, killed a lot of dwarves and took their treasures. The hymn was heroic and its last words were:

"We go away, ere break of day,

To win our harps and gold from him!"

As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by magic, and he felt the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick. He got up in excitement. Suddenly he found that the music and the singing had stopped, and they were all looking at him with eyes shining in the dark.

"Where are you going?" said Thorin.

"What about a little light?" said Bilbo feeling sorry.

"We like the dark," said the dwarves. "Dark for dark business!"

"Of course!" said Bilbo, and sat down in a hurry.

And then Gandalf said, "Let Thorin speak!"

So Thorin said, "Gandalf, dwarves and Mr Baggins! We are here to discuss our plans. Before the dawn we will start our long and really dangerous journey. And I suppose I have to explain something before." But he was interrupted. Poor Bilbo couldn't hear it any longer. When he heard "really dangerous journey", he began to feel something coming up inside, and very soon he made a sound like the whistle of an engine coming out of a tunnel. Then he fell on the floor and screamed "struck by lightning!" So the dwarves took him and laid him on the sofa with a drink at his elbow, and then they went back to their dark business.

"He is an excitable little fellow," said Gandalf, as they sat down again, "but one of the best - as fierce as a dragon."

Meanwhile, after a drink, Bilbo crept nervously to the door of the room. He heard Gloin speaking: "Are you sure of him? Maybe Gandalf is right, and this hobbit can be fierce, but one scream like that in a moment of excitement would be enough to wake the dragon and all his relatives, and kill many of us. I think he was frightened but not excited! He looks more like a grocer - than a burglar!"

Then Mr Baggins opened the door and went in. The Took side had won, though many times afterwards the Baggins part regretted it.

"Pardon me," he said, "I don't know why you mentioned burglars, but as far as I understand, you think I am no good. I will show you. Tell me what you want, and I will try it, if I have to walk far away and fight the wild beasts."

"Yes, I was talking about you", said Gloin, "and you can say Expert Treasure-hunter instead of Burglar if you like. Gandalf told us that there was a man in these parts looking for a Job at once, he had marked your door and so arranged a meeting here this Wednesday at tea-time."

"Of course," said Gandalf, "I put the mark there myself. I did it for very good reasons. You asked me to find the fourteenth man for your expedition, and I chose Mr Baggins because he is a real hero. So let's have no more argument. Now Bilbo, my boy, fetch the lamp, and let's look at this!"

On the table he spread a piece of parchment like a map.

"This was made by Thror, your grandfather, Thorin," Gandalf said. "It is a plan of the Mountain."

"There is a dragon marked in red on the Mountain," said Balin, "but it will be easy enough to find him without that, if we arrive there."

"There is one point that you haven't noticed," said the wizard, "and that is the secret entrance. Do you see that rune on the West side, and the hand pointing to it from the other runes? That marks a hidden passage to the Lower Halls. It is very small. 'Five feet high the door and three may walk abreast' say the runes. Smaug could not creep into a hole that size, not even when he was a young dragon."

"It is a great big hole to me," said Bilbo.

"Also," went on Gandalf, "I forgot to mention that with the map I got a key. Here it is!" he said, and handed to Thorin an unusual small key made of silver.

"I will keep it safe," said Thorin and fastened it upon a chain that hung about his neck and under his jacket.

"So I decided on burglary", continued Gandalf. "And here is our little Bilbo Baggins, the selected burglar. And now let's make some plans."

"Very well then," said Thorin, "maybe the burglar-expert will give us some ideas or suggestions." He turned to Bilbo.

"First I would like to know a bit more about the story," said he, feeling confused. "I mean about the dragon and the gold, and how it got there, and who it belongs to. Also I would like to know about risks."

"O very well," said Thorin. "Long ago in my grandfather Thror's time our family was driven out of the far North, and came back with all their things and their tools to this Mountain on the map. They became very rich and famous, and my grandfather was King under the Mountain. The mortal men, who lived to the South, respected him. They built the merry town of Dale there in those days. Kings often sent for our smiths, and rewarded them generously. Those were good days for us - my grandfather's halls became full of jewels, and the toy-market of Dale was the wonder of the North.

"Certainly that attracted the dragon. Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves; and they guard their stolen treasures. There were a lot of dragons in the North, and one of them, very greedy, strong and wicked, was called Smaug. One day he flew up into the air and came south. We heard a noise like a hurricane coming from the North, and then the dragon settled on our mountain in flame. He burned down the woods. By that time all the bells were ringing in Dale and the warriors were arming. The dwarves rushed out of their great gate; but the dragon killed them and destroyed most of the warriors. Then he went back and crept in through the Front Gate and after that there were no dwarves left alive inside, and he took all their wealth for himself. Probably, he has piled it all up in a great heap far inside, and sleeps on it. Later he crawled out of the great gate and came by night to Dale, and carried away people to eat, until Dale was ruined, and all the people dead or gone. What goes on there now I don't know for certain, but I think nobody lives near the Mountain.

"Those few of us, who were lucky to be alive, wept in hiding, and cursed Smaug. Suddenly my father and my grandfather arrived. They only said that one day in the proper time I would know how they had got away. After that we went away, and we had to work really hard to earn our living. But we have never forgotten our stolen treasure.

"I think my father and my grandfather had a private Side-door, and only they knew about it. I am sure they made a map, and I would like to know how Gandalf got it."

"Well, your father gave me this to give to you," said the wizard. "Your father could not remember his own name when he gave me the paper, and he never told me yours. Here it is," said he handing the map to Thorin.

"I don't understand," said Thorin.

"Your father," said the wizard slowly and grimly, "gave me the map in the dungeons of the Necromancer."

"What were you doing there?" asked Thorin with a shudder, and all the dwarves shivered.

"It does not matter. It was a dangerous business. I tried to save your father, but it was too late. He had forgotten almost everything except the map and the key. Necromancer is an enemy quite beyond the powers of all the dwarves. And the dragon and the Mountain are also impossible tasks for you!"

"Hear, hear! Hear what I have got to say!" said Bilbo.

"What's that?" they asked.

"Well, I think that you should go East and have a look round. After all there is the Side-door, and dragons must sleep sometimes, I suppose. I am sure you will think of something. And well, what about bed and an early start? I will give you a good breakfast before you go."

"Before we go, you mean," said Thorin. "Aren't you the burglar? But I agree about bed and breakfast. I like eggs and ham before a journey."

So the hobbit made beds on chairs and sofas for them all and went to his little bed really tired. He was not now quite so sure that he was going on any journey in the morning. As he lay in bed he could hear Thorin singing to himself in the best bedroom next to him:

"Far over the misty mountains cold

To dark deep caves and caverns old

We go away, ere break of day,

To find our long-forgotten gold."

That night Bilbo had very uncomfortable dreams. The next day he woke up late.

CHAPTER TWO

Roast Mutton

Bilbo jumped up, and rushed into the dining-room. There he saw nobody, but all the signs of a large breakfast. There were huge piles of unwashed pots in the kitchen. But he was really relieved after all to think that they had all gone without him, though he felt a little disappointed. The feeling surprised him.

Bilbo washed up and had a nice little breakfast in the kitchen. By that time the sun was shining and Bilbo began to forget about the night before when Gandalf walked in.

"My dear fellow," said he, "when are you going to come? What about an early start? - And here you are at half past ten! They left you the message, because they could not wait."

"What message?" said poor Mr Baggins.

"It's on the mantelpiece, just under the clock," said Gandalf, handing Bilbo a note.

This is what he read:

"Thorin and Company to Burglar Bilbo greeting!

Thanks for your hospitality and for your offer of professional help. The terms are: cash on delivery; all traveling expenses guaranteed; funeral expenses to be defrayed by us or our representatives.

We didn't want to disturb you, so we left early to make necessary preparations, and will wait for you at the Green Dragon Inn, Bywater, at 11 a.m.

Yours sincerely,

Thorin and Co."

"So, you will have to run," said Gandalf.

"But-" said Bilbo.

"No time for it," said the wizard, "go!"

So Bilbo gave his keys to Gandalf and ran as fast as he could. He got to Bywater on time!

"Bravo!" said Balin who was standing at the inn door. Just then all the others came on ponies, and each pony carried all kinds of bags and parcels. There was a very small pony, for Bilbo.

"Let's go!" said Thorin.

"I'm awfully sorry," said Bilbo, "but I have come without my hat."

"Don't worry," said Dwalin, "I have got a spare hood and cloak in my baggage."

That's how they all started their journey one fine morning just before May; and Bilbo was wearing a dark-green hood and a dark-green cloak. They were too large for him, and he looked rather comic.

Soon Gandalf came on a white horse. He had brought Bilbo's pipe and tobacco. So after that they told stories or sang songs as they rode forward all day. At first they had passed through hobbit-lands, with good roads. Then they came to lands where people spoke strangely. Then they had gone on far into the Lone-lands, where there were no people left, and the roads got worse. They saw dark hills. Everything seemed gloomy. It was cold and wet. In the Lone-lands they had to camp when they could. It was after tea-time; it was raining heavily. Soon it was nearly dark, and the moon appeared above the hills. And then they noticed that Gandalf was missing. So far he had come all the way with them. But now he simply was not there at all! Finally they decided to camp but the dwarves could not make a fire that night. Then one of the ponies suddenly felt frightened and got into the river, and all the baggage that he carried was washed away off him. Of course it was mostly food, and there was little left for supper, and less for breakfast. There all of them were sitting gloomy and wet, when Balin said: "There's a light over there!" And they went in the direction of the light. So they came to the hill and were soon in the wood.

Suddenly the red light shone very brightly through the trees not far ahead. "Now it is the burglar's turn," they said.

"Bilbo, you must go and find out all about that light, and what it is for," said Thorin to the hobbit. "Now go, and come back quickly, if all is well. If not, come back if you can! It you can't, hoot twice like a barn-owl and once like a screech-owl, and we will do what we can."

So Bilbo had to go off, before he could explain that he could not hoot even once like any kind of owl. But hobbits can move absolutely quietly in woods. And he came up to the fire without disturbing anyone. There he saw three very large trolls sitting round a very large fire. They were roasting mutton on long spits of wood. There was a barrel of good drink nearby, and they were drinking out of jugs.

"Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and mutton again tomorrow, Tom" said one of the trolls.

"Yes, Bert. We haven't had a bit of manflesh for ages," said another troll. "Why did William bring us here?" he said.

"Shut your mouth!" answered William, the troll, sitting next to them. Bilbo was standing in the shadows. He had heard that stealing things from the trolls' pockets was really easy, so he crept behind a tree just behind William.

Bert and Tom went off to the barrel. William was having another drink. Then Bilbo put his little hand in William's huge pocket. There was a purse in it. He lifted it carefully out. But suddenly the purse said, "Hey, who are you?" and William turned round at once and grabbed Bilbo by the neck.

"Bert, look what I've caught!" said William.

"What is it?" said the others coming up.

"I don't know! Who are you?"

"Bilbo Baggins, a bur- a hobbit," said poor Bilbo.

"A burrahobbit?" said they.

"What was a burrahobbit doing in my pocket?" said William.

"And can you cook them?" said Tom.

"You can try," said Bert.

"But he is so small!" said William.

"Perhaps there are more like him nearby, and we can make a pie," said Bert. "Are there any more of your sort in these woods?" said he looking at Bilbo.

"Yes, lots," said Bilbo, before he remembered not to give his friends away. "No, none at all, not one," he said at once.

"What do you mean?" said Bert.

"Please don't cook me, kind sirs! I am a good cook myself. I'll cook beautifully for you, a perfectly beautiful breakfast for you, if only you won't have me for supper."

"Poor little thing! Let him go!" said William.

"But first let him explain 'lots and none at all'," said Tom. "I don't want anyone cut my throat in my sleep. Hold his toes in the fire, till he talks!"

"No!" said William. "I caught him anyway."

"You're a fat fool, William," said Bert, and the trolls started fighting.

Right in the middle of the fight Balin came up. The dwarves had heard noises from a distance, and after waiting for some time, they started to creep towards the light as quietly as they could. But as soon as Tom saw Balin, he gave an awful cry. Trolls simply hate dwarves (uncooked). Bert and Bill stopped fighting at once, and quickly put a sack over Balin's head.

Soon other dwarves appeared and all of them got into sacks. Bilbo was lying under a bush, not moving.

Just then Gandalf came back. But no one saw him. The trolls had just decided to roast the dwarves now and eat them later.

"That's not a good idea," said a voice. Bert thought it was William's.

"Don't start the argument, Bill," he said, "or it will take all night."

"Who's a-arguing?" said William, who thought it was Bert that had spoken.

"You are," said Bert.

"You're a liar," said William; and so the argument started. Soon the trolls started fighting.

"Now stop it!" said Tom and Bert together. "The dawn comes early!"

"At dawn you will turn into stone!" said a voice that sounded like William's. But it wasn't. Just at that moment the light came over the hill. William never spoke because he stood turned to stone; and Bert and Tom also turned into stones as they looked at him. And there they stand to this day; for trolls, as you probably know, must be underground before dawn, or they turn into stone and never move again. That is what had happened to Bert and Tom and William.

"Excellent!" said Gandalf, as he stepped from behind a tree, and helped Bilbo up.

Then they untied the sacks and let out the dwarves.

"Don't waste our time now. The trolls must have a cave or a hole somewhere nearby. We must look into it!"

They searched about, and soon found the marks of trolls' stony boots going away through the trees. They followed the tracks up the hill, until they came on a big door of stone leading to a cave. But they could not open it, not though they all pushed while Gandalf tried various spells.

When they were getting tired and angry, Bilbo asked, "Will this key help? I found it on the ground where the trolls had their fight." He showed a large key. Perhaps it had fallen out of William's pocket, very luckily, before he turned into stone.

Gandalf grabbed the key and put it into the key-hole. Then the stone door opened, and they all went inside. There were bones on the floor and a horrible smell was in the air; but there was a lot of food on shelves and on the ground, and in the corner there were many pots full of gold coins. On the walls there were several swords of various shapes and sizes. Two of them were really beautiful. Gandalf and Thorin each took one of these; and Bilbo took a knife in a leather sheath.

"Let's get out of this horrible smell!" said Fili. So they carried out the pots of coins and the food, also one barrel of ale which was still full. Now they had bread and cheese, and plenty of ale, and bacon to toast. After that they slept, and they did nothing more till the afternoon. Then they brought up their ponies, and carried away the pots of gold, and buried them very secretly not far from the track by the river, putting very many spells over them, just in case they had the chance to come back and pick them up. When that was done, they all went on towards the East.

CHAPTER THREE

A Short Rest

One morning they crossed a river at a wide shallow place. The far bank was steep and slippery. When they got to the top of it, leading their ponies, they saw the great mountains very near. It seemed only a day's easy journey from the feet of the nearest.

"Is that The Mountain?" asked Bilbo. He had never seen a thing that looked so big before.

"Of course not!" said Balin. "That is only the beginning of the Misty Mountains. And it is a long way from them to the Lonely Mountain in the East where Smaug lies on our treasure."

Now Gandalf led the way. "We must not miss the road," he said. "We need food and rest. Also it is very necessary to go through the Misty Mountains by the proper path, or else you will get lost in them, and have to come back and start at the beginning again (if you ever get back at all)."

And then he said, "You have come to the very edge of the Wild. Not far away there is a valley where Elrond lives in the Last Homely House. I sent a message, and we are expected."

Morning passed, afternoon came; but there was no sign of any house. They went on and on. Suddenly Gandalf's horse stopped. "Here it is at last!" he called, and the others gathered round him and looked over the edge. They saw a valley far below. They could hear the water running at the bottom; and there was a light on the valley-side across the water. The air grew warmer as they got lower. Their spirits rose as they went down and down. Finally they came to an open glade not far above the banks of the stream.

"Hmm! It smells like elves!" thought Bilbo, and he looked up at the stars. They were burning bright and blue. Just then there came a song like laughter in the trees. They were elves of course.

