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J. R. R. Tolkien — The Lord Of The Rings. (2/4)

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Part 1: The Fellowship of the Ring

Part 2: The Two Towers

Part 3: The Return of the King

THE TWO TOWERS

Book III

Chapter 1 The Departure of Boromir

Chapter 2 The Riders of Rohan

Chapter 3 The Uruk-Hai

Chapter 4 Treebeard

Chapter 5 The White Rider

Chapter 6 The King of the Golden Hall

Chapter 7 Helm's Deep

Chapter 8 The Road to Isengard

Chapter 9 Flotsam and Jetsam

Chapter 10 The Voice of Saruman

Chapter 11 The Palantýr

Book IV

Chapter 1 The Taming of Sméagol

Chapter 2 The Passage of the Marshes

Chapter 3 The Black Gate is Closed

Chapter 4 Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit

Chapter 5 The Window on the West

Chapter 6 The Forbidden Pool

Chapter 7 Journey to the Cross-roads

Chapter 8 The Stairs of Cirith Ungol

Chapter 9 Shelob's Lair

Chapter 10 The Choices of Master Samwise

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THE TWO TOWERS

_being the SECOND part of

The Lord of the Rings_

_Chapter 1_

The Departure of Boromir

Aragorn sped on up the hill. Every now and again he bent to the ground.

Hobbits go light, and their footprints are not easy even for a Ranger to read,

but not far from the top a spring crossed the path, and in the wet earth he

saw what he was seeking.

'I read the signs aright,' he said to himself. 'Frodo ran to the hill-

top. I wonder what he saw there? But he returned by the same way, and went

down the hill again.'

Aragorn hesitated. He desired to go to the high seat himself, hoping to

see there something that would guide him in his perplexities; but time was

pressing. Suddenly he leaped forward, and ran to the summit, across the great

flag-stones, and up the steps. Then sitting in the high seat he looked out.

But the sun seemed darkened, and the world dim and remote. He turned from the

North back again to North, and saw nothing save the distant hills, unless it

were that far away he could see again a great bird like an eagle high in the

air, descending slowly in wide circles down towards the earth.

Even as he gazed his quick ears caught sounds in the woodlands below, on

the west side of the River. He stiffened. There were cries, and among them, to

his horror, he could distinguish the harsh voices of Orcs. Then suddenly with

a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills

and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the

falls.

'The horn of Boromir!' he cried. 'He is in need!' He sprang down the

steps and away, leaping down the path. 'Alas! An ill fate is on me this day,

and all that I do goes amiss. Where is Sam?'

As he ran the cries came louder, but fainter now and desperately the horn

was blowing. Fierce and shrill rose the yells of the Orcs, and suddenly the

horn-calls ceased. Aragorn raced down the last slope, but before he could

reach the hill's foot, the sounds died away; and as he turned to the left and

ran towards them they retreated, until at last he could hear them no more.

Drawing his bright sword and crying _Elendil! Elendil!_ he crashed through the

trees.

A mile, maybe, from Parth Galen in a little glade not far from the lake

he found Boromir. He was sitting with his back to a great tree, as if he was

resting. But Aragorn saw that he was pierced with many black-feathered arrows;

his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilt; his horn

cloven in two was at his side. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at

his feet.

Aragorn knelt beside him. Boromir opened his eyes and strove to speak. At

last slow words came. 'I tried to take the Ring from Frodo ' he said. 'I am

sorry. I have paid.' His glance strayed to his fallen enemies; twenty at least

lay there. 'They have gone: the Halflings: the Orcs have taken them. I think

they are not dead. Orcs bound them.' He paused and his eyes closed wearily.

After a moment he spoke again.

'Farewell, Aragorn! Go to Minas Tirith and save my people! I have

failed.'

'No!' said Aragorn, taking his hand and kissing his brow. 'You have

conquered. Few have gained such a victory. Be at peace! Minas Tirith shall not

fall!'

Boromir smiled.

'Which way did they go? Was Frodo there?' said Aragorn.

But Boromir did not speak again.

