towers

flotsam and jetsam 747
breakfast when Treebeard appeared again. We heard him
hooming and calling our names outside.
‘ ‘‘I have just come round to see how you are faring, my
lads,’’ he said; ‘‘and to give you some news. Huorns have
come back. All’s well; aye very well indeed!’’ he laughed, and
slapped his thighs. ‘‘No more Orcs in Isengard, no more
axes! And there will be folk coming up from the South before
the day is old; some that you may be glad to see.’’
‘He had hardly said that, when we heard the sound of
hoofs on the road. We rushed out before the gates, and I
stood and stared, half expecting to see Strider and Gandalf
come riding up at the head of an army. But out of the mist
there rode a man on an old tired horse; and he looked a queer
twisted sort of creature himself. There was no one else. When
he came out of the mist and suddenly saw all the ruin and
wreckage in front of him, he sat and gaped, and his face went
almost green. He was so bewildered that he did not seem to
notice us at first. When he did, he gave a cry, and tried to
turn his horse round and ride off. But Treebeard took three
strides, put out a long arm, and lifted him out of the saddle.
His horse bolted in terror, and he grovelled on the ground.
He said he was Gríma, friend and counsellor of the king, and
had been sent with important messages from Théoden to
Saruman.
‘ ‘‘No one else would dare to ride through the open land,
so full of foul Orcs,’’ he said, ‘‘so I was sent. And I have had
a perilous journey, and I am hungry and weary. I fled far
north out of my way, pursued by wolves.’’
‘I caught the sidelong looks he gave to Treebeard, and I
said to myself ‘‘liar’’. Treebeard looked at him in his long
slow way for several minutes, till the wretched man was
squirming on the floor. Then at last he said: ‘‘Ha, hm, I was
expecting you, Master Wormtongue.’’ The man started at
that name. ‘‘Gandalf got here first. So I know as much about
you as I need, and I know what to do with you. Put all the
rats in one trap, said Gandalf; and I will. I am the master of
Isengard now, but Saruman is locked in his tower; and you