Soon Bilbo saw their silhouettes. He loved elves but he was a little frightened of them, too. Dwarves don't get on well with them. Even respectable dwarves like Thorin and his friends think them foolish, or get annoyed with them.

"Well, well!" said a voice. "Just look! Bilbo the hobbit on a pony, my dear! Isn't it fantastic!"

At last one, a tall young fellow, came out from the trees and bowed to Gandalf and to Thorin.

"Welcome to the valley!" he said.

"Thank you!" said Thorin; but Gandalf was already off his horse and among the elves, talking merrily with them.

"You are a little lost," said the elf. "We will show you the way, but you should go on foot, until you are over the bridge. You can have supper over there," he said.

The dwarves wanted to have supper as soon as possible, so they went on, leading their ponies, till they came to the river. It was flowing fast and noisily. There was only a narrow bridge of stone without a parapet; and over that they had to go, slow and careful, one by one, each leading his pony. The elves had brought bright lanterns to the shore, and they sang a merry song.

"Thank you, Good People! And good night!" said Gandalf, who came last.

"Good night!" answered elves.

And so at last they all came to the Last Homely House, and found its doors open.

They stayed long in that good house, fourteen days at least, and they didn't want to leave.

The master of the house was a friend of elves - one of those people whose fathers came into the history before the wars of the evil goblins and the elves and the first men in the North. In those days there were still some people who had both elves and heroes of the North for ancestors, and Elrond the master of the house was their chief. He was noble and good-looking, as strong as a warrior, as wise as a wizard, as respected as a king of dwarves, and as kind as summer. His house was perfect.

All of the guests, the ponies as well, grew refreshed and strong in a few days there. Their clothes were mended. Their bags were filled with food. Their plans were improved with the best advice. So the time came to leave, and they went on again with the early sun on midsummer morning.

Elrond knew all about runes of every kind. That day he looked at the swords they had brought from the trolls' place, and he said: "These were not made by trolls. They are very old swords of the High Elves of the West. They were made in Gondolin for the Goblin-wars. Keep them well!"

"We will do that," Thorin and Gandalf said.

Then Elrond looked at their map. The moon was shining brightly. He held up the map and the white light shone through it.

"What is this?" he said. "There are moon-letters here, beside the plain runes which say 'five feet high the door and three may walk abreast.'"

"What are moon-letters?" asked the hobbit full of excitement. He loved maps, and he also liked runes and letters.

"Moon-letters are rune-letters, but you cannot see them," said Elrond, "not when you look straight at them. They can only be seen when the moon shines behind them. The dwarves invented them and wrote them with silver pens."

"What do they say?" asked Gandalf and Thorin together.

"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks," read Elrond, "and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the key-hole."

"Durin, Durin!" said Thorin. "He was the father of the fathers of the eldest race of Dwarves, the Longbeards, and my first ancestor: I am his heir."

"Then what is Durin's Day?" asked Elrond.

"The first day of the dwarves' New Year," said Thorin, "when the last moon of autumn and the sun are in the sky together."

Then Elrond gave the map back to Thorin; and then they went down to the water to see the elves dance and sing.

The next morning they rode away, with their hearts ready for more adventure. Now they knew the road that they had to follow over the Misty Mountains to the land beyond.

CHAPTER FOUR

Over Hill and Under Hill

The way was long and dangerous. Once there was a terrible thunderstorm, and the dwarves found a dry cave to spend there some time.

It seemed not too large and mysterious. At one end there was room for the ponies. Oin and Gloin wanted to light a fire at the door to dry their clothes, but Gandalf didn't let them do it. So they put their wet things on the floor, and took dry ones out of their bags; then they made their blankets comfortable, got out their pipes and blew smoke rings. They talked and talked, and forgot about the storm, and discussed what each would do with his share of the treasure; and so they fell asleep one by one. But Bilbo could not go to sleep for a long while; and when he fell asleep, he had very nasty dreams. Suddenly he woke up and saw that a crack had opened at the back of the cave, and was already a wide passage. He was just in time to see the ponies' tails disappearing into it. Of course he gave a very loud scream.

Out jumped the goblins, great ugly-looking goblins, lots of goblins. There were six to each dwarf, at least, and two even for Bilbo; and they were all grabbed and carried through the crack. But not Gandalf. Bilbo's scream had wakened him up at once, and when goblins came to grab him, there was a terrible flash like lightning in the cave, and several of them fell dead.

The crack closed, and Bilbo and the dwarves were on the wrong side of it! Where was Gandalf? It was very dark. The passages there were crossed in all directions, but the goblins knew their way. The goblins were very rude, and laughed in their horrible voices.

Now there came a red light before them. The goblins took out whips and whipped the dwarves and Bilbo and forced them to run. Soon they came into a big cavern. There was a great red fire in the middle, and there were torches along the walls, and it was full of goblins. They all laughed and clapped their hands, when they saw the dwarves and little Bilbo. The ponies were already there; and all the packages were broken open.

That was the last time they saw their little ponies, because goblins eat horses and ponies and donkeys, and they are always hungry. Now the goblins chained the prisoners' hands and linked them all together in a line and dragged them to the far end of the cavern.

There in the shadows on a large flat stone sat a tremendous goblin with a huge head, and armed goblins were standing round him.

"Who are these miserable persons?" said the Great Goblin.

"Dwarves and this!" said one of the drivers, pulling at Bilbo's chain so that he fell forward onto his knees.

"We found them in our Front Porch."

"What did you do there?!" said the Great Goblin turning to Thorin. "What can you say?"

"Thorin the dwarf at your service!" he replied - it was just a polite nothing. "We sheltered from a storm in a cave that seemed unused."

"But what were you doing up in the mountains at all, and where were you coming from, and where were you going to? Tell me the truth, or I will prepare something really uncomfortable for you!"

"We are on a journey to visit our distant relatives who live on the East side of these mountains," said Thorin.

"He is a liar!" said one of the drivers. "Several of our people were struck by lightning in the cave and died. Also he has not explained this!" He held out the sword which Thorin had worn, the sword which came from the Trolls' place.

The Great Goblin gave an awful cry of rage when he looked at it. The goblins knew the sword at once. It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills. They had called it Orcrist, Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter. They hated it.

"Murderers and friends of elves!" the Great Goblin shouted. "Beat them! Bite them! Take them away to dark holes full of snakes!" He jumped off his seat and himself rushed at Thorin with his mouth open. Just at that moment all the lights in the cavern went out, and the great fire turned into a tower of blue smoke. The sparks were burning holes in the goblins. Soon they were falling over one another and rolling on the floor, biting and kicking.

Suddenly a sword flashed. Bilbo saw it go right through the Great Goblin and he fell dead. Then the sword went back into its sheath.

"Follow me quickly!" said a voice. Dori made Bilbo climb on his shoulders and then they all rushed down dark passages. A pale light was leading them.

Of course it was Gandalf; but just then they were too busy to ask how he got there. He took out his sword again, and again it flashed in the dark. This sword's name was Glamdring the Foe-hammer. The goblins just called it Beater, and hated it worse than Biter. Orcrist, too, had been saved because Gandalf had taken it from one of the frightened guards.

"Are we all here?" said he, handing his sword back to Thorin with a bow. "Let me see: yes, thirteen dwarves and Mr Baggins! Well, well! But we have no ponies, and no food, and we don't know where we are, and angry goblins are just behind! Go!"

Still goblins go faster than dwarves, and these goblins knew the way better, and were madly angry. So soon the dwarves could hear the goblins.

At this point Gandalf fell behind, and Thorin with him. They turned a sharp corner.

"Draw your sword, Thorin!" Gandalf shouted. There was nothing else to be done; and the goblins did not like it. They came round the corner, and found Goblin-cleaver and Foe-hammer shining bright. "Biter and Beater!" they shrieked; and soon they were all in confusion, and most of them were running back.

By that time the dwarves had gone on again, a long, long, way on into the dark tunnels of the goblins' realm. When the goblins discovered that, they chose their quickest runners with the sharpest ears and eyes. These ran forward silently. That is why neither Bilbo, nor the dwarves, nor even Gandalf heard them coming. They didn't see them, either. But the goblins saw them.

Quite suddenly Dori, carrying Bilbo, was grabbed from behind in the dark. He shouted and fell; and the hobbit rolled off his shoulders into the blackness, bumped his head on hard rock, and remembered nothing more.

CHAPTER FIVE

Riddles in the Dark

When Bilbo opened his eyes, it was dark. He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor.

Suddenly his hand felt a tiny ring of cold metal lying on the floor of the tunnel. He put the ring in his pocket almost without thinking. Then his hand came on the hilt of his little sword - the little dagger that he got from the trolls, and that he had forgotten.

Somehow he was comforted. He had noticed that such weapons made a great impression on goblins.

At last Bilbo got up and walked with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall. The tunnel seemed endless. On and on he went, and down and down; and still he heard no sound of anything. Suddenly he got into water! It was icy cold. The sword was hardly shining at all. He stopped, and he could hear, when he listened hard, drops dripping from an unseen roof into the water below.

"So it is a pool or a lake, and not an underground river," he thought. Deep down here by the dark water lived old Gollum, a small slimy creature. He had two big round pale eyes in his thin face. He had a little boat, and he rowed quietly on the lake; for it was a lake, wide and deep and deadly cold. He looked for blind fish, which he grabbed with his long fingers. He liked meat too.

Actually Gollum lived on a slimy island of rock in the middle of the lake. He was watching Bilbo now from the distance with his pale eyes like telescopes. Gollum got into his boat and moved from the island, while Bilbo was sitting and thinking. Suddenly Gollum came up to the hobbit.

Bilbo jumped nearly out of his skin when he suddenly saw the pale eyes looking at him.

"Who are you?" the hobbit said, holding his dagger in front of him.

"And you?" whispered Gollum.

"I am Mr Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don't know where I am."

"What have you got in your hands?" said Gollum, looking at the sword, which he did not quite like.

"A sword which came out of Gondolin!"

"Well," said Gollum, and became quite polite, "perhaps you like riddles. Let's play."

"Very well," agreed Bilbo. "You ask first," he said, because he had not had time to think of a riddle. So Gollum hissed:

"What has roots as nobody sees,

Is taller than trees,

Up, up it goes,

And yet never grows?"

"Easy!" said Bilbo. "It's a mountain, I suppose."

"Was it so easy? Let's have a real competition! If I ask, and you don't answer, I will eat you. If you ask me, and I don't answer, then I will do what you want, okay? I will show you the way out, yes!"

"All right!" said Bilbo.

"Thirty white horses on a red hill,

First they champ,

Then they stamp,

Then they stand still."

It was rather an old riddle, and Gollum knew the answer:

"Teeth! Teeth!" Then he asked another riddle:

"This thing all things devours:

Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;

Gnaws iron, bites steel;

Grinds hard stones to meal;

Slays king, ruins town,

And beats high mountain down."

Poor Bilbo sat in the dark thinking of all the horrible names of all the giants and ogres he had ever heard, but not one of them had done all these things. He had a feeling that the answer was quite different and that he should know it, but he could not think of it. He began to get frightened, and that is bad for thinking. He wanted to shout out: "Give me more time! Give me time!" But all that came out was:

"Time! Time!"

Bilbo was saved by chance, because that was the correct answer.

Gollum was disappointed once more; and now he was getting angry, and also tired of the game. It had made him very hungry indeed. He sat down in the dark by Bilbo.

"Now ask me a question," said Gollum. But Bilbo simply could not think of any question because he was really nervous. Bilbo pinched himself and slapped himself; he gripped on his little sword; he even felt in his pocket with his other hand. There he found the ring he had picked up in the passage and forgotten about.

"What have I got in my pocket?" he said aloud. He was talking to himself, but Gollum thought it was a riddle, and he was terribly upset.

"Not fair! Not fair!" he hissed.

Bilbo just didn't know what to ask so he repeated louder, "What have I got in my pocket?"

"Give me three guesses, three guesses" hissed Gollum.

"Very well! Guess!" said Bilbo.

"Hands!" said Gollum.

"Wrong," said Bilbo, who had luckily just taken his hand out again. "Guess again!"

Gollum thought of all the things he kept in his own pockets: fishbones, goblins' teeth, wet shells, a bit of bat-wing, and other nasty things. He tried to think what other people kept in their pockets.

"Knife!" he said at last.

"Wrong!" said Bilbo. "Last guess!"

Now Gollum hissed and rocked himself backwards and forwards; but still he did not dare to waste his last guess.

"Come on!" said Bilbo. "I am waiting!" He tried to sound bold and cheerful. "Time's up!" he said.

"String!" shrieked Gollum.

"Wrong," cried Bilbo very much relieved; and he jumped at once to his feet, put his back to the nearest wall, and held out his little sword. He knew, of course, that the riddle-game was sacred. But he felt he could not trust this slimy thing to keep any promise.

But Gollum did not attack him. He could see the sword in Bilbo's hand. He sat still, shivering and whispering. At last Bilbo could wait no longer.

"Well?" he said. "What about your promise? I want to go. You must show me the way."

"Certainly, but first I must go and get some things to help me," answered Gollum.

"Well, hurry up!" said Bilbo.

He thought that Gollum was not going to come back. But he was wrong. Gollum wanted to come back. He was angry now and hungry. And he was a wicked creature, and already he had a plan. In his hiding-place Gollum kept one very beautiful thing. He had a gold ring. He wanted it because it was a magic ring, and if you put that ring on your finger, you were invisible. Gollum hid it in a hole in the rock on his island. And sometimes he put it on, when he was very, very hungry, and tired of fish. Then he moved silently along dark passages looking for stray goblins to catch and eat them.

"I will be quite safe," Gollum whispered to himself. "He won't see me, and his little sword will be useless." That was Gollum's plan.

Bilbo waited a little; for he had no idea how to find his way out alone. Suddenly he heard a scream. Gollum was cursing in the darkness. He was on his island, trying to find his ring.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo called. "What have you lost?"

"You mustn't ask me," shrieked Gollum. "Not your business, no! It's lost!"

"Well, so am I," cried Bilbo, "Come and let me out, and then look for your thing!"

Suddenly out of the gloom came a loud hiss. "What have you got in your pockets? Tell me now."

"But I asked you first. What have you lost? Tell me that!" said Bilbo.

"What have you got in your pockets?" hissed Gollum again. Suspicion grew in Gollum's mind, so he was in his boat again, paddling quickly back to the shore. He was in rage and Bilbo's sword couldn't stop him now. When the hobbit saw Gollum, he realized that Gollum was going to kill him. So he turned and ran back up the dark passage down which he had come, keeping close to the wall and feeling it with his left hand. "What have you got in your pockets?" he heard the hiss loud behind him.

"What have I got?" he said to himself and put his left hand in his pocket. The ring felt very cold as it quietly slipped on to his forefinger.

The hiss was close behind him. He turned now and saw Gollum's eyes like small green lamps. Suddenly Bilbo fell down on the floor with his little sword under him.

In a moment Gollum was on him. But before Bilbo could do anything, Gollum passed by, taking no notice of him. Why? Bilbo slowly got up; he didn't know where to go. Perhaps if he followed Gollum, he could finally escape. So Bilbo decided to walk after Gollum quietly.

"Curse it! Curse it! Curse it!" hissed Gollum. "Curse the Baggins! What has he got in his pockets? Oh I guess he's found my ring." Bilbo was listening carefully.

Suddenly Gollum sat down and began to weep. Bilbo stopped. After a while Gollum began to talk to himself.

"The Baggins has got my ring; if he puts it on his finger, he will be invisible. But he doesn't know that. He is going to the back door now. Anyway, the goblins will catch him then. He can't get out that way."

And then Gollum got up and walked quickly. Bilbo hurried after him. Now he knew that the ring made him invisible! Soon they came to places where side-passages opened, this way and that. Gollum began at once to count them.

"Seven right, yes. Six left, yes!" he whispered. "This is it. This is the way to the back-door. Here's the passage!" He looked in, and stopped. "But I can't go in. Goblins are there. I smell them. I must wait here, wait a bit and see."