'Alas!' said Aragorn. 'Thus passes the heir of Denethor, Lord of the

Tower of Guard! This is a bitter end. Now the Company is all in ruin. It is I

that have failed. Vain was Gandalf's trust in me. What shall I do now? Boromir

has laid it on me to go to Minas Tirith, and my heart desires it; but where

are the Ring and the Bearer? How shall I find them and save the Quest from

disaster?'

He knelt for a while, bent with weeping, still clasping Boromir's hand.

So it was that Legolas and Gimli found him. They came from the western slopes

of the hill, silently, creeping through the trees as if they were hunting.

Gimli had his axe in hand, and Legolas his long knife: all his arrows were

spent. When they came into the glade they halted in amazement; and then they

stood a moment with heads bowed in grief, for it seemed to them plain what had

happened.

'Alas!' said Legolas, coming to Aragorn's side. 'We have hunted and slain

many Orcs in the woods, but we should have been of more use here. We came when

we heard the horn-but too late, it seems. I fear you have taken deadly hurt.'

'Boromir is dead,' said Aragorn. 'I am unscathed, for I was not here with

him. He fell defending the hobbits, while I was away upon the hill.'

'The hobbits!' cried Gimli 'Where are they then? Where is Frodo?'

'I do not know,' answered Aragorn wearily. 'Before he died Boromir told

me that the Orcs had bound them; he did not think that they were dead. I sent

him to follow Merry and Pippin; but I did not ask him if Frodo or Sam were

with him: not until it was too late. All that I have done today has gone

amiss. What is to be done now?'

'First we must tend the fallen,' said Legolas. 'We cannot leave him lying

like carrion among these foul Orcs.'

'But we must be swift,' said Gimli. 'He would not wish us to linger. We

must follow the Orcs, if there is hope that any of our Company are living

prisoners.'

'But we do not know whether the Ring-bearer is with them or not ' said

Aragorn. 'Are we to abandon him? Must we not seek him first? An evil choice is

now before us!'

'Then let us do first what we must do,' said Legolas. 'We have not the

time or the tools to bury our comrade fitly, or to raise a mound over him. A

cairn we might build.'

'The labour would be hard and long: there are no stones that we could use

nearer than the water-side,' said Gimli.

'Then let us lay him in a boat with his weapons, and the weapons of his

vanquished foes,' said Aragorn. 'We will send him to the Falls of Rauros and

give him to Anduin. The River of Gondor will take care at least that no evil

creature dishonours his bones.'

Quickly they searched the bodies of the Orcs, gathering their swords and

cloven helms and shields into a heap. 'See!' cried Aragorn. 'Here we find

tokens!' He picked out from the pile of grim weapons two knives, leaf-bladed,

damasked in gold and red; and searching further he found also the sheaths,

black, set with small red gems. 'No orc-tools these!' he said. 'They were

borne by the hobbits. Doubtless the Orcs despoiled them, but feared to keep

the knives, knowing them for what they are: work of Westernesse, wound about

with spells for the bane of Mordor. Well, now, if they still live, our friends

are weaponless. I will take these things, hoping against hope, to give them

back.'

'And I,' said Legolas, 'will take all the arrows that I can find, for my

quiver is empty.' He searched in the pile and on the ground about and found

not a few that were undamaged and longer in the shaft than such arrows as the

Orcs were accustomed to use. He looked at them closely.

And Aragorn looked on the slain, and he said: 'Here lie many that are not

folk of Mordor. Some are from the North, from the Misty Mountains, if I know

anything of Orcs and their kinds. And here are others strange to me. Their

gear is not after the manner of Orcs at all!'

There were four goblin-soldiers of greater stature, swart, slant-eyed,

with thick legs and large hands. They were armed with short broad-bladed

swords, not with the curved scimitars usual with Orcs: and they had bows of

yew, in length and shape like the bows of Men. Upon their shields they bore a

strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field; on the

front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal.

'I have not seen these tokens before,' said Aragorn. 'What do they mean?'

'S is for Sauron,' said Gimli. 'That is easy to read.'

'Nay!' said Legolas. 'Sauron does not use the Elf-runes.'

