towers

752 the two towers
‘We have,’ said Merry. ‘But our discussions began and
ended in smoke. Still we feel less ill-disposed towards
Saruman than we did.’
‘Do you indeed?’ said Gandalf. ‘Well, I do not. I have now
a last task to do before I go: I must pay Saruman a farewell
visit. Dangerous, and probably useless; but it must be done.
Those of you who wish may come with me – but beware!
And do not jest! This is not the time for it.’
‘I will come,’ said Gimli. ‘I wish to see him and learn if he
really looks like you.’
‘And how will you learn that, Master Dwarf ?’ said Gandalf.
‘Saruman could look like me in your eyes, if it suited his
purpose with you. And are you yet wise enough to detect all
his counterfeits? Well, we shall see, perhaps. He may be shy
of showing himself before many different eyes together. But
I have ordered all the Ents to remove themselves from sight,
so perhaps we shall persuade him to come out.’
‘What’s the danger?’ asked Pippin. ‘Will he shoot at us,
and pour fire out of the windows; or can he put a spell on us
from a distance?’
‘The last is most likely, if you ride to his door with a light
heart,’ said Gandalf. ‘But there is no knowing what he can
do, or may choose to try. A wild beast cornered is not safe
to approach. And Saruman has powers you do not guess.
Beware of his voice!’
They came now to the foot of Orthanc. It was black, and
the rock gleamed as if it were wet. The many faces of the
stone had sharp edges as though they had been newly chiselled.
A few scorings, and small flake-like splinters near the
base, were all the marks that it bore of the fury of the Ents.
On the eastern side, in the angle of two piers, there was a
great door, high above the ground; and over it was a shuttered
window, opening upon a balcony hedged with iron bars.
Up to the threshold of the door there mounted a flight of
twenty-seven broad stairs, hewn by some unknown art of the
same black stone. This was the only entrance to the tower;