So Gollum had brought Bilbo to the way out after all, but Bilbo could not get in! There was Gollum sitting right in the opening.

Bilbo was desperate. He must get away. He trembled. And then quite suddenly he leaped straight over Gollum's head.

He did not turn to see what Gollum was doing. There was a hissing and cursing almost at his heels at first, then it stopped. All at once there came a terrible scream:

"Thief, thief, thief! Baggins! I hate you, I hate you for ever!" Gollum did not dare go further. He had lost.

Then there was a silence. Bilbo carefully walked.

Soon the passage went up, and after a while the passage turned a corner, and dipped down again, and there he saw a pale light. Then Bilbo began to run. He turned the last corner and came suddenly right into an open space, near a big stone door.

Bilbo blinked, and then suddenly he saw goblins with swords sitting in front of the door. They saw him sooner than he saw them. Yes, they saw him. The ring was not on his finger! With cries of delight the goblins rushed upon him. In despair Bilbo put his hands into his pockets and found the ring! It slipped on his finger. Suddenly the goblins stopped. They could not see him. "Where is it?" they cried.

Goblins cursed and ran; they fell over one another and got very angry.

Bilbo was terribly frightened. "I must get to the door, I must get to the door!" he said to himself. He tried to squeeze through the crack. He squeezed and squeezed, and he got stuck! It was awful. Suddenly one of the goblins shouted: "There is a shadow by the door. Something is outside!"

Bilbo's heart jumped into his mouth. He tried hard to get out. Buttons burst off in all directions and he was through, and leapt down the steps like a goat.

Of course they came down after him. But they don't like the sun. They could not find Bilbo with the ring on, so soon they went back to guard the door. Bilbo had escaped.

CHAPTER SIX

Out of the Frying-pan into the Fire

Bilbo had escaped the goblins, but he did not know where he was. He had lost his hood, cloak, food, pony, his buttons and his friends. He wandered on and on, till the sun began to set in the west, behind the mountains. Bilbo looked back. Then he looked forward and could see before him only plains. So he realized that he was on the other side of the Misty Mountains. But he wanted to find Gandalf and the dwarves. He decided to go back into the horrible, horrible tunnels and look for his friends.

Just then he heard voices. He stopped and listened.

He crept nearer, and suddenly he saw Gandalf and the dwarves. They were discussing all that had happened to them in the tunnels, and what they had to do now.

"And here we are - without the burglar!" said Dori.

"And here's the burglar!" said Bilbo stepping down into the middle of them, and slipping off the ring.

They jumped and shouted with surprise and delight. Bilbo's reputation went up a lot with the dwarves after this. Now they were sure that he was really a first-class burglar. Bilbo was so pleased with their praise that he said nothing about the ring. Then they wanted to know all about his adventures after they had lost him, and he sat down and told them everything - except the ring.

Soon the wizard said, "We must go on at once," he said. "Goblins will be after us when night comes. They can smell our footsteps. We must go far before dusk."

"But I am so hungry," said Bilbo.

"We must just tighten our belts and go on - or goblins will have us for supper."

They went on and on. They found themselves at the top of a wide steep slope of fallen stones. When they began to go down this, stones rolled away from their feet. Before long the whole slope above them and below them moved. Only trees below stopped them and they were saved.

"Must we go any further?" asked Bilbo, when it was so dark that he could only just see Thorin's beard, and so quiet that he could hear the dwarves' breathing like a loud noise. "My toes are all bruised, and my legs ache, and my stomach is like an empty sack."

"A bit further," said Gandalf.

At last they came to an open place where no trees grew. The moon was shining brightly. But it was not a nice place.

Suddenly they heard a long howl. Then another howl answered it. Wolves were howling at the moon, wolves were gathering together!

"What shall we do?!" Bilbo cried. "Escaping goblins to be caught by wolves!" he said, and it became a proverb, though we now say 'out of the frying-pan into the fire' in such uncomfortable situations.

"Climb up the trees quick!" cried Gandalf; and they ran to the trees at the edge of the glade. And they went up as high as they could.

But Bilbo could not get into any tree.

"Wolves will eat him if we don't do something," said Thorin, because howls all around them were getting nearer and nearer. "Dori!" he called, for Dori was lowest down in the easiest tree, "be quick, and help Mr Baggins!"

So Dori actually climbed out of the tree and let Bilbo move quickly up and stand on his back. Just at that moment the wolves ran into the clearing.

This glade in the ring of trees was evidently a meeting-place of the wolves. More and more were coming in. They left guards at the foot of the trees in which the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf were. In the middle of the circle was a great grey wolf. He spoke to other wolves in the dreadful language of the Wargs, the wicked wolves. Gandalf understood it.

I will tell you what Gandalf heard, though Bilbo did not understand it. The Wargs and the goblins often helped one another. Goblins sometimes went on raids, to get food or slaves. Then the Wargs helped them. Sometimes they rode on wolves. That night the Wargs had come to meet the goblins and the goblins were late.

From time to time some bold men returned to the area from the South. They cut down trees and built houses in the valleys and along the river-shores. Those men were brave and well-armed, and even the Wargs were afraid to attack them if there were many together, or in daylight. But now they had planned with the goblins' help to attack the village which was nearest the mountains, and they wanted to do that in the night. They were going to kill all the people except the few whom the goblins wanted to take as prisoners to their caves.

Now the Wargs thought that the dwarves were friends of the woodmen, and came to spy on them. So the Wargs were not going away until morning. They were waiting for goblin soldiers who could climb trees and kill the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf.

But then Gandalf gathered the huge pinecones from the branches of his tree, set them on bright blue fire and threw down at the wolves. Their coats caught fire at once, and they leaped in the air, and then rushed round in anger and fright.

The dwarves and Bilbo shouted and cheered.

"What's this noise?" said the Lord of the Eagles. He was sitting on the rock at the eastern edge of the mountains. "I hear wolves' voices!"

Eagles were proud and strong and noble-hearted. They did not love goblins, or fear them. When they noticed them, they usually swooped on them and drove them back to their caves. Goblins hated eagles and feared them.

Tonight the Lord of the Eagles wanted to know what was happening; so he and many other eagles flew away from the mountains and came down to the ring of the wolves and the meeting-place of the goblins.

There, all round the clearing of the Wargs, fire was leaping. But the wolf-guards did not leave the trees. Then suddenly goblins came running up. They put out all the flames except the fire closest to the trees where the dwarves were. Soon they had a ring of smoke and flame all round the dwarves. Smoke was in Bilbo's eyes. Soon the flames were under Gandalf's tree. In a moment it spread to the others.

Just at that moment the Lord of the Eagles swept down from above, seized Gandalf in his claws, and was gone. Then other birds flew to the tree-tops and seized the dwarves. Poor little Bilbo just managed to catch hold of Dori's legs, and they went together above the trees. Some eagles stayed behind and attacked the goblins and the wolves.

Soon Bilbo saw the pale peaks of the mountains. He shut his eyes and was afraid that he could not hold on any longer. At last the flight ended. Bilbo was really exhausted. Then he saw that the Lord of the Eagles was speaking to Gandalf.

The wizard and the eagle-lord were on friendly terms. Gandalf had once healed the eagle-lord from an arrow-wound. Now Gandalf asked the Great Eagle to carry the dwarves and himself and Bilbo far away across the plains below.

The Lord of the Eagles didn't want to take them close to men. "They will shoot at us," he said, "because they think we are after their sheep. No! We will not risk ourselves."

"Very well," said Gandalf. "Take us as far as you can! We are already deeply grateful to you. But now we are starving."

"I am nearly dead of it," said Bilbo in a weak little voice that nobody heard.

"Don't worry, we can help it," said the Lord of the Eagles. The eagles brought rabbits, hares, and a small sheep, and the dwarves cooked dinner.

So the adventures of the Misty Mountains ended. Soon Bilbo's stomach was full and comfortable again, and he fell asleep. But all night he dreamed of his own house.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Queer Lodgins

The next morning Bilbo woke up with the early sun in his eyes. He jumped up to look at the time and to go and put his kettle on - and found he was not home at all. For breakfast he had cold mutton and rabbit. And after that he had to get ready for a start. This time he climbed on to an eagle's back and clung between his wings. And soon fifteen great birds rose off from the mountain's side. Bilbo shut his eyes.

After a while the eagles began to go down. Below them there were oaks and elms, and wide grass lands, and a river. Right in the path of the stream there was a great rock, almost a hill of stone.

Quickly now to the top of this rock the eagles swooped one by one and set down their passengers. And there the eagles parted with the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf.

There was a flat space on the top of the hill of stone and a path with many steps leading down it to the river. The party crossed the river in a shallow place. There was a little cave where they stopped to discuss their plans.

"I always wanted to see you all safe over the mountains," said the wizard, "and now I have done it. But this is not my adventure. Maybe I will see you again before it is all over, but now I have some other urgent business to do."

The dwarves groaned and Bilbo wept.

"I am not going to disappear this very moment," said Gandalf. "I can give you a day or two more. We have no food, and no baggage, and no ponies; and you don't know where you are. Now I can tell you that. You are still some miles north of the right path. Very few people live in these parts. But there is somebody who lives not far away. That Somebody made the steps on the great rock - he calls it the Carrock. He does not come here often, certainly not in the daytime. We must go and find him; and if all goes well at our meeting, I think I will say good-bye to you."

Then they began to march through the long green grass and down the lines of the oaks and the tall elms.

"And who is that Somebody?" asked Bilbo as he went along at the wizard's side.

"The Somebody is a very great person. You must all be very polite when I introduce you. And you must be careful not to annoy him. He can be dreadful when he is angry, though he is kind. Still he gets angry easily."

The dwarves all gathered round when they heard that.

"If you must know more," said Gandalf, "his name is Beorn. He is very strong, and he changes his skin. Sometimes he is a huge black bear, sometimes he is a great strong black-haired man with huge arms and a great beard. I cannot tell you much more.

"He lives in an oak-wood and has a great wooden house; and as a man he keeps cattle and horses. They work for him and talk to him. He does not eat them; neither does he hunt or eat wild animals. He keeps hives of great bees, and lives on cream and honey."

Bilbo and the dwarves asked no more questions. They walked on. It grew very hot. Sometimes they rested under the trees, and then Bilbo felt really hungry.

After a while they came to a high hedge.

"You should wait here," said the wizard to the dwarves; "and when I call or whistle begin to come after me - but only in pairs, about five minutes between each pair of you. Bombur is the fattest, so he should come alone and last. Come on Mr Baggins! There is a gate somewhere round this way." And with that he went along the hedge and took the frightened hobbit with him.

They soon came to a wooden gate, high and broad. The wizard and the hobbit opened the heavy gate and went towards the house. Soon they reached a courtyard. In the middle there was lying a great oak-trunk. Near it they saw a huge man with a thick black beard and hair, and great bare arms and legs. He was wearing a tunic of wool down to his knees, and was leaning on a large axe.

"Who are you and what do you want?" he asked gruffly, standing in front of them.

"I am Gandalf," said the wizard.

"And what's this little fellow?" he said, looking at the hobbit.

"That is Mr Baggins, a hobbit of good family and fine reputation," said Gandalf. Bilbo bowed.

"I am a wizard," continued Gandalf. "I have heard of you, if you have not heard of me; but perhaps you have heard of my good cousin Radagast who lives near the Southern borders of Mirkwood?"

"Yes; he is not a bad fellow, I believe," said Beorn. "Well, now I know who you are. What do you want?"

"To tell you the truth, we have lost our baggage and nearly lost our way. We have had rather a bad time with goblins in the mountains."

"Goblins?" said the big man less gruffly. "Why did you go near them?"

"We were coming out of the Lands over West into these countries - it is a long tale."

"Then come inside and tell me the story," said the man leading the way to the house.

They sat on wooden benches, and Gandalf began his tale. "I was coming over the mountains with a friend or two..." said the wizard.

"Or two? I can only see one," said Beorn.

"Well, I did not want to bother you with a lot of us. I will give a call, if I may."

"Go on!"

So Gandalf gave a long whistle, and so Thorin and Dori came and stood before them.

"One or three you meant, I see!" said Beorn. "But these aren't hobbits, they are dwarves!"

"Thorin Oakenshield at your service! Dori at your service!" said the two dwarves bowing again.

"I don't need your service, thank you," said Beorn, "but I expect you need mine. I don't like dwarves; but if it is true that you are Thorin, and that your companion is respectable, and that you are enemies of goblins... But what are you doing here, by the way?"

"They are on their way to visit the land of their fathers, beyond Mirkwood," said Gandalf, "and it is just an accident that we are in your lands. We were attacked by the evil goblins - as I was going to tell you."

"Go on telling, then!" said Beorn, who was never very polite.

"There was a terrible storm; the hobbit and I and several of our companions..."

"Do you call two several?"

"Well, in fact there were more than two."

"Where are they?"

"You see, we are very much afraid that there are too many of us."

"Go on, whistle again!" said Beorn.

Gandalf whistled again.

And so in the end all the dwarves arrived.

By the time the wizard had finished his tale, it was evening.

"A very good tale!" said Beorn. "It's the best I have ever heard. Now let's have something to eat!"

"Yes, please!" they all said together. "Thank you very much!" Beorn clapped his hands, and in came some snow-white sheep led by a large coal-black ram. One had a white cloth; others had on their broad backs trays with bowls and platters and knives and wooden spoons, which the dogs took and quickly laid on the tables.

There they had a supper, or a dinner, such as they had not had since they left the Last Homely House in the West and said good-bye to Elrond. Beorn told tales of the dark and dangerous forest of Mirkwood.

The dwarves listened and shook their beards, because they knew that soon they had to go into that forest. When the meal was over they began to tell tales of their own, but Beorn looked sleepy and paid little attention to them.

Suddenly Gandalf stood up. "It is time for us to sleep," he said. Bilbo saw that beds had already been prepared at the side of the hall. For him there was a little mattress of straw and woolen blankets. Soon he fell asleep.

It was full morning when he awoke.

"Get up lazybones," Bofur said, "or there will be no breakfast left for you."

Up jumped Bilbo. "Breakfast!" he cried. "Where is breakfast?"

"It is out on the veranda. We can't find Beorn anywhere, though we found breakfast on the table as soon as we got up."

They spent one more day at Beorn's, and the next morning they were all wakened by Beorn himself. They all went to breakfast with him. Beorn was really kind. He said that he had caught a Warg and a goblin in the woods. From these he had got news: the goblin patrols were still hunting with Wargs for the dwarves, and they were really angry.

"Your story was good," said Beorn, "and now I am sure it is true. So I will think more kindly of dwarves after this. You killed the Great Goblin!" he chuckled to himself.

"What did you do with the goblin and the Warg?" asked Bilbo suddenly.

"I just killed them!" said Beorn.

Now he was their friend, and he promised to help them. He gave ponies for the dwarves and Bilbo, and a horse for Gandalf; a lot of nuts, flour, dried fruits, honey, and cakes. He also gave them bows and arrows. He said that there were streams and springs along the road, so they could get water from them. "But your way through Mirkwood is dark, dangerous and difficult," he said. "There is one stream in Mirkwood, black and strong, which crosses the path. You should neither drink of it, nor bathe in it; for I have heard that it carries a great sleepiness and forgetfulness. And remember: you mustn't stray from the path.

"That is all the advice I can give you. At the gate of the forest I must ask you to send back my horse and my ponies. But I wish you all good luck."

They thanked him, of course. Soon after midday they ate with Beorn for the last time, and after the meal they left his home.

They rode silently all day, and in the evening they made a camp and set a guard, and most of them slept uneasily. Still the next morning was bright again. So they rode for three more days, and they saw only grass and flowers and birds and trees, and occasionally small herds of red deer sitting at noon in the shade.

Soon they could see the forest. Birds began to sing less. There were no more deer. By the afternoon they had reached Mirkwood.

"Well, here is Mirkwood!" said Gandalf. "It's the greatest of the forests of the Northern world. I hope you like the look of it. Now you must send back these excellent ponies."

"What about the horse?" said Thorin.

"I am not going to send it back."

