towers

the forbidden pool 897
would have bidden you not to slay him for that reason, and
for others. He forbade the Elves to do so. I do not
know clearly why, and of what I guess I cannot speak openly
out here. But this creature is in some way bound up with
my errand. Until you found us and took us, he was my
guide.’
‘Your guide!’ said Faramir. ‘The matter becomes ever
stranger. I would do much for you, Frodo, but this I cannot
grant: to let this sly wanderer go free at his own will from
here, to join you later if it please him, or to be caught by orcs
and tell all he knows under threat of pain. He must be slain
or taken. Slain, if he be not taken very swiftly. But how
can this slippery thing of many guises be caught, save by a
feathered shaft?’
‘Let me go down quietly to him,’ said Frodo. ‘You may
keep your bows bent, and shoot me at least, if I fail. I shall
not run away.’
‘Go then and be swift!’ said Faramir. ‘If he comes off alive,
he should be your faithful servant for the rest of his unhappy
days. Lead Frodo down to the bank, Anborn, and go softly.
The thing has a nose and ears. Give me your bow.’
Anborn grunted and led the way down the winding stair
to the landing, and then up the other stair, until at last they
came to a narrow opening shrouded with thick bushes. Passing
silently through, Frodo found himself on the top of the
southern bank above the pool. It was now dark and the falls
were pale and grey, reflecting only the lingering moonlight of
the western sky. He could not see Gollum. He went forward
a short way and Anborn came softly behind him.
‘Go on!’ he breathed in Frodo’s ear. ‘Have a care to your
right. If you fall in the pool, then no one but your fishing
friend can help you. And forget not that there are bowmen
near at hand, though you may not see them.’
Frodo crept forward, using his hands Gollum-like to feel
his way and to steady himself. The rocks were for the most
part flat and smooth but slippery. He halted listening. At first
he could hear no sound but the unceasing rush of the fall