Page 12 (1/2)

The Taol

&039;Well, master, we&039;re in a fix and no ee He stood despondently with hunched shoulders beside Frodo, and peered out with puckered eyes into the gloo since they had fled from the Company, as far as they could tell: they had al which they had cli the barren slopes and stones of the E their steps because they could find no way forward, so that they had wandered in a circle back to where they had been hours before Yet on the whole they had worked steadily eastward, keeping as near as they could find a way to the outer edge of this strange twisted knot of hills But always they found its outward faces sheer, high and i over the plain below; beyond its tu moved and not even a bird was to be seen

The hobbits stood now on the brink of a tall cliff, bare and bleak, its feet wrapped in hlands croith drifting cloud A chill wind&039; blew fro over the shapeless lands before the to a sullen brown Far away to the right the Anduin, that had glea the day, was now hidden in shadow But their eyes did not look beyond the River, back to Gondor, to their friends, to the lands of Men South and east they stared to where at the edge of the onco, like distant ain a tiny red gleam far away flickered upwards on the rim of earth and sky

&039;What a fix!&039; said Sam &039;That&039;s the one place in all the lands we&039;ve ever heard of that we don&039;t want to see any closer; and that&039;s the one place we&039;re trying to get to! And that&039;s just where we can&039;t get, nohow We&039;ve coet down; and if we did get doe&039;d find all that green land a nasty bog, I&039;ll warrant Phew! Can you smell it?&039; He sniffed at the wind

&039;Yes, I can smell it,&039; said Frodo, but he did notout towards the dark line and the flickering flame &039;Mordor!&039; he o there I wish I could come there quickly and make an end!&039; He shuddered The as chilly and yet heavy with an odour of cold decay &039;Well,&039; he said, at last withdrawing his eyes, &039;we cannot stay here all night, fix or no fix We must find a more sheltered spot, and camp once more; and perhaps another day will show us a path&039;

&039;Or another and another and another,&039;way&039;

&039;I wonder,&039; said Frodo &039;It&039;s o to that Shadow yonder, so that a ill be found But will good or evil show it to me? What hope we had was in speed Delay plays into the Enemy&039;s hands �C and here I am: delayed Is it the will of the Dark Tower that steers us? All my choices have proved ill I should have left the Co before, and come down from the North, east of the River and of the Emyn Muil, and so over the hard of Battle Plain to the passes of Mordor But now it isn&039;t possible for you andon the east bank Every day that passes is a precious day lost I am tired, Saot left?&039;

&039;Only those, what d&039;you call &039;em, leht, by a long bite I never thought, though, when I first set tooth in thee But I do now: a bit of plain bread, and a o down proper I&039;ve lugged ear all the way froht to rass!&039;

They turned away and went down into a stony hollow The westering sun was caught into clouds, and night came swiftly They slept as well as they could for the cold, turn and turn about, in a nook aed pinnacles of weathered rock; at least they were sheltered froain, Mr Frodo?&039; asked Sa wafers of le

&039;No,&039; said Frodo &039;I&039;ve heard nothing, and seen nothing, for two nights now&039;

&039;Nor ive me a turn! But perhaps we&039;ve shaken hiive hiet my hands on his neck&039;

&039;I hope you&039;ll never need to,&039; said Frodo &039;I don&039;t kno he followed us; but it ain, as you say In this dry bleak land we can&039;t leavenose&039;

&039;I hope that&039;s the way of it,&039; said Saood!&039;

&039;So do I,&039; said Frodo, &039;but he&039;s not et away from these hills! I hate them I feel all naked on the east side, stuck up here with nothing but the dead flats between me and that Shadow yonder There&039;s an Eye in it Coet down today somehow&039;

But that day wore on, and when afternoon faded towards evening they were still scrae and had found no way of escape

Sometimes in the silence of that barren country they fancied that they heard faint sounds behind the feet on the rock But if they halted and stood still listening, they heard no es of the stones �C yet even that reh sharp teeth

All that day the outer ridge of the Eled on Along its brink there now stretched a wide tuain by trench-like gullies that sloped steeply down to deep notches in the cliff-face To find a path in these clefts, which were beco deeper and more frequent, Frodo and Sae, and they did not notice that for severalslowly but steadily downhill: the cliff-top was sinking towards the level of the lowlands