'Neither does he use his right name, nor permit it to be spelt or

spoken,' said Aragorn. 'And he does not use white. The Orcs in the service of

Barad-dûr use the sign of the Red Eye.' He stood for a moment in thought. 'S

is for Saruman, I guess,' he said at length. 'There is evil afoot in Isengard,

and the West is no longer safe. It is as Gandalf feared: by some means the

traitor Saruman has had news of our journey. It is likely too that he knows of

Gandalf's fall. Pursuers from Moria may have escaped the vigilance of Lórien,

or they may have avoided that land and come to Isengard by other paths. Orcs

travel fast. But Saruman has many ways of learning news. Do you remember the

birds?'

'Well, we have no time to ponder riddles,' said Gimli. 'Let us bear

Boromir away!'

'But after that we must guess the riddles, if we are to choose our course

rightly,' answered Aragorn.

'Maybe there is no right choice,' said Gimli.

Taking his axe the Dwarf now cut several branches. These they lashed

together with bowstrings, and spread their cloaks upon the frame. Upon this

rough bier they carried the body of their companion to the shore, together

with such trophies of his last battle as they chose to send forth with him. It

was only a short way, yet they found it no easy task, for Boromir was a man

both tall and strong.

At the water-side Aragorn remained, watching the bier. while Legolas and

Gimli hastened back on foot to Parth Galen. It was a mile or more, and it was

some time before they came back, paddling two boats swiftly along the shore.

'There is a strange tale to tell!' said Legolas. 'There are only two

boats upon the bank. We could find no trace of the other.'

'Have Orcs been there?' asked Aragorn.

'We saw no signs of them,' answered Gimli. 'And Orcs would have taken or

destroyed all the boats, and the baggage as well.'

'I will look at the ground when we come there,' said Aragorn.

Now they laid Boromir in the middle of the boat that was to bear him

away. The grey hood and elven-cloak they folded and placed beneath his head.

They combed his long dark hair and arrayed it upon his shoulders. The golden

belt of Lórien gleamed about his waist. His helm they set beside him, and

across his lap they laid the cloven horn and the hilts and shards of his

sword; beneath his feet they put the swords of his enemies. Then fastening the

prow to the stern of the other boat, they drew him out into the water. They

rowed sadly along the shore, and turning into the swift-running channel they

passed the green sward of Parth Galen. The steep sides of Tol Brandir were

glowing: it was now mid-afternoon. As they went south the fume of Rauros rose

and shimmered before them, a haze of gold. The rush and thunder of the falls

shook the windless air.

Sorrowfully they cast loose the funeral boat: there Boromir lay, restful,

peaceful, gliding upon the bosom of the flowing water. The stream took him

while they held their own boat back with their paddles. He floated by them,

and slowly his boat departed, waning to a dark spot against the golden light;

and then suddenly it vanished. Rauros roared on unchanging. The River had

taken Boromir son of Denethor, and he was not seen again in Minas Tirith,

standing as he used to stand upon the White Tower in the morning. But in

Gondor in after-days it long was said that the elven-boat rode the falls and

the foaming pool, and bore him down through Osgiliath, and past the many

mouths of Anduin, out into the Great Sea at night under the stars.

For a while the three companions remained silent, gazing after him. Then

Aragorn spoke. 'They will look for him from the White Tower,' he said, 'but he

will not return from mountain or from sea.' Then slowly he began to sing:

Through Rohan over fen and field where the long grass grows

The West Wind comes walking, and about the walls it goes.

'What news from the West, O wandering wind, do you bring to me

tonight?

Have you seen Boromir the Tall by moon or by starlight?'

'I saw him ride over seven streams, over waters wide and grey;

I saw him walk in empty lands, until he passed away

Into the shadows of the North. I saw him then no more.

The North Wind may have heard the horn of the son of Denethor.'

'O Boromir! From the high walls westward I looked afar,

But you came not from the empty lands where no men are.'

Then Legolas sang:

From the mouths of the Sea the South Wind flies, from the sandhills

and the stones;

The wailing of the gulls it bears, and at the gate it moans.

'What news from the South, O sighing wind, do you bring to me at

eve?

Where now is Boromir the Fair? He tarries and I grieve.'