"What about your promise then?"

"I am not sending the horse back, I am riding it!"

Then they knew that Gandalf was going to leave them at the very edge of Mirkwood, and they were in despair.

"I have, as I told you, some business in the south; and I am already late. Maybe we will meet again before all is over, but maybe not. That depends on your luck and on your courage; and I am sending Mr Baggins with you. So cheer up, Bilbo, and don't look so gloomy. Cheer up, Thorin and Company! This is your expedition after all. Think of the treasure at the end, and forget the forest and the dragon, at any rate1 until tomorrow morning!"

So they filled their water-skins at a clear spring at the forest-gate, and unpacked the ponies.

Then at last they said good-bye to their ponies. Now Gandalf, too, said good-bye. Bilbo sat on the ground feeling very unhappy.

"Good-bye!" said Gandalf to Thorin. "Don't stray off the track!"

"Do we really have to go through?" groaned the hobbit.

"Yes, you do!" said the wizard, "if you want to get to the other side. And, Mr Baggins, you have to look after all these dwarves for me," he added. Gandalf turned his horse and rode away. But in a moment he said again: "Be good, take care of yourselves - and DON'T LEAVE THE PATH!"

"O good-bye and go away!" grunted the dwarves. Now began the most dangerous part of their journey. The dwarves and Bilbo went into the forest.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Flies and Spiders

They walked in single file. The path was narrow and winding. There were black squirrels in the wood. There were queer noises too; but what made the noises they could not see. They saw dark dense cobwebs, often stretched from tree to tree. There were none stretched across the path, though.

The forest seemed endless, and they began to hate it. But they had to go on and on. The nights were the worst. But in the complete darkness they could see eyes. They slept all closely together, and took turns to watch; and when it was Bilbo's turn, he could see pairs of yellow or red or green eyes in the distance, and then they slowly faded and disappeared and slowly shone again in another place. "Insect eyes" he thought, "not animal eyes."

Bilbo was always hungry, for they were extremely careful with their provisions. They once shot a squirrel with an arrow, but when they roasted it, it had a horrible taste, and they shot no more squirrels. They were thirsty too, for they had very little water, and in all the time they had seen neither spring nor stream. And then they saw that their path was blocked by running water. It flowed fast and strong, and it looked black. They remembered that Beorn had warned them against it, so now they only thought of how to cross it without wetting themselves. Bilbo looked ahead and suddenly cried:

"There is a boat against the far bank!"

"How far away is it?" asked Thorin.

"Around twelve yards," answered Bilbo.

"We can't jump it," said Thorin.

"Can any of you throw a rope?" asked Bilbo.

Fili thought he could; so he took the rope in his hand, and then flung it across the stream.

"Not far enough!" said Bilbo who was looking forward. "Try again. I don't think that the magic is strong enough to hurt you, if you just touch a wet rope."

Fili picked up the hook. This time he threw it with greater strength.

"You have thrown it right into the wood on the other side now. Draw it back gently," said Bilbo.

Fili pulled the rope back slowly, and soon the boat was close to them.

"Who'll cross first?" asked Bilbo.

"I will," said Thorin, "and you will come with me, and Fili and Balin. After that Kili and Oin and Gloin and Don; next Ori and Nori, Bifur and Bofur; and last Dwalin and Bombur."

"There aren't any oars. How are you going to push the boat back to the far bank?" asked the hobbit.

"Give me another rope and another hook," said Fili. Then he threw the rope into the darkness ahead and as high as he could. The hook got stuck in the branches. "One of you," said Fili, "should pull on the rope that is stuck in a tree on the other side. One of the others must hold the hook that we used at first, and when we are safe on the other side he can hook it on, and you can draw the boat back."

In this way they were all soon on the far bank safe across the enchanted stream. But then something bad happened. Out of the gloom a deer ran into the dwarves and bowled them over. Then it prepared for a leap. High it jumped. But Thorin was quick: he shot into the leaping beast. They heard how the deer fell down.

Just then Bilbo cried: "Bombur is drowning!" It was only too true. Bombur had only one foot on the land when the deer sprang over him. He stumbled and fell into the water.

They could still see his hood above the water when they ran to the bank.

Quickly they threw a rope with a hook to him. His hand caught it, and they pulled him to the shore. He was wet from hair to boots, of course, but that was not the worst. When they laid him on the bank he was already fast asleep; and fast asleep he remained in spite of all they could do.

Suddenly on the path ahead appeared some white deer. Before Thorin could cry out three of the dwarves had leaped to their feet and loosed off arrows from their bows. None found their mark. The deer turned and vanished in the trees, and in vain the dwarves shot their arrows after them.

"Stop! Stop!" shouted Thorin; but it was too late, the excited dwarves had wasted their last arrows, and now the bows that Beorn had given them were useless.

They were a gloomy party that night, and the gloom gathered still deeper on them in the following days. They were carrying the heavy body of Bombur. In a few days there was practically nothing to eat or to drink.

Two days later they came to a valley filled with oaks. "Is there no end to this damned forest?" said Thorin. "Somebody must climb a tree and have a look round."

Of course "somebody" was Bilbo, because he was the lightest. Poor Mr Baggins had never had much practice in climbing trees, but they lifted him up into the lowest branches of a huge oak, and he had to climb up.

In the end Bilbo got to the top. His eyes were almost blinded by the light. He saw all round him a sea of dark green; and there were everywhere hundreds of butterflies. But he could see no end to the trees and the leaves in any direction.

He climbed down full of despair. His report soon made the others as miserable as he was.

"The forest goes on for ever and ever and ever in all directions! What shall we do?" they cried.

That night they ate their last crumbs of food; and the next morning when they woke it was raining. The only good thing was that Bombur woke up suddenly. He had forgotten everything that had happened since they started their journey long ago. The last thing that he remembered was the party at the hobbit's house.

When he heard that there was nothing to eat, he sat down and wept, for he felt very weak. "Why ever did I wake up!" he cried. "I was having such beautiful dreams. I dreamed I was walking in a forest rather like this one, only with torches on the trees; and there was a great feast going on."

There was nothing now to be done but to tighten the belts round their empty stomachs, and go on. So they walked all that day very slowly.

Suddenly Balin, who was a little way ahead, called out: "What was that? I thought I saw a twinkle of light in the forest." They all looked, and they saw a red twinkle in the dark. So they hurried along then. The light was in front of them and to the left of the path, and at last they saw torches and fires burning under the trees, but a good way off their track.

"It looks as if my dreams were coming true," gasped Bombur. He wanted to rush into the wood after the lights. But the others remembered the warnings of the wizard and of Beorn.

"A feast will be no good, if we never get back alive from it," said Thorin.

"But without a feast we won't remain alive much longer anyway," said Bombur, and Bilbo completely agreed with him. So they decided to leave the path and go into the forest together. They crawled quietly and peered round the trunks. They saw many people there, who looked like elves, all dressed in green and brown. The people were sitting in a great circle. There was a fire in the middle and there were torches fastened to some of the trees; but best sight of all: they were eating and drinking and laughing.

The smell of the meal was so delicious that all the dwarves got up and went into the ring to beg for some food. But as soon as the first stepped into the clearing, all the lights went out as if by magic.

They were lost in complete darkness and they could not even find one another. At last they managed to get together and count themselves by touch. They didn't think of the food because they were really afraid to lose each other again. By that time they had forgotten where the path was.

Then Dori said in a loud whisper:

"I can see the lights are again over there."

Up they all jumped. They heard the voices and the laughter quite clearly. When they got near the lights, Thorin said: "Don't rush forward this time! I will send Mr Baggins alone first to talk to them. They won't be frightened of him, and I hope they won't do anything bad to him." When they got to the edge of the circle of lights they pushed Bilbo suddenly from behind. Before he had time to slip on his ring, he stumbled forward into the full blaze of the fire and torches. It was no good. Out went all the lights again and complete darkness fell. But it was worse this time. They simply could not find the hobbit. They shouted and called: "Bilbo Baggins! Hobbit! Where are you?" but there was no answer.

Suddenly Dori stumbled across Bilbo. The hobbit was fast asleep. When he was awake he was not pleased at all.

"I was having such a lovely dream," Bilbo grumbled, "about a most gorgeous dinner."

"Good heavens! He is like Bombur now," they said. "Don't tell us about dreams."

Soon Kili came and roused them all again, saying:

"There are hundreds of torches and many fires over there!"

Up they got again; it was the same again and this time the result was disastrous. Thorin stepped into the centre of the circle.

Out went all light. Bilbo was running round and round and calling:

"Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bombur, Bifur, Bofur, Dwalin, Balin, Thorin Oakenshield." Soon he was alone in complete silence and darkness. That was one of his most miserable moments. But he decided to sit down with his back to a tree and stay there until morning. Bilbo was dreaming about food when he felt something touch him. Something like a strong sticky string was against his left hand, and when he tried to move he found that his legs were already wrapped, so that when he got up he fell over.

Then the great spider came from behind him and attacked him. Bilbo had a desperate fight. He beat the creature off with his hands until he remembered his sword and drew it out. Bilbo cut the string around his legs and then he struck the spider with his sword and killed it.

The spider lay dead beside him. Somehow the killing of the giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of anyone else, made a great difference to Mr Baggins. He felt a different person, and much bolder in spite of an empty stomach.

"I will give you a name," he said to the sword, "and I will call you Sting." After that he went to look around. The forest was gloomy and silent, but Bilbo had to look for his friends.

He crept quietly in the direction from which the cries for help had come. Soon he noticed spider-webs. Suddenly he saw, too, that there were huge and horrible spiders in the branches above him. He heard their voices. The spiders were talking about the dwarves!

"It was a serious struggle," said one, "but I hope they are juicy."

"Don't hang them too long," said another, "kill them."

Bilbo was horrified, now that he noticed the dwarves hanging in the shadows.

Then one of the spiders went to the dwarves. "There is no time now," thought Bilbo. So he picked up a stone and threw it at the spider. The stone struck the spider on the head, and it dropped senseless off the tree.

The next stone went through a big web, and took off the spider sitting in the middle of it. After that there was panic in the spider-colony, and they forgot about the dwarves. They could not see Bilbo, but they knew the direction from which the stones were coming. So they ran towards the hobbit. Bilbo, however, soon slipped away to a different place. The idea came to him to lead the spiders further and further away from the dwarves. So he began to dance among the trees and he sang a song to annoy them, and also to let the dwarves hear his voice.

This is what he sang:

"Old fat spider spinning in a tree!

Old fat spider can't see me!

Stop your spinning and look for me!

You'll never catch me up your tree!"

As he sang he threw some more stones. Practically all the spiders in the place came after him: some dropped to the ground, others raced along the branches. They were quick and frightfully angry.

Then quieter than a mouse he crawled back. He had precious little time, he knew. He had to rescue the dwarves.

He cut the strings with his sword and rescued Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Don, Nori and Bombur. But there were still five dwarves hanging at the end of the branch when the spiders began to come back. Bilbo tried to scare away the spiders. But he had taken off his ring when he rescued Fili and he had forgotten to put it on again, so now they all began to hiss:

"Now we see you, you nasty little creature! We will eat you!"

While this was going on, the other dwarves were cutting the threads with their knives. Then the battle began. Some of the dwarves had knives, and some had sticks, and all of them could get at stones; and Bilbo had his sword, Sting.

Many of the spiders were killed. But Bilbo was really tired; only four of the dwarves were able to stand firmly. Already the spiders were beginning to weave their webs all round them again from tree to tree. In the end Bilbo decided to open the secret of his ring to the dwarves. He was sorry about it, but he had to do it.

"I am going to disappear," he said. "I will draw the spiders off, if I can; and you must keep together and go in the opposite direction. To the left there, that is the way towards the place where we last saw the elf-fires."

So Bilbo suddenly slipped on his ring, and to the great astonishment of the dwarves he vanished.

Soon they heard the sound of his song behind the trees on the right. That upset the spiders greatly. They went in the direction of the voice. Then the dwarves got together in a knot, and threw stones at the spiders on the left, and ran through the ring and went on.

The dwarves were very tired and weak. Every now and then they had to turn and fight the spiders.

Suddenly Bilbo appeared. "Go on! Go on!" he shouted. "I will fight them!" And he killed many spiders; they had become afraid of Sting, and did not come very near. At last the spiders went back to their dark colony.

The dwarves then had a chance to rest.

They lay for some time, but very soon they began to ask questions. They wanted to know the story of the ring. And then they asked Bilbo where they were, and where their path was, and what they were going to do next? So you can see that they had changed their opinion of Mr Baggins very much, and had begun to have a great respect for him. They really expected Bilbo to think of some wonderful plan for helping them. Bilbo began to feel proud of himself.

All of a sudden Dwalin asked, "Where is Thorin?" It was a terrible shock. Of course there were only thirteen of them, twelve dwarves and the hobbit. Where was Thorin?

Thorin had been caught much faster than they had. Do you remember Bilbo falling asleep, as he stepped into a circle of light? The next time it had been Thorin who stepped forward, and as the lights went out he fell like a stone. Then the Wood-elves had come to him, and bound him, and carried him away. The feasting people were Wood-elves, of course. These are not wicked folk.

In a great cave some miles within the edge of Mirkwood there lived their greatest king. This great cave had many passages and wide halls; but it was lighter than any goblin-dwelling. The king's cave was his palace, and the strong place of his treasure, and the fortress of his people against their enemies.

It was also the dungeon of his prisoners. So to the cave they dragged Thorin - not too gently, because they did not love dwarves, and thought he was an enemy. In ancient days they had had wars with some of the dwarves, whom they accused of stealing their treasure. The dwarves said that they only took their part, because the elf-king had asked them to shape his raw gold and silver1, and had afterwards refused to give them their pay. The elf-king was really rich but very greedy. His people didn't work metals or jewels, they didn't cultivate the earth. All this was well known to every dwarf. So Thorin was angry, when they took their spell off him and he came to his senses.

The king asked Thorin many questions. But Thorin only said that he was starving. "Why did you and your folk three times try to attack my people?" asked the king.

"We did not attack them," answered Thorin; "we came to beg, because we were starving."

"Where are your friends now? What are they doing?"

"I don't know, but I think they are starving in the forest."

"What were you doing in the forest?"

"We were looking for food and drink, because we were starving."

"But why did you come into the forest?" asked the king angrily.

At that Thorin shut his mouth and did not say another word. "Very well!" said the king. "Take him away and keep him safe, until he tells the truth." Then the elves shut him in one of the secret caves with strong wooden doors, and left him. They gave him a lot of food and drink, though. So there poor Thorin lay.

CHAPTER NINE

Barrels out of Bond

The day after the battle with the spiders Bilbo and the dwarves tried for the last time to find a way out before they died of hunger and thirst. They got up and walked on. Suddenly they saw Wood-elves with their bows and spears. They told the dwarves to stop. There was no thought of a fight. So they simply stopped and sat down and waited - all except Bilbo, who put on his ring and disappeared.

The elves bound the dwarves in a long line. Bilbo was walking silently behind them. Suddenly the torches stopped, and they began to cross the bridge. The bridge led across the river to the king's doors. In a great hall with pillars sat the king on a wooden chair. On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for it was autumn again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers. In his hand he held a staff of oak.

The prisoners were brought before him; he told his men to unbind them. "They need no ropes in here," said he. "There is no escape from my magic doors for those who are once brought inside."

The king asked the dwarves about their doings, and where they were going to, and where they were coming from; but he didn't get more news out of them than out of Thorin. They were angry and did not even pretend to be polite.

"What have we done, king?" said Balin, who was the eldest now. "Is it a crime to be lost in the forest, to be hungry and thirsty, to be trapped by spiders?"

The king answered: "It is a crime to wander in my kingdom without leave. Do you forget that you were in my kingdom, using the road that my people made? Did you not pursue and trouble my people in the forest? Now I have a right to know why you came here, and so tell me now, or I will keep you all in prison!" Then he ordered to put the dwarves in separate cells and to give them food and drink. But he did not tell them that Thorin was also his prisoner. Bilbo found that out.

