style="font-size:15px;"> “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 3
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![26]” 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 Erond 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
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