'Ask not of me where he doth dwell-so many bones there lie

On the white shores and the dark shores under the stormy sky;

So many have passed down Anduin to find the flowing Sea.

Ask of the North Wind news of them the North Wind sends to me!'

'O Boromir! Beyond the gate the seaward road runs south,

But you came not with the wailing gulls from the grey sea's mouth.'

Then Aragorn sang again:

From the Gate of Kings the North Wind rides, and past the roaring

falls;

And clear and cold about the tower its loud horn calls.

'What news from the North, O mighty wind, do you bring to me today?

What news of Boromir the Bold? For he is long away.'

'Beneath Amon Hen I heard his cry. There many foes he fought.

His cloven shield, his broken sword, they to the water brought.

His head so proud, his face so fair, his limbs they laid to rest;

And Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, bore him upon its breast.'

'O Boromir! The Tower of Guard shall ever northward gaze

To Rauros, golden Rauros-falls, until the end of days.'

So they ended. Then they turned their boat and drove it with all the

speed they could against the stream back to Parth Galen.

'You left the East Wind to me,' said Gimli, 'but I will say naught of

it.'

'That is as it should be,' said Aragorn. 'In Minas Tirith they endure the

East Wind, but they do not ask it for tidings. But now Boromir has taken his

road. and we must make haste to choose our own.'

He surveyed the green lawn, quickly but thoroughly, stooping often to the

earth. 'The Orcs have been on this ground,' he said. 'Otherwise nothing can be

made out for certain. All our footprints are here, crossing and re-crossing. I

cannot tell whether any of the hobbits have come back since the search for

Frodo began.' He returned to the bank, close to where the rill from the spring

trickled out into the River. 'There are some clear prints here,' he said. 'A

hobbit waded out into the water and back; but I cannot say how long ago.'

'How then do you read this riddle?' asked Gimli.

Aragorn did not answer at once, but went back to the camping-place and

looked at the baggage. 'Two packs are missing.' he said, 'and one is certainly

Sam's: it was rather large and heavy. This then is the answer: Frodo has gone

by boat, and his servant has gone with him. Frodo must have returned while we

were all away. I met Sam going up the hill and told him to follow me; but

plainly he did not do so. He guessed his master s mind and came back here

before Frodo had gone. He did not find it easy to leave Sam behind!'

'But why should he leave us behind, and without a word?' said Gimli.

'That was a strange deed!'

'And a brave deed,' said Aragorn. 'Sam was right, I think. Frodo did not

wish to lead any friend to death with him in Mordor. But he knew that he must

go himself. Something happened after he left us that overcame his fear and

doubt.'

'Maybe hunting Orcs came on him and he fled,' said Legolas.

'He fled, certainly,' said Aragorn, 'but not, I think, from Orcs.' What

he thought was the cause of Frodo's sudden resolve and flight Aragorn did not

say. The last words of Boromir he long kept secret.

'Well, so much at least is now clear,' said Legolas: 'Frodo is no longer

on this side of the River: only he can have taken the boat. And Sam is with

him; only he would have taken his pack.'

'Our choice then,' said Gimli, 'is either to take the remaining boat and

follow Frodo, or else to follow the Orcs on foot. There is little hope either

way. We have already lost precious hours.'

'Let me think!' said Aragorn. 'And now may I make a right choice and

change the evil fate of this unhappy day!' He stood silent for a moment. 'I

will follow the Orcs,' he said at last. 'I would have guided Frodo to Mordor

and gone with him to the end; but if I seek him now in the wilderness, I must

abandon the captives to torment and death. My heart speaks clearly at last:

the fate of the Bearer is in my hands no longer. The Company has played its

part. Yet we that remain cannot forsake our companions while we have strength

left. Come! We will go now. Leave all that can be spared behind! We will press

on by day and dark!'

They drew up the last boat and carried it to the trees. They laid beneath

it such of their goods as they did not need and could not carry away. Then

they left Parth Galen. The afternoon was fading as they came back to the glade

where Boromir had fallen. There they picked up the trail of the Orcs. It

needed little skill to find.

'No other folk make such a trampling,' said Legolas. 'It seems their

delight to slash and beat down growing things that are not even in their way.'