Poor Mr Baggins lived in that place all alone; he didn't take off his ring. Bilbo walked around the king's palace to know it better.

Eventually he managed to find out where each dwarf was kept. He found all their twelve cells in different parts of the palace. One day he heard the talk of the guards and learned that there was another dwarf in prison too, in a deep dark place. He guessed at once, of course, that that was Thorin. At last after many difficulties he managed to find the place, and to talk with the chief of the dwarves. Thorin felt miserable, and was even beginning to think of telling the king all about his treasure and his quest, when he heard Bilbo's little voice at his keyhole. He could hardly believe his ears. Soon he had a long talk with the hobbit on the other side.

So Bilbo took secretly Thorin's message to each of the other dwarves, telling them that Thorin, their chief, was also in prison, and he told them not to open their secret. The other dwarves quite agreed when they got the message. They didn't want to share the treasure, and they all trusted Bilbo.

Bilbo sat and thought and thought, but no bright idea came.

One day Bilbo discovered a very interesting thing: the great gates were not the only entrance to the caves. A stream flowed under part of the lowest regions of the palace, and joined the Forest River. There was a water-gate at the place where underground water came out of the mountain. There the rocky roof came down close to the surface of the stream, and from it a grating could be dropped right to the bed of the river to prevent anyone coming in or out that way. But the grating was often open, because a lot of traffic went out and in by the water-gate. There was a dark tunnel leading deep into the heart of the hill; but at one point the roof had an opening which was covered with great oaken trapdoors. These opened up into the king's cellars. There stood many barrels. The Wood-elves, and especially their king, liked wine very much. The wine and other goods were brought from far away, from the vineyards of Men in distant lands.

Bilbo discovered the trapdoors and their use, and learned how the wine and other goods came from the Long Lake. There was a town of Men there built on bridges. From Lake-town the barrels were brought up the Forest River. Often the barrels were tied together; sometimes they were loaded onto flat boats.

When the barrels were empty the elves dropped them through the trapdoors, opened the water-gate, and the barrels floated out on the stream, until they were carried by the current to the eastern edge of Mirkwood. There they were collected and tied together and floated back to Lake-town, which stood close to the point where the Forest River flowed into the Long Lake.

For some time Bilbo sat and thought about this water-gate. He wanted to use it for the escape of his friends, and at last he had a plan.

One evening two guards took meal to the prisoners and then decided to taste the new wine that had just come in. Bilbo followed the two elves, until they entered a small cellar and sat down at a table. Soon they began to drink and laugh merrily.

In a little while the guards were fast asleep.

Then the hobbit stole the keys from the guards and went to unlock the dwarves' cells.

First he unlocked Balin's door, and locked it again carefully as soon as the dwarf was outside. Balin was most surprised and wanted to ask a lot of questions, but the hobbit just said, "No time now! You must follow me! We must all keep together. All of us must escape, and this is our last chance."

Then he opened other cells. All went well, and they met no guards. Fortunately there was a great autumn feast that night. Almost all the king's folks were eating, drinking and dancing. At last Bilbo and the dwarves came to Thorin's dungeon, which was not far from the cellars.

When Bilbo whispered to him to come out and join his friends, Thorin said, "Gandalf spoke true, as usual. You are a fine burglar. Now we are all for ever at your service. But what comes next?" Bilbo saw that the time had come to explain his idea.

At first the dwarves didn't like Bilbo's plan at all, but in the end they had to do just what Bilbo suggested. So they followed the hobbit and crept down into the lowest cellars.

There was little time to lose. The empty barrels were standing in rows in the middle of the floor waiting to be pushed off. Soon they found thirteen barrels with room enough for a dwarf in each. In fact the barrels were too large, and Bilbo put some straw inside. At last twelve dwarves were packed. Bilbo closed holes in the sides of the barrels, and now he was left alone again.

In a minute or two elves came laughing into the cellars. They had left a merry feast in one of the halls and wanted to return as soon as they could.

So they quickly rolled one barrel and then another to the dark opening and soon all the barrels with dwarves went down.

At this moment Bilbo suddenly discovered the weak point in his plan. Of course he was not in a barrel himself, nor was there anyone to pack him in!

Now the elves were rolling the last barrel to the doors! In despair poor little Bilbo held it tightly and was pushed down with it. He fell down into the water with the barrel on top of him. He came up again clinging to the wood like a rat, but he could not scramble on top. Though his ears were full of water, he could hear the elves still singing in the cellar above. Then suddenly the trapdoors fell with a boom and their voices faded away. He was in the dark tunnel, in icy water, all alone.

At last Mr Baggins came to a place where the trees grew thinner. The dark river opened suddenly wide, and there it joined the main water of the Forest River flowing down from the king's great doors. Then the water of the Forest River swept all the barrels away to the north bank. On the shallow shore most of the barrels ran aground. There were people on the banks. They quickly pushed all the barrels together, and when they had counted them they tied them together and left them till the morning. Poor dwarves! Bilbo slipped from his barrel, and then quietly walked to some small houses that he could see near the water's edge. He was cold, wet and hungry.

Bilbo had to steal a loaf and a bottle of wine and a pie. He started sneezing and he left wet footprints, so the rest of the night he had to pass wet and far from a fire, but the bottle helped him to do that, and he even slept a little on some dry leaves.

Bilbo woke again with a loud sneeze. It was already grey morning. He was no longer dripping but he felt really cold. He scrambled down as fast as he could and managed to get onto the barrels. The elves started pushing the barrels with their poles down to Lake-town.

So the dwarves and Bilbo had escaped the dungeons of the king.

CHAPTER TEN

A Warm Welcome

The day grew lighter and warmer as they floated along. Then far away in the distance Bilbo saw the Mountain! All alone it rose and looked across the marshes to the forest. The Lonely Mountain! Bilbo had come through many adventures to see it, and now he did not like the look of it.

Those lands had changed much since the days when dwarves dwelt in the Mountain. Great floods and rains had swollen the waters that flowed east; and there had been an earthquake or two. The marshes had spread wider and wider on both sides. Paths had vanished. Only the river offered a safe way from Mirkwood to the plains beyond the Mountain, and the river was guarded by the Wood-elves' king.

At last, late in the day the shores grew rocky, the river turned into rapid flood, and they went along at great speed.

The sun had set when the forest-river rushed into the Long Lake. The Long Lake! It was so wide that the opposite shores looked small and far, but it was so long that its northerly end, which pointed towards the Mountain, could not be seen at all. At the southern end the waters turned into waterfalls and ran away to unknown lands.

Not far from the mouth of the Forest River was the strange town. It was not built right on the surface of the lake. A great wooden bridge led to huge piles made of trees on which a wooden town of Men was built. They throve on the trade.

As soon as the raft of barrels arrived, it was drawn out of the Forest River and taken into the little bay of Lake-town. Now the barrels were left afloat while the elves of the raft and the boatmen went to feast in Lake-town.

In the night, after they had gone, Bilbo pushed the barrels to the shore and opened them. Groans came from inside, and out crept the dwarves. They were shocked but happy to be alive.

"Well! Here we are!" said Thorin. "And I suppose we should thank our stars and Mr Baggins. No doubt we will feel properly grateful, when we are fed and recovered. But what shall we do next?"

"I suggest going to Lake-town," said Bilbo. So leaving the others Thorin and Fili and Kili and the hobbit went along the shore to the great bridge. There were guards at the head of it, but they were drinking and laughing by a fire in their hut, and did not hear the noise of the unpacking of the dwarves or the footsteps of the dwarves and the hobbit. Their astonishment was huge when Thorin Oakenshield stepped in through the door.

"Who are you and what do you want?" they shouted.

"Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain!" said the dwarf in a loud voice. "I have come back. I wish to see the Master of your town!" Then there was great excitement. The captain of the guard came forward.

"And who are these?" he asked, pointing to Fili, Kili and Bilbo.

"The sons of my father's daughter," answered Thorin, "Fili and Kili of the race of Durin, and Mr Baggins who has travelled with us out of the West."

"If you come in peace lay down your arms!" said the captain.

"We have none," said Thorin, and it was true: the wood-elves had taken their knives, and the great sword Orcrist too. Bilbo had his short sword, hidden as usual, but he said nothing about that. "Take us to your master!"

"He is at feast," said the captain.

"So take us to him," said Fili. "We are hungry after our long road and we have sick comrades."

"Follow me then," said the captain, and with six men about them he led them over the bridge through the gates and into the market-place of the town. This was a wide circle of quiet water surrounded by the tall piles on which the greater houses were built. From one great hall many lights shone and they could hear many voices. They passed its doors and stood in the light looking at long tables filled with folk.

"I am Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror King under the Mountain! I return!" cried Thorin in a loud voice from the door, before the captain could say anything. All leaped to their feet. The Master of the town sprang from his great chair. But the raft-men of the elves were surprised most of all. They cried:

"These are prisoners of our king that have escaped, the dwarves that didn't want to explain what they were doing in our forest and why they frightened our people!"

"Is this true?" asked the Master.

"It is true that we were imprisoned without cause by the Elvenking when we journeyed back to our own land," answered Thorin. "But this town is not in the Wood-elves' kingdom. And I speak to the Master of the town of the Men of the lake, not to the raft-men of the king."

Then the Master hesitated. The Elvenking was very powerful in those parts and the Master didn't want to make him his enemy. But others were of different mind. The news had spread from the doors of the hall really quickly. People began to sing an old song about the return of the King under the Mountain:

"The King beneath the mountains,

The King of carven stone,

The lord of silver fountains

Will come into his own!

The streams will run in gladness,

The lakes will shine and burn,

And sorrow fail and sadness

At the Mountain-king's return!"

There was great excitement. The Wood-elves began to be afraid. They did not know of course how Thorin had escaped, and they began to think that their king made a serious mistake. The Master gave to Thorin his own great chair and set Fili and Kili beside him. Even Bilbo was given a seat at the high table.

Soon the other dwarves were brought into the town. They were all fed. A large house was given to Thorin and his company; and crowds sang songs all day.

Indeed within a week they were in good health again, wore fine clothes, and their beards were combed and trimmed. Thorin looked and walked as if his kingdom was already regained and Smaug chopped up into little pieces.

Meanwhile the Wood-elves had gone back up the Forest River, and there was great excitement in the king's palace. In any case the king knew now the dwarves' plan, and he said to himself: "Very well! We'll see! No treasure will come back through Mirkwood without my help. But I expect they will all come to a bad end!" He did not believe in dwarves fighting and killing dragons like Smaug. He sent out his spies to the shores of the lake and as far towards the Mountains as they could go, and waited.

Two weeks later Thorin spoke to the Master and his councillors and said that soon he and his company had to go on towards the Mountain.

Then for the first time the Master was surprised and a little frightened; he didn't believe that Thorin was really a descendant of the old kings. He had never thought that the dwarves could approach Smaug. He was wrong. Thorin, of course, was really the grandson of the King under the Mountain, and nobody knows what a dwarf could do for the recovery of his own. But the Master was not sorry to let them go. They were expensive to keep, and their arrival had turned things into a long holiday in which business stopped. So he said,

"Certainly, O Thorin, Thrain's son, Thror's son! We will help you, and we hope for your gratitude when your kingdom is regained." So one day, although autumn was now getting on, three large boats left Lake-town. There were rowers, dwarves, Mr Baggins, and many provisions. Horses and ponies had been sent round by circuitous paths to meet them at their appointed landing- place. The Master and his councillors said good-bye. People sang songs. The white oars splashed, and they went on the last stage of their long journey. The only unhappy person was Bilbo.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

On the Doorstep

At the end of the third day they finally landed. Horses with provisions and the ponies for their own use were waiting for them. They packed what they could on the ponies, but none of the men of the town wanted to stay with them even for the night so near the Mountain. So the dwarves and Bilbo spent a cold and lonely night and their spirits fell.

The next day they continued their journey. There was no laughter or song. The land about them looked depressing. There was little grass, and soon there was neither bush nor tree. They came to the Desolation of the Dragon.

They reached the Mountain which lay dark and silent before them. They made their first camp near a height called Ravenhill. Thorin sent out an expedition to explore the land to the South where the Front Gate stood. For this purpose he chose Balin and Fili and Kili, and with them went Bilbo. They marched under the grey and silent cliffs to the feet of Ravenhill. There the river turned from the Mountain to the Lake, flowing noisily. Looking down they saw in the valley the grey ruins of ancient houses, towers, and walls.

"Once there was Dale," said Balin. "The mountain's sides were green with woods." They went on and saw the dark opening in a great cliff-wall - the Front Gate. Out of it the waters of the Running River ran; and out of it too there came a steam and a dark smoke.

"Let us return!" Balin said.

"The dragon is still alive and in the halls under the Mountain then," said the hobbit.

So they went back to the camp. They were alone without hope of further help. They were at the end of their journey, but it seemed, they were very far from the end of their quest.

But Mr Baggins was not as sad as the others. He often borrowed Thorin's map and looked at it, thinking over the runes and the message of the moon-letters. He made the dwarves begin the dangerous search on the western slopes for the secret door. They moved their camp then to a long valley, walled with lower spurs of the Mountain. On this western side there were fewer signs of the dragon's feet, and there was some grass for their ponies. From this western camp, day by day they searched for paths up the mountain-side. If the map was true, somewhere high above the cliff at the valley's head must stand the secret door. Day by day they came back to their camp without success.

But at last unexpectedly they found it. Fili and Kili and the hobbit went back one day down the valley. Suddenly Bilbo saw rough steps going upwards. So he and the dwarves found traces of a narrow track, leading to the top of the southern edge, and it brought them at last to a narrow shelf. Looking down they saw that they were at the top of the cliff at the valley's head and were gazing down on to their own camp below. Silently, clinging to the rocky wall on their right, they went in single file along the shelf, till the wall opened and they turned into a little steep-walled bay, grassy-floored, still and quiet. At its inner end a flat wall rose up. It was smooth and straight.

They were absolutely sure that they had found the door at last. They beat on it, they pushed at it, they begged it to move, and nothing happened. At last they had to return to the camp.

There was excitement in the camp that night. In the morning they prepared to move once more. Only Bofur and Bombur were left behind to guard the ponies and the food. The others went down the valley and up the newly found path, and so to the narrow shelf. Each of them had a rope wound tight about his waist, and so at last they reached the little grassy bay. There they made their third camp, hauling up what they needed from below with their ropes.

Meanwhile some of them explored the shelf beyond the opening and found a path that led higher and higher on to the mountain; but they were afraid to go very far that way.

The others who were busy with the secret of the door had no more success.

They had brought tools of many sorts from Lake-town, and at first they tried to use these. But when they struck the stone their tools broke.

Bilbo sat and thought looking at a large grey stone which lay in the centre of the grass.

"Tomorrow begins the last week of autumn," said Thorin one day.

"And winter comes after autumn," said Bifur.

"And next year after that," said Dwalin. "What is our burglar doing for us?"

Bilbo heard this - the dwarves were on the rocks just above the place where he was sitting. "Good Gracious!" he thought, "What can I do?!"

That night he was very miserable and hardly slept. The next day Bilbo sat gloomily in the grassy bay looking at the stone. He had a feeling that he was waiting for something. "Perhaps the wizard will suddenly come back today," he thought. Soon he saw the orange ball of the sun sinking towards the level of his eyes. He went to the opening and there was a thin new moon above the rim of Earth. At that very moment he heard a sharp crack behind him. There on the grey stone in the grass was a huge thrush, nearly coal black, with pale yellow breast. Crack! It had caught a snail and was knocking it on the stone. Crack! Crack!

Suddenly Bilbo understood. He stood on the shelf and called the dwarves. When they came, Bilbo quickly explained everything. The sun sank lower and lower, it sank into a cloud and disappeared. The dwarves groaned, but still Bilbo stood almost without moving. The little moon was dipping to the horizon. Evening was coming on. Then suddenly a red ray of the sun escaped through the cloud. A gleam of light came straight through the opening into the bay and fell on the smooth rock-face. The old bird, who had been watching from a high perch, gave a sudden trill. A piece of rock split from the wall and fell. A hole appeared suddenly about three feet from the ground. Quickly, the dwarves rushed to the rock and pushed - in vain.

