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mount doom 1227
a sword to it. His hands are bad enough when empty. And
he isn’t going to mess with my pans!’ With that he carried all
the gear away to one of the many gaping fissures that scored
the land and threw them in. The clatter of his precious pans
as they fell down into the dark was like a death-knell to his
heart.
He came back to Frodo, and then of his elven-rope he cut
a short piece to serve his master as a girdle and bind the grey
cloak close about his waist. The rest he carefully coiled and
put back in his pack. Beside that he kept only the remnants
of their waybread and the water-bottle, and Sting still hanging
by his belt; and hidden away in a pocket of his tunic next his
breast the phial of Galadriel and the little box that she gave
him for his own.
Now at last they turned their faces to the Mountain and
set out, thinking no more of concealment, bending their
weariness and failing wills only to the one task of going on.
In the dimness of its dreary day few things even in that land
of vigilance could have espied them, save from close at hand.
Of all the slaves of the Dark Lord, only the Nazgûl could have
warned him of the peril that crept, small but indomitable, into
the very heart of his guarded realm. But the Nazgûl and their
black wings were abroad on other errand: they were gathered
far away, shadowing the march of the Captains of the West,
and thither the thought of the Dark Tower was turned.
That day it seemed to Sam that his master had found some
new strength, more than could be explained by the small
lightening of the load that he had to carry. In the first marches
they went further and faster than he had hoped. The land
was rough and hostile, and yet they made much progress,
and ever the Mountain drew nearer. But as the day wore on
and all too soon the dim light began to fail, Frodo stooped
again, and began to stagger, as if the renewed effort had
squandered his remaining strength.
At their last halt he sank down and said: ‘I’m thirsty, Sam,’
and did not speak again. Sam gave him a mouthful of water;