'But they go with a great speed for all that,' said Aragorn, 'and they do

not tire. And later we may have to search for our path in hard bare lands.'

'Well, after them!' said Gimli. 'Dwarves too can go swiftly, and they do

not tire sooner than Orcs. But it will be a long chase: they have a long

start.'

'Yes,' said Aragorn, 'we shall all need the endurance of Dwarves. But

come! With hope or without hope we will follow the trail of our enemies. And

woe to them, if we prove the swifter! We will make such a chase as shall be

accounted a marvel among the Three Kindreds : Elves. Dwarves, and Men. Forth

the Three Hunters!'

Like a deer he sprang away. Through the trees he sped. On and on he led

them, tireless and swift, now that his mind was at last made up. The woods

about the lake they left behind. Long slopes they climbed, dark, hard-edged

against the sky already red with sunset. Dusk came. They passed away, grey

shadows in a stony land.

_Chapter 2_

The Riders of Rohan

Dusk deepened. Mist lay behind them among the trees below, and brooded on

the pale margins of the Anduin, but the sky was clear. Stars came out. The

waxing moon was riding in the West, and the shadows of the rocks were black.

They had come to the feet of stony hills, and their pace was slower, for the

trail was no longer easy to follow. Here the highlands of the Emyn Muil ran

from North to South in two long tumbled ridges. The western side of each ridge

was steep and difficult, but the eastward slopes were gentler, furrowed with

many gullies and narrow ravines. All night the three companions scrambled in

this bony land, climbing to the crest of the first and tallest ridge, and down

again into the darkness of a deep winding valley on the other side.

There in the still cool hour before dawn they rested for a brief space.

The moon had long gone down before them, the stars glittered above them; the

first light of day had not yet come over the dark hills behind. For the moment

Aragorn was at a loss: the orc-trail had descended into the valley, but there

it had vanished.

'Which way would they turn, do you think?' said Legolas. 'Northward to

take a straighter road to Isengard, or Fangorn, if that is their aim as you

guess? Or southward to strike the Entwash?'

'They will not make for the river, whatever mark they aim at'' said

Aragorn. 'And unless there is much amiss in Rohan and the power of Saruman is

greatly increased; they will take the shortest way that they can find over the

fields of the Rohirrim. Let us search northwards!'

The dale ran like a stony trough between the ridged hills, and a

trickling stream flowed among the boulders at the bottom. A cliff frowned upon

their right; to their left rose grey slopes, dim and shadowy in the late

night. They went on for a mile or more northwards. Aragorn was searching. bent

towards the ground, among the folds and gullies leading up into the western

ridge. Legolas was some way ahead. Suddenly the Elf gave a cry and the others

came running towards him.

'We have already overtaken some of those that we are hunting,' he said.

'Look!' He pointed, and they saw that what they had at first taken to be

boulders lying at the foot of the slope were huddled bodies. Five dead Orcs

lay there. They had been hewn with many cruel strokes, and two had been

beheaded. The ground was wet with their dark blood.

'Here is another riddle!' said Gimli. 'But it needs the light of day and

for that we cannot wait.'

'Yet however you read it, it seems not unhopeful,' said Legolas. 'Enemies

of the Orcs are likely to be our friends. Do any folk dwell in these hills?'

'No,' said Aragorn. 'The Rohirrim seldom come here, and it is far from

Minas Tirith. It might be that some company of Men were hunting here for

reasons that we do not know. Yet I think not.'

'What do you think?' said Gimli.

'I think that the enemy brought his own enemy with him,' answered

Aragorn. 'These are Northern Orcs from far away. Among the slain are none of

the great Orcs with the strange badges. There was a quarrel, I guess: it is no

uncommon thing with these foul folk. Maybe there was some dispute about the

road.'

'Or about the captives,' said Gimli. 'Let us hope that they, too, did not

meet their end here.'

Aragorn searched the ground in a wide circle, but no other traces of the

fight could be found. They went on. Already the eastward sky was turning pale;

the stars were fading, and a grey light was slowly growing. A little further

north they came to a fold in which a tiny stream, falling and winding, had cut

a stony path down into the valley. In it some bushes grew, and there were

patches of grass upon its sides.

