towers

the passage of the marshes 823
White Face. Then Frodo and Sam staring at the sky, breathing
deeply of the fresher air, saw it come: a small cloud flying
from the accursed hills; a black shadow loosed from Mordor;
a vast shape winged and ominous. It scudded across the
moon, and with a deadly cry went away westward, outrunning
the wind in its fell speed.
They fell forward, grovelling heedlessly on the cold earth.
But the shadow of horror wheeled and returned, passing
lower now, right above them, sweeping the fen-reek with its
ghastly wings. And then it was gone, flying back to Mordor
with the speed of the wrath of Sauron; and behind it the
wind roared away, leaving the Dead Marshes bare and bleak.
The naked waste, as far as the eye could pierce, even to the
distant menace of the mountains, was dappled with the fitful
moonlight.
Frodo and Sam got up, rubbing their eyes, like children
wakened from an evil dream to find the familiar night still
over the world. But Gollum lay on the ground as if he had
been stunned. They roused him with difficulty, and for some
time he would not lift his face, but knelt forward on his
elbows, covering the back of his head with his large flat hands.
‘Wraiths!’ he wailed. ‘Wraiths on wings! The Precious is
their master. They see everything, everything. Nothing can
hide from them. Curse the White Face! And they tell Him
everything. He sees, He knows. Ach, gollum, gollum, gollum!’
It was not until the moon had sunk, westering far away
beyond Tol Brandir, that he would get up or make a move.
From that time on Sam thought that he sensed a change
in Gollum again. He was more fawning and would-be
friendly; but Sam surprised some strange looks in his eyes at
times, especially towards Frodo; and he went back more and
more into his old manner of speaking. And Sam had another
growing anxiety. Frodo seemed to be weary, weary to the
point of exhaustion. He said nothing, indeed he hardly spoke
at all; and he did not complain, but he walked like one who
carries a load, the weight of which is ever increasing; and he