At last they were brought to a halt The ridge took a sharper bend northward and was gashed by a deeper ravine On the further side it reared up again, rey cliff loomed before theo no further forwards, and must turn now either west or east But ould lead them only into more labour and delay, back towards the heart of the hills; east would take them to the outer precipice

&039;There&039;s nothing for it but to scraully, Sam,&039; said Frodo &039;Let&039;s see what it leads to!&039;

&039;A nasty drop, I&039;ll bet,&039; said Saer and deeper than it seenarled and stunted trees, the first they had seen for days: twisted birch for the most part, with here and there a fir-tree Many were dead and gaunt, bitten to the core by the eastern winds Once in milder days there must have been a fair thicket in the ravine, but now, after soh old broken stuled on alully, which lay along the edge of a rock-fault, was rough with broken stone and slanted steeply down When they came at last to the end of it, Frodo stooped and leaned out

&039;Look!&039; he said &039;Weway, or else the cliff has sunk It&039;s much lower here than it was, and it looks easier too&039;

Sae Then he glanced up at the great cliff rising up, away on their left &039;Easier!&039; he grunted &039;Well, I suppose it&039;s always easier getting down than up Those as can&039;t fly can ju jump still,&039; said Frodo &039;About, well&039; �C he stood for a hteen fathouess Not h!&039; said Saht! But looking&039;s better than cli&039;

&039;All the same,&039; said Frodo, &039;I think we could climb here; and I think we shall have to try See �C the rock is quite different from what it was a few miles back It has slipped and cracked&039;

The outer fall was indeed no longer sheer, but sloped outwards a little It looked like a great rampart or sea-hose foundations had shifted, so that its courses were all twisted and disordered, leaving great fissures and long slanting edges that were in places aloing to try and get doe had better try at once It&039;s getting dark early I think there&039;s a stor&039;

The smoky blur of the mountains in the East was lost in a deeper blackness that was already reaching out ards with long ar breeze Frodo sniffed the air and looked up doubtfully at the sky He strapped his belt outside his cloak and tightened it, and settled his light pack on his back; then he stepped towards the edge &039;I&039;ood!&039; said Sa first&039;

&039;You?&039; said Frodo &039;What&039;s ?&039;

&039;I haven&039;t changed my mind But it&039;s only sense: put the one lowest as is most likely to slip I don&039;t want to co tith one fall&039;

Before Frodo could stop his over the brink, and twisted round, scrabbling with his toes for a foothold It is doubtful if he ever did anything braver in cold blood, or more unwise

&039;No, no! Sam, you old ass!&039; said Frodo &039;You&039;ll kill yourself for certain going over like that without even a look to see what to make for Come back!&039; He took Saain &039;Noait a bit and be patient!&039; he said Then he lay on the ground, leaning out and looking down: but the light seeh the sun had not yet set &039;I think we could e this,&039; he said presently &039;I could at any rate; and you could too if you kept your head and followed me carefully&039;

&039;I don&039;t kno you can be so sure,&039; said Saht What if you comes to a place where there&039;s nowhere to put your feet or your hands?&039;

&039;Climb back, I suppose,&039; said Frodo

&039;Easy said,&039; objected Saht&039;

&039;No! Not if I can help it,&039; said Frodo with a sudden strange vehe down to try it out Don&039;t you follow till I co the stony lip of the fall with his fingers he let hiently down, until when his are &039;One step down!&039; he said &039;And this ledge broadens out to the right I could stand there without a hold I&039;ll�C&039; his words were cut short

The hurrying darkness, now gathering great speed, rushed up fro crack of thunder right overhead Searing lightning se wind, and with it, h shrill shriek The hobbits had heard just such a cry far away in the Marish as they fled from Hobbiton, and even there in the woods of the Shire it had frozen their blood Out here in the waste its terror was far greater: it pierced the heart and breath Sam fell flat on his face Involuntarily Frodo loosed his hold and put his hands over his head and ears He swayed, slipped, and slithered doards with a wailing cry

Sae &039;Master, master!&039; he called &039;Master!&039;

