towers

the window on the west 869
what he called ‘sauce’ when questioned about visits to the
orchard. There was some murmuring, but also some grins
on the faces of the men looking on: the sight of their Captain
sitting on the ground and eye to eye with a young hobbit,
legs well apart, bristling with wrath, was one beyond their
experience. ‘See here!’ he said. ‘What are you driving at?
Let’s come to the point before all the Orcs of Mordor come
down on us! If you think my master murdered this Boromir
and then ran away, you’ve got no sense; but say it, and have
done! And then let us know what you mean to do about it.
But it’s a pity that folk as talk about fighting the Enemy can’t
let others do their bit in their own way without interfering.
He’d be mighty pleased, if he could see you now. Think he’d
got a new friend, he would.’
‘Patience!’ said Faramir, but without anger. ‘Do not speak
before your master, whose wit is greater than yours. And I
do not need any to teach me of our peril. Even so, I spare a
brief time, in order to judge justly in a hard matter. Were I
as hasty as you, I might have slain you long ago. For I am
commanded to slay all whom I find in this land without the
leave of the Lord of Gondor. But I do not slay man or beast
needlessly, and not gladly even when it is needed. Neither do
I talk in vain. So be comforted. Sit by your master, and be
silent!’
Sam sat down heavily with a red face. Faramir turned to
Frodo again. ‘You asked how do I know that the son of
Denethor is dead. Tidings of death have many wings. Night
oft brings news to near kindred, ’tis said. Boromir was my
brother.’
A shadow of sorrow passed over his face. ‘Do you remember
aught of special mark that the Lord Boromir bore with
him among his gear?’
Frodo thought for a moment, fearing some further trap,
and wondering how this debate would turn in the end. He
had hardly saved the Ring from the proud grasp of Boromir,
and how he would fare now among so many men, warlike
and strong, he did not know. Yet he felt in his heart that