"The key! The key!" cried Bilbo. "Where is Thorin?" Thorin ran up.

"The key!" shouted Bilbo. "The key that went with the map! Try it now while there is still time!"

Then Thorin stepped up and drew the key on its chain from round his neck. He put it to the hole. It fitted and it turned! Snap! The gleam went out, the sun sank, the moon was gone. Now they all pushed together, and slowly a part of the rock-wall moved. Long straight cracks appeared and widened. The door slowly, without a sound, swung inwards. Deep darkness lay before their eyes.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Inside Information

For a long time the dwarves stood in the dark before the door and debated, until at last Thorin spoke:

"Now is the time for our Mr Baggins to earn his Reward."

"If you mean it is my job to go into the secret passage first, say so! I will go. Now who is coming with me?"

Nobody wanted to go with the hobbit. They were scared. Dwarves are not heroes, but calculating folk who really like money.

So Bilbo went alone. It was a passage with smooth floors and smooth sides, going down to some distant end in the blackness below.

The hobbit slipped on his ring and crept quietly down, down, down into the dark. He was trembling with fear. But he was already a very different hobbit from the one that had started the journey long ago.

He went on and on, till the door behind had faded away. He was all alone. Soon he felt hot. As he went forward he saw a red light. He began to sweat. He heard gurgling noise of some huge animal snoring in its sleep down there in the red glow in front of him.

At this point Bilbo stopped. He was really frightened. But after a short halt he went on and saw the great hall of the ancient dwarves right at the Mountain's root. There lay Smaug, a huge red-golden dragon. He was fast asleep.

Under the dragon and about him, lay piles of precious things, gold, gems and jewels.

Smaug lay, with wings folded, turned partly on one side, so that the hobbit could see his long pale belly covered with gems and gold. Behind him there were axes, swords and spears hanging. Bilbo's heart was filled with the desire of dwarves; and he gazed at the gold beyond price and count.

Suddenly, almost against his will, he grasped a great two-handled cup, as heavy as he could carry, and looked up at the dragon. Smaug moved a wing, the rumble of his snoring changed.

Then Bilbo ran. But the dragon did not wake. The little hobbit rushed back up the long tunnel and soon he safely came out.

The dwarves were really excited. They were passing the cup from hand to hand and talking of their treasure. Suddenly they heard a tremendous noise in the mountain. The ground beneath them trembled.

Smaug woke up from an uneasy dream. There was a strange smell in his cave. And he couldn't see the cup. Thieves! Such a thing had not happened since first he came to the Mountain! Smaug was furious. He thrust his head in vain at the little hole, and then he rushed towards the Front Gate. He wanted to catch the thief and kill him. He flew into the air and settled on the mountain-top in the green and scarlet flame. The dwarves crouched against the walls of the grassy terrace. They hoped to escape the frightful eyes of the hunting dragon.

"Quick! Quick!" Bilbo whispered. "The door! The tunnel! It's no good here." So they were going to creep inside the tunnel when Bifur cried: "My cousins! Bombur and Bofur - we have forgotten them, they are down in the valley!"

"We cannot leave them," said Thorin. "Where are the ropes? Be quick!"

At any moment Smaug could find them near the cliff's edge pulling the ropes. Finally Bofur came up, and still all was safe. Then Bombur came up, and still all was safe. And then they lifted some tools and stores. Just then the dragon came. They had just time to rush back to the tunnel, when Smaug came from the North. He licked the mountain-sides with flame, beat his great wings with a noise like a roaring wind. The ponies screamed with terror, burst their ropes and galloped off. The dragon swooped and turned to pursue them, and was gone. "That'll be the end of our poor beasts!" said Thorin.

They crept further down the tunnel, and there they lay until dawn came through the crack of the door.

Smaug guessed from the ponies, and from the traces of the camps which he had discovered, that men had come up from the river and the lake; but he didn't notice the door. He had hunted in vain till the dawn chilled his rage and then he went back to his golden couch to sleep.

When morning came the dwarves debated long on what they should do next.

"Now I will make you an offer," said Bilbo. "I have got my ring and will creep down and see what Smaug is going to do. Maybe something will happen."

The dwarves accepted the offer eagerly. Now Bilbo had become the real leader in their adventure. He had begun to have ideas and plans of his own. When midday came he got ready for another journey down into the Mountain. The sun was shining when he started, but it was as dark as night in the tunnel. "Old Smaug is tired and asleep," he thought. "He can't see me and he won't hear me. Cheer up Bilbo!" He had forgotten or had never heard about dragons' sense of smell.

Smaug certainly looked fast asleep, when Bilbo peeped once more from the entrance. But Smaug was only pretending to sleep! He was watching the tunnel entrance! Hurriedly Bilbo stepped back. Then Smaug spoke.

"Well, thief! I smell you and I hear your breath. Come on! Take something again!"

But Bilbo answered, "No thank you, O Smaug the Tremendous! I did not come for presents. I only wished to have a look at you and see if you were really as great as tales say. I did not believe them."

"Do you now?" said the dragon a bit flattered.

"Yes, I do," replied Bilbo.

"So who are you and where do you come from?" asked the dragon.

"I come from under the hill. And I am unseen. I am the clue-finder, the web-cutter, the stinging fly. "

"Lovely titles!" said the dragon.

"I am the guest of eagles. I am Ring-winner and Luck- wearer; and I am Barrel-rider," went on Bilbo.

"That's better!" said Smaug.

Smaug did not understand everything, but he thought that he understood enough. "So it's about Lake-men! They have a lot of barrels," he thought.

"Very well, O Barrel-rider!" he said aloud. "Let me tell you I ate six ponies last night and I will catch and eat all the others before long. In return for the excellent meal I will give you one piece of advice: don't have business with dwarves!"

"Dwarves!" said Bilbo in pretended surprise.

"Don't talk to me!" said Smaug. "I ate the ponies and I smelt the dwarves. Did you get a good price for that cup last night?" he went on. "You got nothing at all! Well, you see! Don't believe them!" Bilbo was now beginning to feel really uncomfortable, but he spoke again.

"You don't know everything, O Smaug the Mighty," said he. "Not gold alone brought us here."

"What is it then?"

"Revenge," Bilbo said.

Then Smaug laughed: "Revenge! My armour is like shields, my teeth are swords, my claws are spears, and my breath is death!"

"I have always understood," said Bilbo, "that dragons were softer underneath, especially in the chest."

The dragon stopped boasting. "Your information is out of date," he said. "I am protected above and below with iron scales and hard gems. No blade can pierce me."

"Let me see your wonderful waistcoat of fine diamonds!"

"Yes, it is rare and wonderful, indeed," said Smaug. The dragon rolled over. "Look!" he said. "What do you say to that?"

"Marvelous! Perfect! Flawless!" exclaimed Bilbo aloud, but he thought: "Old fool! There is a large hole on the left!" After that Mr Baggins decided to get away.

"Well, I really must not detain Your Magnificence any longer," he said and ran up the tunnel.

It was evening when he came out. The dwarves wanted to hear his story. But the hobbit was worried and uncomfortable. The old thrush was sitting on a rock, listening to all that was said.

"I believe he is listening, and I don't like the look of him," said Bilbo crossly.

"Leave him alone!" said Thorin. "The thrushes are good and friendly. They were a magical race, and maybe this is one of those that were alive a couple of hundreds years or more ago. The Men of Dale used to understand their language, and used them for messengers to fly to the Men of the Lake."

"Well, he'll have news to take to Lake-town then," said Bilbo; "but I don't think there are any people left there that understand thrush-language."

"Tell us what has happened!" cried the dwarves.

So Bilbo told them all he could remember.

"I am sure he knows that we came from Lake-town and had help from there," added Bilbo.

Then the talk turned to the treasures of the dwarves. The most beautiful of all was the great white gem, which the dwarves had found beneath the roots of the Mountain, the Heart of the Mountain, the Arkenstone of Thrain. "The Arkenstone! The Arkenstone!" murmured Thorin in the dark. "It shone like silver in the firelight, like water in the sun, like snow under the stars!"

But Bilbo was only half listening to them.

"Shut the door!" he begged the dwarves. "Shut the door before it is too late!" Something in his voice gave the dwarves an uncomfortable feeling. Slowly Thorin kicked away the stone that blocked the door. Then it closed with a snap. No trace of a keyhole was left on the inside. They were shut in the Mountain!

Just then they heard a blow. The rock boomed, the walls cracked and stones fell from the roof on their heads. They ran down the tunnel, while behind them outside they heard the roar and rumble of Smaug's fury. He was breaking rocks to pieces, smashing wall and cliff. In this way he felt better.

Then Smaug went away towards the Running River.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Not at Home

Meanwhile, the dwarves silently sat in darkness. They ate and spoke little. At last after days and days of waiting, as it seemed, Thorin spoke:

"Let us try the door!" he said. "I must feel the wind on my face soon or die."

So several of the dwarves got up and walked back to where the door had been. But they found that broken rock had blocked the upper end of the tunnel.

"We are trapped!" they cried. "This is the end. We will die here."

"Come, come!" Bilbo said. "Don't despair! I am going down the tunnel once again. The only way out is down. And I think that you all should come with me." The dwarves agreed.

"Now please be careful!" whispered the hobbit, "and quiet! Don't let us take any unnecessary risks!"

Down, down they went. Near the bottom Bilbo slipped on his ring and went ahead. But he did not need it: the darkness was complete, and they were all invisible, anyway. The hobbit came to the opening unexpectedly, put his hand on air, stumbled forward, and rolled into the hall! There he lay on the floor and was afraid to get up. But nothing moved. There was not a gleam of light. When at last he slowly raised his head, there was a pale white shine, above him and far off in the gloom. But certainly it was not a spark of dragon-fire.

Bilbo got up, and found that he did not know in what direction to turn. "I am sure Smaug is not at home today. Perhaps we can make a little light, and have a look round," he thought.

"Light!" he cried. "Can anybody make a light?"

After a while the dwarves brought the torch. But they decided to wait in the tunnel for Bilbo's report. So they sat near the door and watched.

Bilbo was climbing the great mound of treasure. Soon he stood upon the top, and still went on. Then they saw him stop for a moment; but they did not know the reason. It was the Arkenstone, the Heart of the Mountain. So Bilbo guessed from Thorin's description. All the time as he climbed, the same white gleam had shone before him. Now the great jewel shone with magnificent light right before his feet.

Suddenly Bilbo lifted it, shut his eyes, and put it in his deepest pocket.

"Now I am a burglar indeed!" thought he. "But I suppose I must tell the dwarves about it - some time." Down the other side of the great mound he climbed, and the spark of his torch vanished from the sight of the watching dwarves. But soon they saw it far away in the distance again. Bilbo was crossing the floor of the hall.

He went on, until he came to the great doors at the further side, and there a draught of air refreshed him, but it almost put out his light. He peeped carefully through and saw wide stairs going up into the gloom. And still there was no sound of Smaug. He was just going to turn and go back, when a black shape swooped at him. He fell. His torch dropped and went out! "It's only a bat, I hope!" he thought.

"Thorin! Balin! Oin! Gloin! Fili! Kili!" he cried as loudly as he could. "The light's gone out! Someone come and find and help me!"

The dwarves waited a moment or two, and then Thorin said, "We have to go and help our burglar."

"It is our turn to help," said Balin, "and I am ready to go."

Gloin lit several more torches, and then they all crept out, one by one, and went along the wall. Soon they met Bilbo.

"It was only a bat and a dropped torch, nothing worse!" he said in answer to their questions. Now the dwarves wanted to explore the hall, and they were sure that Smaug was away from home. They forgot fear and gathered gems and stuffed their pockets. Thorin searched from side to side for something which he could not find. It was the Arkenstone; but he spoke of it yet to no one.

The dwarves took down weapons from the walls, and armed themselves.

Thorin put on Bilbo a small coat of mail, made for some young elf-prince long ago. It was of silver-steel, and with it went a belt of pearls and crystals. A beautiful light helmet decorated with white gems was set upon the hobbit's head.

"Thorin!" Bilbo cried aloud suddenly. "What next? We are armed but it won't help us kill the dragon. We are not looking for gold yet, but for a way of escape!"

"You speak the truth!" answered Thorin. "Let us go! I will guide you. I still remember the ways of this palace." Then they gathered together, and passed through the gaping doors.

They had covered their bright mail again with their old cloaks and their helmets with their hoods, and one by one they walked behind Thorin. Up, up, the dwarves went, and they met no sign of life. Suddenly they saw an opening far above, and the air smelt sweeter.

"This is the great chamber of Thror," said Thorin; "the hall of feasting and of council. Not far off now is the Front Gate."

They passed through the ruined chamber. Tables, chairs and benches were overturned. Skulls and bones were on the floor among bowls and broken drinking-horns and dust. Soon they heard a sound of water. "There is the birth of the Running River," said Thorin. "From here it runs to the Gate. Let us follow it!"

Beside the stream there was a stone-paved road. The friends ran along the road, and soon they saw the broad light of day coming through the huge arch. They were dazzled. They came to the Front Gate, and were looking out upon Dale.

Suddenly Bilbo realized that he was not only tired but also very hungry indeed.

"I suppose it is breakfast-time," he said. "But I don't think this is the safest place for a meal. Let's go somewhere where we can sit quietly!"

"Quite right!" said Balin. "And I think we should go to the old look-out post at the Southwest corner of the Mountain."

"How far is that?" asked the hobbit.

"Five hours march, I think."

"Oh!" grumbled the hobbit. "Again we have to walk and climb somewhere without breakfast!"

"We must move away from here," said Don. "I feel as if Smaug's eyes were on the back of my head."

"Come on! Come on!" cried the others. "Let us go!"

Soon they came to a deep valley among the rocks; there they rested for a while and had some biscuits and water.

After that they went on again. At last they reached the hill path. Finally in the late afternoon they came to the top of the ridge and saw the sun going downwards to the West.

Here on the rock they found a flat place open to East and South and West. "Here," said Balin, "in the old days we always kept watchmen and that door in the rock behind leads into a guardroom. There we can stay until tomorrow."

So they went inside. Some of them fell asleep at once, while others discussed their plans. Still they didn't know where Smaug was.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Fire and Water

Now if you wish, like the dwarves, to hear news of Smaug, you must go back again to the evening when he smashed the door and flew off in rage, two days before.

The men of the lake-town Esgaroth were mostly at home, because the wind was cold, but a few were walking and watching the stars.

Then suddenly a great light appeared in the hills and the northern end of the lake became golden.

"The King beneath the Mountain!" they shouted. "His wealth is like the Sun, his silver like a fountain, his rivers golden run! The river is running gold from the Mountain!" they cried, and everywhere windows were opening and feet were hurrying.

There was once more a great excitement. But one man cried: "The dragon is coming or I am a fool! Cut the bridges! To arms! To arms!"

Then the joy was turned to fear. Soon they could see the dragon rushing towards them. Still they had a little time. Every vessel in the town was filled with water, every warrior was armed, and the bridge to the land was destroyed.

Amid shrieks and wailing and the shouts of men he came over them, swept towards the bridges and stopped! The bridge was gone, and his enemies were on an island in deep water.

Roaring the dragon swept back over the town. Men shot arrows. No one had dared to give battle to him for many years, so he was furious now.

Fire leaped from the dragon's jaws. Then down he swooped straight through the arrow-storm; he wanted to set their town on fire.

Flames sprang high into the night. Already men were jumping into the water on every side. Women and children ran to the boats in the market-pool. Now men dropped their weapons. But there was still a company of archers among the burning houses. Their captain was Bard. He was a descendant in long line of Girion, Lord of Dale, whose wife and child had escaped down the Running River from the ruin long ago. Now he shot with a great bow, till he spent all his arrows but one. The flames were near him. His companions were leaving him. He bent his bow for the last time. Suddenly a bird sat down on his shoulder. It was an old thrush. It brought him news. Bard understood its language, because he was of the race of Dale.