He heard no answer He found he was shaking all over, but he gathered his breath, and once again he shouted: &039;Master!&039; The wind seemed to blow his voice back into his throat, but as it passed, roaring up the gully and away over the hills, a faint answering cry caht! I&039;m here But I can&039;t see&039;

Frodo was calling with a weak voice He was not actually very far away He had slid and not fallen, and had coe not many yards lower down Fortunately the rock-face at this point leaned well back and the wind had pressed hiainst the cliff, so that he had not toppled over He steadied hiainst the cold stone, feeling his heart pounding But either the darkness had grown coht All was black about him He wondered if he had been struck blind He took a deep breath

&039;Come back! Come back!&039; he heard Sam&039;s voice out of the blackness above

&039;I can&039;t,&039; he said &039;I can&039;t see I can&039;t find any hold I can&039;t move yet&039;

&039;What can I do, Mr Frodo? What can I do?&039; shouted Saerously far Why could not his master see? It was dim, certainly, but not as dark as all that He could see Frodo below hiainst the cliff But he was far out of the reach of any helping hand

There was another crack of thunder; and then the rain caainst the cliff, bitter cold

&039;I&039;h how he hoped to help in that way he could not have said

&039;No, no! wait!&039; Frodo called back, ly now &039;I shall be better soon I feel better already Wait! You can&039;t do anything without a rope&039;

&039;Rope!&039; cried Sa wildly to himself in his excitement and relief &039;Well, if I don&039;t deserve to be hung on the end of one as a warning to nuee: that&039;s what the Gaffer said toa word of his Rope!&039;

&039;Stop chattering!&039; cried Frodo, now recovered enough to feel both amused and annoyed &039;Neverto tell yourself you&039;ve got some rope in your pocket? If so, out with it!

&039;Yes, Mr Frodo, in my pack and all Carried it hundreds of otten it!&039;

&039;Then get busy and let an end down!&039;

Quickly Saed in it There indeed at the bottorey rope made by the folk of Lorien He cast an end to his master The darkness seeht was returning He could see the grey line as it caht it had a faint silver sheen Now that he had soiddy Leaning his weight forward, he rasped the line with both hands

Saainst a stu, Frodo carowled and ru heavily The hobbits crawled away back into the gully; but they did not find an to run down; soon they grew to a spate that splashed and fuutters of a vast roof

&039;I should have been half drowned down there, or washed clean off,&039; said Frodo &039;What a piece of luck you had that rope!&039;

&039;Better luck if I&039;d thought of it sooner,&039; said Sa the ropes in the boats, as we started off: in the elvish country I took a fancy to it, and I stowed a coil in o, it seems "It may be a help in many needs," he said: Haldir, or one of those folk And he spoke right&039;

&039;A pity I didn&039;t think of bringing another length,&039; said Frodo, &039;but I left the Coh we could use it to get down How long is your rope, I wonder?&039;

Sa it with his arms: &039;Five, ten, twenty, thirty ells, more or less,&039; he said

&039;Who&039;d have thought it!&039; Frodo exclaimed

&039;Ah! Who would?&039; said Sam &039;Elves are wonderful folk It looks a bit thin, but it&039;s tough; and soft as ht Wonderful folk to be sure!&039;

&039;Thirty ells!&039; said Frodo considering &039;I believe it would be enough If the stor to try it&039;

&039;The rain&039;s nearly given over already,&039; said Sa risky in the diot over that shriek on the wind yet, if you have Like a Black Rider it sounded �C but one up in the air, if they can fly I&039;ht&039;s over&039;

&039;And I&039;er than I need stuck up on this edge with the eyes of the Dark Country looking over the marshes,&039; said Frodo

With that he stood up and went down to the botto in the East once ed and wet, and the s over the Eht of Sauron brooded for a while Thence it turned, s its shadow upon Minas Tirith with threat of war Then, lowering in the reat spires, it rolled on slowly over Gondor and the skirts of Rohan, until far away the Riders on the plain saw its black towersbehind the sun, as they rode into the West But here, over the desert and the reekingopened once more, and a few pallid stars appeared, like small white holes in the canopy above the crescent ain,&039; said Frodo, breathing deep &039;Do you know, I thought for a bit that I had lostelse worse I could see nothing, nothing at all, until the grey rope came down It seemed to shimmer somehow&039;