'At last!' said Aragorn. 'Here are the tracks that we seek! Up this

water-channel: this is the way that the Orcs went after their debate.'

Swiftly now the pursuers turned and followed the new path. As if fresh

from a night's rest they sprang from stone to stone. At last they reached the

crest of the grey hill, and a sudden breeze blew in their hair and stirred

their cloaks: the chill wind of dawn.

Turning back they saw across the River the far hills kindled. Day leaped

into the sky. The red rim of the sun rose over the shoulders of the dark land.

Before them in the West the world lay still, formless and grey; but even as

they looked, the shadows of night melted, the colours of the waking earth

returned: green flowed over the wide meads of Rohan; the white mists shimmered

in the watervales; and far off to the left, thirty leagues or more, blue and

purple stood the White Mountains, rising into peaks of jet, tipped with

glimmering snows, flushed with the rose of morning.

'Gondor! Gondor!' cried Aragorn. 'Would that I looked on you again in

happier hour! Not yet does my road lie southward to your bright streams.

Gondor! Gondor, between the Mountains and the Sea!

West Wind blew there; the light upon the Silver Tree

Fell like bright rain in gardens of the Kings of old.

O proud walls! White towers! O winged crown and throne of gold!

O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree,

Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea?

Now let us go!' he said, drawing his eyes away from the South, and

looking out west and north to the way that he must tread.

The ridge upon which the companions stood went down steeply before their

feet. Below it twenty fathoms or more, there was a wide and rugged shelf which

ended suddenly in the brink of a sheer cliff: the East Wall of Rohan. So ended

the Emyn Muil, and the green plains of the Rohirrim stretched away before them

to the edge of sight.

'Look!' cried Legolas, pointing up into the pale sky above them. 'There

is the eagle again! He is very high. He seems to be flying now away, from this

land back to the North. He is going with great speed. Look!'

'No, not even my eyes can see him, my good Legolas,' said Aragorn. 'He

must be far aloft indeed. I wonder what is his errand, if he is the same bird

that I have seen before. But look! I can see something nearer at hand and more

urgent; there is something moving over the plain!'

'Many things,' said Legolas. 'It is a great company on foot; but I cannot

say more, nor see what kind of folk they may be. They are many leagues away:

twelve, I guess; but the flatness of the plain is hard to measure.'

'I think, nonetheless, that we no longer need any trail to tell us which

way to go,' said Gimli. 'Let us find a path down to the fields as quick as may

be.'

'I doubt if you will find a path quicker than the one that the Orcs

chose,' said Aragorn.

They followed their enemies now by the clear light of day. It seemed that

the Orcs had pressed on with all possible speed. Every now and again the

pursuers found things that had been dropped or cast away: food-bags, the rinds

and crusts of hard grey bread. a torn black cloak, a heavy iron-nailed shoe

broken on the stones. The trail led them north along the top of the

escarpment, and at length they came to a deep cleft carved in the rock by a

stream that splashed noisily down. In the narrow ravine a rough path descended

like a steep stair into the plain.

At the bottom they came with a strange suddenness on the grass of Rohan.

It swelled like a green sea up to the very foot of the Emyn Muil. The falling

stream vanished into a deep growth of cresses and water-plants, and they could

hear it tinkling away in green tunnels, down long gentle slopes towards the

fens of Entwash Vale far away. They seemed to have left winter clinging to the

hills behind. Here the air was softer and warmer, and faintly scented, as if

spring was already stirring and the sap was flowing again in herb and leaf.

Legolas took a deep breath, like one that drinks a great draught after long

thirst in barren places.

'Ah! the green smell!' he said. 'It is better than much sleep. Let us

run!'

'Light feet may run swiftly here,' said Aragorn. 'More swiftly, maybe,

than iron-shod Orcs. Now we have a chance to lessen their lead!'

They went in single file, running like hounds on a strong scent, and an

eager light was in their eyes. Nearly due west the broad swath of the marching

Orcs tramped its ugly slot; the sweet grass of Rohan had been bruised and

blackened as they passed. Presently Aragorn gave a cry and turned aside.

