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.`He had suffered much.There is no doubt that he was tormented, and the fear of Sauron lies blackon his heart.Still I for one am glad that he is safely kept by the watchfulElves of Mirkwood.His malice is great and gives him a strength hardly to bebelieved in one so lean and withered.He could work much mischief still, ifhe were free.And I do not doubt that he was allowed to leave Mordor on someevil errand.'`Alas! alas!' cried Legolas, and in his fair elvish face there wasgreat distress.`The tidings that I was sent to bring must now be told.Theyare not good, but only here have I learned how evil they may seem to thiscompany.Smjagol, who is now called Gollum, has escaped.''Escaped?' cried Aragorn.'That is ill news indeed.We shall all rue itbitterly, I fear.How came the folk of Thranduil to fail in their trust?'`Not through lack of watchfulness,' said Legolas; `but perhaps throughover-kindliness.And we fear that the prisoner had aid from others, and thatmore is known of our doings than we could wish.We guarded this creature dayand night, at Gandalf's bidding, much though we wearied of the task.ButGandalf bade us hope still for his cure, and we had not the heart to keephim ever in dungeons under the earth, where he would fall back into his oldblack thoughts.''You were less tender to me,' said Gluin with a flash of his eyes asold memories were stirred of his imprisonment in the deep places of theElven-king's halls.'Now come!' said Gandalf.`Pray do not interrupt, my good Gluin.Thatwas a regrettable misunderstanding, long set right.If all the grievancesthat stand between Elves and Dwarves are to be brought up here, we may aswell abandon this Council.'Gluin rose and bowed, and Legolas continued.'In the days of fairweather we led Gollum through the woods; and there was a high tree standingalone far from the others which he liked to climb.Often we let him mount upto the highest branches, until he felt the free wind; but we set a guard atthe tree's foot.One day he refused to come down, and the guards had no mindto climb after him: he had learned the trick of clinging to boughs with hisfeet as well as with his hands; so they sat by the tree far into the night.'It was that very night of summer, yet moonless and starless, that Orcscame on us at unawares.We drove them off after some time; they were manyand fierce, but they came from over the mountains, and were unused to thewoods.When the battle was over, we found that Gollum was gone, and hisguards were slain or taken.It then seemed plain to us that the attack hadbeen made for his rescue, and that he knew of it beforehand.How that wascontrived we cannot guess; but Gollum is cunning, and the spies of the Enemyare many.The dark things that were driven out in the year of the Dragon'sfall have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place,save where our realm is maintained.`We have failed to recapture Gollum.We came on his trail among thoseof many Orcs, and it plunged deep into the Forest, going south.But ere longit escaped our skill, and we dared not continue the hunt; for we weredrawing nigh to Dol Guldur, and that is still a very evil place; we do notgo that way.'`Well, well, he is gone,' said Gandalf.'We have no time to seek forhim again.He must do what he will.But he may play a part yet that neitherhe nor Sauron have foreseen.'And now I will answer Galdor's other questions.What of Saruman? Whatare his counsels to us in this need? This tale I must tell in full, for onlyElrond has heard it yet, and that in brief, but it will bear on all that wemust resolve.It is the last chapter in the Tale of the Ring, so far as ithas yet gone.'At the end of June I was in the Shire, but a cloud of anxiety was onmy mind, and I rode to the southern borders of the little land; for I had aforeboding of some danger, still hidden from me but drawing near.Theremessages reached me telling me of war and defeat in Gondor, and when I heardof the Black Shadow a chill smote my heart.But I found nothing save a fewfugitives from the South; yet it seemed to me that on them sat a fear ofwhich they would not speak.I turned then east and north and journeyed alongthe Greenway; and not far from Bree I came upon a traveller sitting on abank beside the road with his grazing horse beside him.It was Radagast theBrown, who at one time dwelt at Rhosgobel, near the borders of Mirkwood.Heis one of my order, but I had not seen him for many a year.` "Gandalf! " he cried."I was seeking you.But I am a stranger inthese parts.All I knew was that you might be found in a wild region withthe uncouth name of Shire."' "Your information was correct," I said."But do not put it that way,if you meet any of the inhabitants.You are near the borders of the Shirenow.And what do you want with me? It must be pressing.You were never atraveller, unless driven by great need."' "I have an urgent errand," he said."My news is evil." Then he lookedabout him, as if the hedges might have ears."Nazgyl," he whispered."TheNine are abroad again.They have crossed the River secretly and are movingwestward.They have taken the guise of riders in black
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