"Wait! Wait!" the bird said to him. "The moon is rising. Look for the hollow of the left breast as he flies above you!" And then it told him of all that it had heard. Bard drew his bow-string to his ear. The dragon was flying low, and as he came the moon rose and silvered his great wings.

"Arrow!" said the bowman. "Black arrow! I have saved you to the last. You have never failed me. I had you from my father and he - from of old. So go now and speed well!"

The black arrow sped straight from the string, straight for the hollow by the left breast. With a shriek Smaug turned over and crashed down.

He fell on the town. The lake roared in. A vast steam leaped up, white in the sudden dark under the moon. There was a hiss, and then silence. And that was the end of Smaug and Esgaroth, but not of Bard. And three quarters of the people of the town had escaped alive; their woods and fields and pastures and cattle and most of their boats remained undamaged; and the dragon was dead. So they praised the courage of Bard and his last mighty shot.

Bard wanted to rebuild Dale. And he said: "This is no time for words. There is work to do."

Then he went to help the sick and the wounded. Not all the people could get shelters and there was little food. Bard had a hard task to direct the preparations for people's protection and housing. But help came quickly; Bard had sent speedy messengers up the river to the Forest to ask the aid of the King of the Elves of the Wood. The Elvenking had received news from his own messengers, and already knew of what had happened. Far over Mirkwood news spread: "Smaug is dead!" Beorn had heard it in his wooden house, and the goblins were at council in their caves.

The king of the Elves hastened now down the river to the Long Lake. He sent ahead great store of goods by water. Five days after the death of the dragon the elves came to the shores and looked on the ruins of the town. Their welcome was good, and the men and their Master were ready to do anything in return for the Elvenking's aid.

Their plans were soon made. With the women and the children, the Master remained behind; and with him were some men and many skilled elves; and they started building many huts by the shore; and also they began the planning of a new town, but not in the same place. They removed northward higher up the shore because they had fear of the water where the dragon lay.

All the other men and most of the Elvenking's warriors went to the Mountain. So in eleven days from the ruin of the town they came into the desolate lands.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The Gathering of the Clouds

Now we will return to Bilbo and the dwarves. All night one of them had watched, but when morning came they had not heard or seen any sign of danger.

Suddenly Bilbo cried: "There is that old thrush again!"

Sure enough the old thrush was there. He sang; then he stopped singing and listened to something; and again he sang, and again he listened.

"I think he is trying to tell us something," said Balin, "but I don't understand his speech."

Then the old thrush flew away but soon he came back; and with him came a very old bird. He was almost blind, he could hardly fly, and the top of his head was bald. He was an old raven of great size. He got down on the ground before them and bobbed towards Thorin.

"O Thorin son of Thrain, and Balin son of Fundin," he croaked (he used ordinary language and not bird-speech). "I am Rac son of Carc. Carc is dead, but he was well known to you once. Now I am the chief of the great ravens of the Mountain. I want to tell you some great news. The birds are gathering back again to the Mountain and to Dale from South and East and West, because Smaug is dead!"

"Dead! Dead!" shouted the dwarves. "Dead! Then the treasure is ours!"

"Yes, dead," said Rac. "The thrush saw him fall in battle with the men of Esgaroth three nights ago." The dwarves started shouting with joy, but Rac went on:

"You may go back to your halls in safety; all the treasure is yours - for the moment. But already a host of the elves is on the way. By the lake men say that their sorrows are due to the dwarves. They want to get compensation from your treasure.

"So don't trust the Master of the Lake-men. But you should trust the man who shot the dragon with his bow. His name is Bard, he is of the race of Dale, of the line of Girion. We would like to see peace once more among dwarves and men and elves after the long desolation; but it may cost you a lot of gold."

Then Thorin answered: "Thank you, Rac Carc's son. We will not forget you and your people. But thieves will never take our gold while we are alive. Please bring us news about anyone who comes near. Also I beg you, send your messengers to our relatives and tell them of our troubles. But go especially to my cousin Dain in the Iron Hills, for he has many well-armed people, and he lives nearest to this place. Tell him to hurry!"

"I will do as you ask," croaked Rac. Then off he slowly flew.

"Back now to the Mountain!" cried Thorin. "We have little time to lose."

So the dwarves and Bilbo returned to the Mountain.

They explored the caverns once more, and found that only the Front Gate remained open; all the other gates (except the small secret door) had long ago been broken by Smaug. So now they began to fortify the main entrance, and remake the road that led from it.

As they worked the ravens brought them news. The dwarves learnt that three of the elves' ponies had escaped and were wandering near the Running River, not far from where they had left their stores. So Fili and Kili found the ponies and brought back all they could.

Four days later they knew that the joined armies of the Lake-men and the Elves were hurrying towards the Mountain. But now they had food for some weeks, and already the gate was blocked with a wall of stones. There were holes in the wall through which they could see (or shoot) but no entrance. They climbed in or out with ladders, and pulled things up with ropes. They had made a small low arch under the new wall for the stream. It was now only possible to approach the Gate along a narrow ledge of the cliff. The dwarves had brought the ponies only to the head of the steps above the old bridge, and then unloaded them and sent them back to the South.

There came a night when suddenly they saw many lights away south in Dale before them.

That night the dwarves slept little. In the early morning they saw a company approaching. The warriors came up to the valley's head and climbed slowly up. Soon they were greatly surprised to see the pool before them and the Gate blocked with a wall of stone.

And then Thorin called in a very loud voice:

"Who are you? Why have you come to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain, and what do you want?"

But they answered nothing. Some turned swiftly back, and the others soon followed them. That day the camp was moved and was brought between the arms of the Mountain. The elves started playing their sweet music.

Then the dwarves themselves made music to soften Thorin's mood; their song was like the song they had sung long before in Bilbo's little hobbit-hole.

"Under the Mountain dark and tall

The King has come into his hall!

His foe is dead, the Worm of Dread,

And ever so his foes will fall."

This song pleased Thorin, and he smiled again.

The next morning a company of spearmen crossed the river, and marched up the valley. They bore with them the green banner of the Elvenking and the blue banner of the Lake, and they stood before the wall at the Gate. Again Thorin said in a loud voice:

"Who are you and why have you come to the gates of Thorin son of Thrain, King under the Mountain?"

A tall man cried:

"Hail Thorin! We are not yet foes, and we are glad that you are alive. We have come to talk."

"Who are you, and what would you like to talk about?"

"I am Bard, I killed the dragon and so you could get your treasures. I am by right descent the heir of Girion of Dale, and in your hall there is wealth which Smaug stole from the town. Is not that a matter of which we can talk? Also, in his last battle, Smaug destroyed the houses of the men of Esgaroth, and I am yet the servant of their Master. I would like to ask you for recompense." It was true and fair. And Bilbo thought that Thorin would show generosity and help those in need. But Thorin didn't want to think about poor people.

"You put your worst cause last and in the chief place," Thorin answered. "To the treasure of my people no man has a claim, because Smaug who stole it from us also robbed us of life or home. The treasure was not his. The price of the goods and the assistance that we received of the Lake-men we will fairly pay. But we will give nothing under threat of force. While an army lies before our doors, we look on you as foes and thieves."

"But still my other claims remain unanswered," replied Bard.

"I will not discuss any questions, as I have said, with armed men at my gate. And if you would like to speak with me again, first send the elves away to the woods where they belong, and then return, laying down your arms before you approach the threshold."

"The Elvenking is my friend, and he has helped the people of the Lake," answered Bard. "We will give you time to change your mind. Gather your wisdom before we return!" Then he went back to the camp.

In a few hours the banner-bearers returned and cried:

"In the name of Esgaroth and the Forest, we speak to Thorin Thrain's son Oakenshield, calling himself the King under the Mountain, and we ask him to consider well our claims, or be declared our foe. He should give one twelfth portion of the treasure to Bard, as the dragon-slayer, and as the heir of Girion. From that portion Bard will himself contribute to the aid of Esgaroth; but if Thorin would like to have the friendship and respect of the lands about, then he will give also some gold for the comfort of the men of the Lake." Then Thorin shot an arrow at the speaker. It got into his shield.

"Since such is your answer," the speaker called in return, "I declare the Mountain besieged. We will bear no weapons against you, but we leave you to your gold. You may eat that, if you want!"

So the dwarves were left to consider their situation. Most of them agreed with Thorin except perhaps old fat Bombur and Fili and Kili. Bilbo, of course, didn't like what had happened.

"The whole place still stinks of dragon," he said to himself, "and it makes me sick."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A Thief in the Night

Now the days passed slowly. Many of the dwarves spent their time piling and ordering the treasure; and now Thorin spoke of the Arkenstone of Thrain, and told them to look for it in every corner. "The Arkenstone of my father," he said, "is worth more than a river of gold, and to me it is beyond price. I will revenge anyone who will find it and hide it."

Bilbo heard these words and he got frightened. The stone was wrapped in an old bundle that he used as a pillow. But he did not speak of it, because he started thinking of a plan.

Soon the ravens brought news that Dain and more than five hundred dwarves, hurrying from the Iron Hills, were now within about two days' march of Dale, coming from the North-East. "But they cannot reach the Mountain safely," said Rac, "and I fear there will be battle in the valley. I do not think that the dwarves will overcome your foes. Anyway, winter is coming. How will you live without the friendship of the lands about you? The treasure can become your death, though the dragon is no more!"

But Thorin was not moved. "Winter and snow will bite both men and elves," he said. "With my friends behind them and winter upon them, they will perhaps talk in a different way."

That night Bilbo made up his mind. The sky was black and moonless. He went to a corner of an inner room just within the gate and drew from his bundle a rope, and also the Arkenstone wrapped in a rag. Then he climbed to the top of the wall. Only Bombur was there, because it was his turn to watch.

"It is really cold!" said Bombur.

"It is warm enough inside," said Bilbo.

"But I have to stay here till midnight," said the fat dwarf.

"I will take your turn for you, if you like. I don't feel sleepy tonight."

"You are a good fellow, Mr Baggins, and I will take your offer kindly. If there is anything to note, rouse me first! I will lie in the inner room to the left, not far away."

"Off you go!" said Bilbo. "I will wake you at midnight, and you can wake the next watchman." As soon as Bombur had gone, Bilbo put on his ring, fastened his rope, slipped down over the wall, and was gone.

He had about five hours before him. Bombur was sleeping; and all the others were busy with Thorin. It was very dark, and the road was strange to him. At last he came to the bend where he had to cross the water to get to the camp. He was almost across when he fell into the cold water with a splash. He had just got out on the far bank, when elves came up with bright lanterns.

"There is a spy about. Hide your lights!" said one of them.

"I am here, if you want me!" said Bilbo and he slipped off his ring.

They seized him quickly. "Who are you? Are you the dwarves' hobbit? What are you doing? How did you get so far past our watchmen?" they asked.

"I am Mr Bilbo Baggins," he answered, "companion of Thorin, if you want to know. I know your king well, though perhaps he doesn't know me. But Bard will remember me, and I want to see Bard. I have only an hour or two."

So now Bilbo was sitting beside a warm fire in front of a large tent with the Elvenking and Bard. A hobbit in elvish armour, partly wrapped in an old blanket, was something new to them.

"You know," Bilbo said, "things are impossible. Personally I am tired of the whole affair. But I have an interest in this matter - one fourteenth share, according to a letter, which I have with me." He took out from a pocket in his old jacket Thorin's letter that had been put under the clock on his mantelpiece in May! "Personally I am ready to consider all your claims carefully. However you don't know Thorin Oakenshield well enough. I assure you, he is quite ready to sit on a heap of gold and starve, as long as you sit here."

"Well, let him!" said Bard. "Such a fool deserves to starve."

"Quite so," said Bilbo. "I see your point of view. At the same time winter is coming on fast. Soon there will be snow, and supplies will be difficult - even for elves. Also there will be other difficulties. Have you heard of Dain and the dwarves of the Iron Hills?"

"We have, a long time ago; but what has he got to do with us?" asked the king.

"I see I have some information which you have not got. Dain is now less than two days' march off, and has at least five hundred dwarves with him - really good warriors. When they arrive there will be serious trouble."

"Why do you tell us this? Are you betraying your friends, or are you threatening us?" asked Bard gloomily.

"My dear Bard!" said Bilbo. "Don't hurry! I am just trying to avoid trouble for all. Now I will make you an offer!"

"Let us hear it!" they said.

"It is this!" and he showed them the Arkenstone.

The Elvenking himself stood up in amazement. Even Bard gazed at it in silence.

"This is the Arkenstone of Thrain," said Bilbo, "the Heart of the Mountain; and it is also the heart of Thorin. He values it above a river of gold. I give it to you. It will help you in your talks with Thorin." Then Bilbo handed the marvellous stone to Bard, and he held it in his hand.

"I am going back now, and the dwarves can do what they like to me. I hope you will find it useful," added Bilbo. The Elvenking looked at Bilbo with a new wonder.

"Bilbo Baggins!" he said. "You are more worthy to wear the armour of elf-princes than many others. I advise you to remain with us, and here you will be honoured."

"Thank you very much," said Bilbo with a bow. "But I don't think I should leave my friends, after all we have gone through together. And I promised to wake old Bombur at midnight, too! Really I must go, and quickly."

So they provided an escort for him, and as he went both the king and Bard saluted him with honour. As they passed through the camp, an old man wrapped in a dark cloak rose from a tent door where he was sitting and came towards them.

"Well done, Mr Baggins!" he said, clapping Bilbo on the back. "There is more about you than anyone expects!" It was Gandalf. For the first time for many days Bilbo was really happy. But there was no time for all the questions that he immediately wished to ask. "All in good time!" said Gandalf. "Things are going to the end now, if I am not mistaken. There is an unpleasant time just in front of you; but keep your heart up! There is news that even the ravens have not heard. Good night!"

Puzzled but cheered Bilbo hurried on. He came back on time. At midnight he woke up Bombur; and soon he was fast asleep forgetting all his worries till the morning. As a matter of fact he was dreaming of eggs and bacon.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The Clouds Burst

Next day the trumpets rang early in the camp. Soon a single runner hurried along the narrow path. At a distance he stood and hailed them, asking Thorin to listen to another offer, because matters were changed.

"Tell them to come few in number and weaponless, and I will hear," he called to the messenger. About midday a group of twenty men approached the Gate. The dwarves saw that among them were both Bard and the Elvenking, before whom an old man wrapped in cloak and hood carried a wooden box.

"Hail Thorin!" said Bard. "Are you still of the same mind?"

"Did you come to ask me idle questions? Still the elves have not gone!" answered Thorin.

"Is there then nothing for which you would give any of your gold?" asked Bard.

"Nothing that you or your friends have to offer," said Thorin.

"What about the Arkenstone of Thrain?" said Bard, and at the same moment the old man opened the box and showed the jewel. The light leapt from his hand, bright and white in the morning.

Thorin was shocked. No one spoke for a long while. At last Thorin said: "That stone was my father's, and is mine. Why should I purchase my own?" Then he added: "But how did you get it?"

"We are not thieves," Bard answered. "Your own we will give back in return for our own."

"How did you get it?" shouted Thorin in rage.

"I gave it them!" said Bilbo in a dreadful fright.

"You! You!" cried Thorin, turning upon him and grasping him with both hands. "You miserable hobbit!" he shouted, and he shook poor Bilbo like a rabbit.

"Where is Gandalf? He chose you! I will throw you to the rocks!" he cried and lifted Bilbo in his arms.

"Stay! Here is Gandalf!" said a voice. The old man with the box took off his hood and cloak. "If you don't like my Burglar, please don't damage him. Put him down, and listen first to him!"

So Thorin dropped Bilbo on the top of the wall.

"O!" said Bilbo. "I am sure this is all very uncomfortable. Please remember - you told me that I could choose my own fourteenth share. Perhaps I took it too literally. The time was when you thought that I had helped you. So I have disposed of my share as I wished!"