&039;It does look sort of silver in the dark,&039; said Sah I can&039;t remember as I&039;ve ever had it out since I first stowed it But if you&039;re so set on cli to use it? Thirty ells, or say, about eighteen fathoht of the cliff&039;

Frodo thought for a while &039;Make it fast to that stump, Sam!&039; he said &039;Then I think you shall have your wish this tio first I&039;ll lower you, and you need do no more than use your feet and hands to fend yourself off the rock Though, if you put your weight on soive me a rest, it will help When you&039;re down, I&039;ll follow I feel quite ain now&039;

&039;Very well,&039; said Saet it over!&039; He took up the rope and made it fast over the stump nearest to the brink; then the other end he tied about his oaist Reluctantly he turned and prepared to go over the edge a second time

It did not, however, turn out half as bad as he had expected The rope seeh he shut his eyes more than once when he looked down between his feet There was one aard spot, where there was no ledge and the as sheer and even undercut for a short space; there he slipped and swung out on the silver line But Frodo lowered him slowly and steadily, and it was over at last His chief fear had been that the rope-length would give out while he was still high up, but there was still a good bight in Frodo&039;s hands, when Sam came to the bottom and called up: &039;I&039;m down!&039; His voice carey elven-cloak had ht

Frodo took rather more time to follow him He had the rope about his waist and it was fast above, and he had shortened it so that it would pull hiround; still he did not want to risk a fall, and he had not quite Sarey line He found two places, all the same, where he had to trust wholly to it: s hobbit fingers and the ledges were far apart But at last he too was down

&039;Well!&039; he cried &039;We&039;ve done it! We&039;ve escaped from the Emyn Muil! And nohat next, I wonder? Maybe we shall soon be sighing for good hard rock under foot again&039;

But Sa back up the cliff &039;Ninnyhammers!&039; he said &039;Noodles! My beautiful rope! There it is tied to a stump, and we&039;re at the botto Gollunpost to say which e&039;ve gone! I thought it seemed a bit too easy&039;

&039;If you can think of any e could have both used the rope and yet brought it doith us, then you can pass on to ave you,&039; said Frodo &039;Climb up and untie it and let yourself down, if you want to!&039;

Saing your pardon,&039; he said &039;But I don&039;t like leaving it, and that&039;s a fact&039; He stroked the rope&039;s end and shook it gently &039;It goes hard parting with anything I brought out of the Elf-country Made by Galadriel herself, too,his head ave one last pull to the rope as if in farewell

To the complete surprise of both the hobbits it carey coils slithered silently down on top of hihed &039;Who tied the rope?&039; he said &039;A good thing it held as long as it did! To think that I trusted all h &039;I , Mr Frodo,&039; he said in injured tones, &039;but I do know so about rope and about knots It&039;s in the farand-dad, and my uncle Andy after him, him that was the Gaffer&039;s eldest brother he had a rope-walk over by Tighfield many a year And I put as fast a hitch over the stump as any one could have done, in the Shire or out of it&039;

&039;Then the rope e, I expect,&039; said Frodo

&039;I bet it didn&039;t!&039; said Sam in an even more injured voice He stooped and examined the ends &039;Nor it hasn&039;t neither Not a strand!&039;

&039;Then I&039;m afraid it must have been the knot,&039; said Frodo

Sa the rope through his fingers thoughtfully &039;Have it your oay, Mr Frodo,&039; he said at last, &039;but I think the rope came off itself �C when I called&039; He coiled it up and stowed it lovingly in his pack

&039;It certainly ca But noe&039;ve got to think of our next ht will be on us soon How beautiful the stars are, and the Moon!&039;

&039;They do cheer the heart, don&039;t they?&039; said Sa up &039;Elvish they are so We haven&039;t seen hiinning to give quite a light&039;

&039;Yes,&039; said Frodo, &039;but he won&039;t be full for some days I don&039;t think we&039;ll try the ht of half a ht they started out on the next stage of their journey After a while Sam turned and looked back at the way they had coully was a black notch in the diot the rope,&039; he said &039;We&039;ve set a little puzzle for that footpad, anyhow He can try his nasty flappy feet on those ledges!&039;