'Stay!' he shouted. 'Do not follow me yet!' He ran quickly to the right, away

from the main trail; for he had seen footprints that went that way, branching

off from the others, the marks of small unshod feet. These, however, did not

go far before they were crossed by orc-prints, also coming out from the main

trail behind and in front, and then they curved sharply back again and were

lost in the trampling. At the furthest point Aragorn stooped and picked up

something from the grass; then he ran back.

'Yes,' he said, 'they are quite plain: a hobbit's footprints. Pippin's I

think. He is smaller than the other. And look at this! He held up a thing that

glittered in the sunlight. It looked like the new-opened leaf of a beech-tree,

fair and strange in that treeless plain.

'The brooch of an elven-cloak!' cried Legolas and Gimli together.

'Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall,' said Aragorn. 'This did not drop

by chance: it was cast away as a token to any that might follow. I think

Pippin ran away from the trail for that purpose.'

'Then he at least was alive,' said Gimli. 'And he had the use of his

wits, and of his legs too. That is heartening. We do not pursue in vain.'

'Let us hope that he did not pay too dearly for his boldness,' said

Legolas. 'Come! Let us go on! The thought of those merry young folk driven

like cattle burns my heart.'

The sun climbed to the noon and then rode slowly down the sky. Light

clouds came up out of the sea in the distant South and were blown away upon

the breeze. The sun sank. Shadows rose behind and reached out long arms from

the East. Still the hunters held on. One day now had passed since Boromir

fell, and the Orcs were yet far ahead. No longer could any sight of them be

seen in the level plains.

As nightshade was closing about them Aragorn halted. Only twice in the

day's march had they rested for a brief while, and twelve leagues now lay

between them and the eastern wall where they had stood at dawn.

'We have come at last to a hard choice,' he said. 'Shall we rest by

night, or shall we go on while our will and strength hold?'

'Unless our enemies rest also, they will leave us far behind, if we stay

to sleep.' said Legolas. 'Surely even Orcs must pause on the march?' said

Gimli. 'Seldom will Orcs journey in the open under the sun. yet these have

done so,' said Legolas. 'Certainly they will not rest by night.'

'But if we walk by night, we cannot follow their trail,' said Gimli.

'The trail is straight, and turns neither right nor left, as far as my

eyes can see,' said Legolas.

'Maybe, I could lead you at guess in the darkness and hold to the line,'

said Aragorn; 'but if we strayed, or they turned aside, then when light came

there might be long delay before the trail was found again.'

'And there is this also,' said Gimli: 'only by day can we see if any

tracks lead away. If a prisoner should escape, or if one should be carried

off, eastward, say, to the Great River, towards Mordor, we might pass the

signs and never know it.'

'That is true,' said Aragorn. 'But if I read the signs back yonder

rightly, the Orcs of the White Hand prevailed, and the whole company is now

bound for Isengard. Their present course bears me out.'

'Yet it would be rash to be sure of their counsels,' said Gimli. 'And

what of escape? In the dark we should have passed the signs that led you to

the brooch.'

'The Orcs will be doubly on their guard since then, and the prisoners

even wearier,' said Legolas. 'There will be no escape again, if we do not

contrive it. How that is to be done cannot be guessed, but first we must

overtake them.'

'And yet even I, Dwarf of many journeys, and not the least hardy of my

folk, cannot run all the way to Isengard without any pause ' said Gimli. 'My

heart burns me too, and I would have started sooner but now I must rest a

little to run the better. And if we rest, then the blind night is the time to

do so.'

'I said that it was a hard choice,' said Aragorn. 'How shall we end this

debate?'

'You are our guide,' said Gimli, 'and you are skilled in the chase. You

shall choose.'

'My heart bids me go on,' said Legolas. 'But we must hold together. I

will follow your counsel.'

'You give the choice to an ill chooser,' said Aragorn. 'Since we passed

through the Argonath my choices have gone amiss.' He fell silent gazing north

and west into the gathering night for a long while.

'We will not walk in the dark,' he said at length. 'The peril of missing

the trail or signs of other coming and going seems to me the greater. If the

Moon gave enough light, we would use it, but alas! he sets early and is yet

young and pale.'