"So," said Thorin gloomily, "I will let you go at that - and I hope not to meet you again!" Then he turned and spoke over the wall. "I am betrayed," he said. "I will redeem the Arkenstone, the treasure of my house. For it I will give one fourteenth share of the treasure in silver and gold; but that will be the promised share of this traitor, and with that reward he will go away, and you can divide it. Take him, if you wish him to live.

"Get down now to your friends!" he said to Bilbo, "or I will throw you down."

"What about the gold and silver?" asked Bilbo.

"That will follow after," said he. "Get down!"

"Until then we keep the stone," cried Bard.

"You don't behave as King under the Mountain," said Gandalf. "But things may change."

"They may indeed," said Thorin. He was already thinking of how to get the Arkenstone back and not to pay for it.

And so Bilbo was swung down from the wall, and left with nothing for all his trouble. The dwarves in their hearts felt shame and pity.

"Good-bye!" Bilbo cried to them. "We may meet again as friends."

"Go away!" called Thorin.

"At noon we will return," said Bard, "and see if you have brought the gold and silver for the stone. Good-bye!" With that they went back to the camp; but Thorin sent messengers by Rac telling Dain of what had happened, and asking him to hurry.

That day passed and the night. The next day the air was dark and gloomy. The morning was still early when Dain arrived.

The dwarves are really strong for their height, but most of these were strong even for dwarves. Their caps were of iron and they had iron shoes, and their faces were grim. Trumpets called men and elves to arms. Bard went out to meet the dwarves, and with him went Bilbo.

"We are sent from Dain son of Nain," the dwarves said. "We are going to our relatives in the Mountain."

Bard, of course, refused to allow the dwarves to go straight on to the Mountain. He was going to wait until Thorin had brought the gold and silver in exchange for the Arkenstone. The dwarves had brought with them a great store of supplies. So they could stand a siege for weeks.

This was, in fact, Thorin's plan; but for the moment the way was blocked, so after angry words the dwarf-messengers retired. Bard then sent messengers at once to the Gate; but they found no gold or payment.

Suddenly darkness came! A black cloud hurried over the sky.

"Halt!" cried Gandalf, who appeared suddenly, and stood alone, with arms uplifted, between the advancing dwarves and the men and elves awaiting them. "Halt!" he called in a voice like thunder. "The Goblins are coming! Bolg of the North is coming. O Dain! You killed his father in Moria. Look! The bats are above his army like a black sea. They ride on wolves and Wargs are in their train!" Amazement and confusion fell upon them all. The darkness grew. The dwarves gazed at the sky. The elves cried.

"Come!" called Gandalf. "There is yet time for council. Let Dain son of Nain come swiftly to us!"

So began a battle that none had expected; and it was called the Battle of Five Armies, and it was very terrible. Upon one side were the Goblins and the wild Wolves, and upon the other were Elves and Men and Dwarves.

Gandalf together with the Elvenking, Bard, and Dain realized that the Goblins were the foes of all, and at their coming all other quarrels were forgotten. Now it was necessary to lure the goblins into the valley between the arms of the Mountain.

Soon the bat-cloud came, flying lower, and whirled above them.

"To the Mountain!" called Bard. "To the Mountain! Let us take our places while there is yet time!"

On the Southern spur the Elves were set; on the Eastern spur were men and dwarves. But Bard and some of the nimblest of men and elves climbed to the height of the Eastern shoulder to get a view to the North. Soon they could see the lands before the Mountain's feet black with a hurrying mass. Soon the goblin army rushed into Dale. Their banners were countless, black and red.

It was a terrible battle, and it was the most dreadful of all Bilbo's experiences. Actually I must say he put on his ring and vanished from sight. But a magic ring is not a complete protection in a battle, it can't stop flying arrows and wild spears; but it helps in getting out of the way.

The elves were the first to attack the goblin army. Their hatred for the goblins is cold and bitter. As soon as their enemies were in the valley, they sent against them a shower of arrows and spears. Then with cries of "Moria!" and "Dain, Dain!" the dwarves of the Iron Hills attacked the goblins; and beside them came the men of the Lake with long swords. Panic came upon the goblins. Already many of them were flying back down the river to escape from the trap. Just then another big group of goblins appeared from the other side of the Mountain and already many of them were on the slopes above the Gate. The goblins gathered again in the valley.

Soon actual darkness was coming into a stormy sky; while still the great bats whirled about the heads and ears of elves and men. Now Bard was fighting to defend the Eastern spur; and the elf-lords were at bay about their king upon the southern arm. Suddenly there was a great shout, and from the Gate came a trumpet call. They had forgotten Thorin! Part of the wall fell outward with a crash into the pool. The King under the Mountain leaped out, and his companions followed him. They were in shining armour. Then the goblins who were higher on the Mountain started dropping stones onto them.

Thorin brandished his axe with mighty strokes.

"To me! To me! Elves and Men! To me!" he cried.

Down rushed all the dwarves of Dain to his help. Down too came many of the Lake-men, for Bard could not restrain them; and out upon the other side came many of the spearmen of the elves. Once again the goblins were stricken in the valley. But soon the attackers were attacked again.

On all this Bilbo looked with sadness from Ravenhill. He was among the elves because he preferred to defend the Elvenking. Gandalf, too, was there, sitting on the ground, preparing, I suppose, some last blast of magic before the end. "It will be soon," thought Bilbo. But suddenly he gave a great cry: he had seen a sight that made his heart leap.

"The Eagles! The Eagles!" he shouted. "The Eagles are coming!" Bilbo's eyes were seldom wrong. The eagles were coming line after line, and there were a lot of them.

"The Eagles! The Eagles!" Bilbo cried, dancing and waving his arms. If the elves could not see him they could hear him.

"The Eagles!" cried Bilbo once more, but at that moment a stone hit him on the head and he fell with a crash.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Return Journey

When Bilbo opened his eyes, he was lying on the flat stones of Ravenhill, and no one was near. It was a cloudless but cold day. He was shaking, and his head burned with fire.

He sat up painfully. Looking into the valley he could see no living goblins. "Victory after all, I suppose!" he said, feeling his aching head.

Suddenly he was aware of a man climbing up and coming towards him.

"Hullo there!" he called with a trembling voice. "Hullo there! What's the news?"

"What voice is it that speaks among the stones?" said the man.

Then Bilbo remembered his ring!

"It's me, Bilbo Baggins, companion of Thorin!" he cried, hurriedly taking off the ring.

"It is good that I have found you!" said the man. "You are needed and we have looked for you long. We thought you were dead. How are you?"

"I feel sick and my legs are like straws," said Bilbo.

"I will carry you down to the camp in the valley," said the man, and picked him lightly up.

The man was swift, and soon Bilbo was before a tent in Dale; and there stood Gandalf, with his arm in a sling. Even the wizard had not escaped without a wound.

When Gandalf saw Bilbo, he was delighted. "Baggins!" he exclaimed. "You are alive after all - I am glad! Come!" he said. "You are needed," he added and took the hobbit within the tent.

"Hail! Thorin," Gandalf said as he entered. "I have brought him." There lay Thorin Oakenshield, wounded with many wounds. He looked up as Bilbo came beside him.

"Farewell, good thief," he said. "I go now to my fathers. I wish to part in friendship from you, and I would like to take back my words and deeds at the Gate."

"Farewell, King under the Mountain!" answered Bilbo. "This is a bitter adventure, if it must end so. Yet I am glad that I have been with you."

"There is more in you of good than you know, child of the West. You have courage and wisdom. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above gold, it would be a merrier world. But sad or merry, I must leave it now. Farewell!"

Then Bilbo turned away, and he went by himself, and sat alone wrapped in a blanket, and wept until his eyes were red. He was a kind little soul. "I am glad that we parted in kindness," he said at last to himself. "You are a fool, Bilbo Baggins, and you made a great mess of that business with the stone; and there was a battle, in spite of all your efforts to buy peace and quiet."

Now I will tell you what happened after the Eagles had come. They drove the goblins away from the mountain-slopes. And then Beorn himself appeared - no one knew how or from where. He came alone, and in bear's shape. The roar of his voice was like drums; and he threw wolves and goblins from his path like straws and feathers. Then Beorn lifted Thorin, who had fallen pierced with spears, and carried him out of the battle. Swiftly he returned and pulled down Bolg himself and crushed him. So the goblins ran away in all directions.

"Where are the Eagles?" Bilbo asked Gandalf that evening, as he lay wrapped in many warm blankets.

"They departed with the first light of morning. Dain has crowned their chief with gold, and sworn friendship with them for ever," said the wizard.

"I would like to see them again," said Bilbo sleepily; "perhaps I will see them on the way home. I suppose I will go home soon."

"As soon as you like," said the wizard.

Then they buried Thorin deep beneath the Mountain, and Bard put the Arkenstone on his breast.

"There it will lie till the Mountain falls!" he said. Upon his tomb the Elvenking then put Orcrist, the elvish sword that had been taken from Thorin in captivity. Dain son of Nain became King under the Mountain. Of the twelve companions of Thorin, ten remained. Fili and Kili had died defending him with shield and body, because he was their mother's elder brother. The others remained with Dain. A fourteenth share of all the silver and gold was given to Bard.

Even a fourteenth share was a great wealth. From that treasure Bard sent much gold to the Master of Lake-town; and he rewarded his followers and friends generously. To the Elvenking he gave the emeralds of Girion. To Bilbo he said: "This treasure is as much yours as it is mine; I would like to reward you most richly of all."

"That's very kind of you," said Bilbo. "But really it is better in your hands." In the end he agreed to take two small chests, one filled with silver, and the other with gold, such as one strong pony could carry.

At last the time came for him to say good-bye to his friends. "Farewell, Balin!" he said; "and farewell, Dwalin; and farewell Dori, Nori, Ori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur!" And turning towards the Mountain he added: "Farewell Thorin Oakenshield! And Fili and Kili!"

Then the dwarves bowed low before their Gate. "Good-bye and good luck, Bilbo!" said Balin. "If ever you visit us again, when our halls are beautiful once more, then the feast will be splendid!"

"If ever you are passing my way," said Bilbo, "don't wait to knock! Tea is at four; but any of you are welcome at any time!"

Then he turned away.

The elves were on the march. Gandalf and Bilbo rode behind the Elvenking, and beside them was Beorn, once again in man's shape. So they went on until they approached the borders of Mirkwood, to the north of the place where the Forest River ran out.

Then they stopped. The wizard and Bilbo intended to go along the edge of the forest. It was a long and cheerless road, but now that the goblins were crushed, it seemed safer to them than the dreadful pathways under the trees. Moreover Beorn was going that way too.

"Farewell! O Elvenking!" said Gandalf. "Merry be the greenwood! And merry be all your folk!"

"Farewell! O Gandalf!" said the king. "May you ever appear where you are most needed and least expected! I will be happy to see you in my halls!"

"Please," said Bilbo, "accept this gift!" and he brought out a necklace of silver and pearls that Dain had given him at their parting.

"How have I earned such a gift?" said the king.

"Well," said Bilbo rather confused, "some little return should be made for your hospitality. I mean even a burglar has his feelings. I have drunk much of your wine and eaten much of your bread."

"I will take your gift, O Bilbo the Magnificent!" said the king seriously. "And I name you elf-friend and blessed. Farewell!"

Then the elves turned towards the Forest, and Bilbo started on his long road home.

It was spring when Bilbo and Gandalf left Beorn. At last they reached the very pass where the goblins had captured them before. Behind there was Mirkwood, blue in the distance. And far away there was the Lonely Mountain. On its highest peak snow was gleaming pale. "So comes snow after fire and even dragons have their ending!" said Bilbo. "I wish now only to be in my own arm-chair!" he said.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The Last Stage

On May the First Bilbo and Gandalf came back at last to the Last (or the First) Homely House.

Again it was evening, their ponies were tired, especially the one that carried the baggage; and they all felt in need of rest. As they rode down the steep path, Bilbo heard the elves still singing in the trees; and as soon as their riders came down into the lower glades of the wood they burst into a song.

This is something like it:

"The dragon is withered,

His bones are now crumbled;

His armour is shivered,

His splendour is humbled!

And leaves are yet swinging,

The white water flowing,

And elves are yet singing

Come! Tra-la-la-lally!"

Then the elves of the valley came out and greeted them and led them across the water to the house of Elrond. There were many elves that evening who wanted to hear the tale of their adventures. Gandalf was speaking, because Bilbo was sleepy. But sometimes he opened one eye, and listened. And so he learned that Gandalf had been to a great council of the white wizards, masters of good magic; and that they had at last driven the Necromancer from his dark hold in the south of Mirkwood.

"Soon," Gandalf was saying, "The Forest will be safer. The North will be freed from that horror for many long years, I hope."

Bilbo woke in a white bed, and the moon was shining through an open window. Below it many elves were singing on the banks of the stream.

"The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,

And bright are the windows of Night in her tower.

Dance all you joyful, now dance all together!

Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!

The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting;

Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting.

Sing we now softly, and dreams let us weave him!

Wind him in slumber and there let us leave him!"

"Well, Merry People!" said Bilbo looking out. "What time is this?"

"It is drawing towards dawn, and you have slept now since the night's beginning."

"I would like to sleep some more," said he; "A second good night, fair friends!" And with that he went back to bed and slept till late morning.

Soon Bilbo said farewell to Elrond and rode away with Gandalf.

"There is a long road yet," said Gandalf.

"But it is the last road," said Bilbo.

At each point on the road Bilbo recalled the events of a year ago. So he quickly noted the place where the pony had fallen in the river, and they had turned aside for their nasty adventure with Tom and Bert and Bill. Not far from the road they found the gold of the trolls, which they had buried, still hidden and untouched. "Take this, Gandalf," said Bilbo, when they had dug it up. "You can find a use for it."

"Indeed I can!" said the wizard. "But you may find you have more needs than you expect."

So they shared the gold and put it in bags on the ponies. After that they went slower, for most of the time they walked.

As all things come to an end, even this story, a day came at last when they were in sight of the country where Bilbo had been born. Finally he could see his own Hill in the distance.

And so they crossed the bridge and passed the mill by the river and came right back to Bilbo's own door.

"Bless me! What's going on?" he cried.

There were people of all sorts, respectable and unrespectable, and many were going in and out. He had arrived back in the middle of an auction! There was a large notice in black and red on the gate, stating that on June the Twenty-second the things of the late Bilbo Baggins Esquire would be sold, at ten o'clock sharp. It was now nearly lunch-time and most of the things had already been sold. Bilbo's cousins were going to occupy his rooms. Bilbo was "Presumed Dead".

The return of Mr Bilbo Baggins created quite a disturbance, both under the Hill and over the Hill, and across the Water. It was quite a long time before Mr Baggins was admitted to be alive again.

In the end to save time Bilbo had to buy back quite a lot of his own furniture. Many of his silver spoons mysteriously disappeared. Personally he suspected his cousins. On their side they never admitted that the returned Baggins was genuine, and they were not on friendly terms with Bilbo ever after. They really had wanted to live in his nice hobbit-hole so very much.

Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons - he had lost his reputation. It is true that for ever after he remained an elf-friend, and had the honour of dwarves, wizards; but he was no longer quite respectable. I am sorry to say he did not mind. He was quite content. His sword he hung over the mantelpiece. His coat of mail was on a stand in the hall. His gold and silver was largely spent in presents. His magic ring he kept a great secret, for he used it when unpleasant visitors came. He started writing poetry and visiting the elves; and he remained very happy to the end of his days.

One autumn evening some years afterwards Bilbo was sitting in his study writing his memoirs - he thought of calling them "There and Back Again, a Hobbit's Holiday" - when there was a ring at the door. It was Gandalf and Balin.

"Come in! Come in!" said Bilbo, and soon they were sitting in chairs by the fire. Bilbo asked how things were going in the lands of the Mountain. It seemed they were going very well. Bard had rebuilt the town in Dale and men had gathered to him from the Lake and from South and West, and the entire valley had become rich. And Lake-town was more prosperous than ever; and there was friendship in those parts between elves and dwarves and men.

- THE END -

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