'And tonight he is shrouded anyway,' Gimli murmured. 'Would that the Lady

had given us a light, such a gift as she gave to Frodo!'

'It will be more needed where it is bestowed,' said Aragorn. 'With him

lies the true Quest. Ours is but a small matter in the great deeds of this

time. A vain pursuit from its beginning, maybe, which no choice of mine can

mar or mend. Well, I have chosen. So let us use the time as best we may!'

He cast himself on the ground and fell at once into sleep, for he had not

slept since their night under the shadow of Tol Brandir. Before dawn was in

the sky he woke and rose. Gimli was still deep in slumber, but Legolas was

standing, gazing northwards into the darkness, thoughtful and silent as a

young tree in a windless night.

'They are far far away,' he said sadly, turning to Aragorn. 'I know in my

heart that they have not rested this night. Only an eagle could overtake them

now.'

'Nonetheless we will still follow as we may,' said Aragorn. Stooping he

roused the Dwarf. 'Come! We must go,' he said. 'The scent is growing cold.'

'But it is still dark,' said Gimli. 'Even Legolas on a hill-top could not

see them till the Sun is up.'

'I fear they have passed beyond my sight from hill or plain, under moon

or sun,' said Legolas.

'Where sight fails the earth may bring us rumour,' said Aragorn. 'The

land must groan under their hated feet.' He stretched himself upon the ground

with his ear pressed against the turf. He lay there motionless, for so long a

time that Gimli wondered if he had swooned or fallen asleep again. Dawn came

glimmering, and slowly a grey light grew about them. At last he rose, and now

his friends could see his face: it was pale and drawn, and his look was

troubled.

'The rumour of the earth is dim and confused,' he said. 'Nothing walks

upon it for many miles about us. Faint and far are the feet of our enemies.

But loud are the hoofs of the horses. It comes to my mind that I heard them,

even as I lay on the ground in sleep, and they troubled my dreams: horses

galloping, passing in the West. But now they are drawing ever further from us,

riding northward. I wonder what is happening in this land!'

'Let us go!' said Legolas.

So the third day of their pursuit began. During all its long hours of

cloud and fitful sun they hardly paused, now striding, now running, as if no

weariness could quench the fire that burned them. They seldom spoke. Over the

wide solitude they passed and their elven-cloaks faded against the background

of the grey-green fields; even in the cool sunlight of mid-day few but elvish

eyes would have marked them, until they were close at hand. Often in their

hearts they thanked the Lady of Lórien for the gift of _lembas_, for they

could eat of it and find new strength even as they ran.

All day the track of their enemies led straight on, going north-west

without a break or turn. As once again the day wore to its end they came to

long treeless slopes, where the land rose, swelling up towards a line of low

humpbacked downs ahead. The orc-trail grew fainter as it bent north towards

them, for the ground became harder and the grass shorter. Far away to the left

the river Entwash wound, a silver thread in a green floor. No moving thing

could be seen. Often Aragorn wondered that they saw no sign of beast or man.

The dwellings of the Rohirrim were for the most part many leagues away to the

South, under the wooded eaves of the White Mountains, now hidden in mist and

cloud; yet the Horse-lords had formerly kept many herds and studs in the

Eastemnet, this easterly region of their realm, and there the herdsmen had

wandered much, living in camp and tent, even in winter-time. But now all the

land was empty, and there was silence that did not seem to be the quiet of

peace.

At dusk they halted again. Now twice twelve leagues they had passed over

the plains of Rohan and the wall of the Emyn Muil was lost in the shadows of

the East. The young moon was glimmering in a misty sky, but it gave small

light, and the stars were veiled.

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J.R.R.Tolkien—TheLordOfTheRings.(2/4)-----------------------------------------------Part1:TheFellowshipoftheRingPart2:TheTwoTowersPart3:TheReturnoftheKingTHETWOTOWERSBookIIIChapter1TheDepartureofBoromirChapter2TheRidersofRohanChapter3TheUruk-HaiChapter4TreebeardChapter5TheWhiteRiderChapter6TheKingof...

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