return

1228 the return of the king
only one more mouthful remained. He went without himself;
and now as once more the night of Mordor closed over them,
through all his thoughts there came the memory of water;
and every brook or stream or fount that he had ever seen,
under green willow-shades or twinkling in the sun, danced
and rippled for his torment behind the blindness of his eyes.
He felt the cool mud about his toes as he paddled in the Pool
at Bywater with Jolly Cotton and Tom and Nibs, and their
sister Rosie. ‘But that was years ago,’ he sighed, ‘and far
away. The way back, if there is one, goes past the Mountain.’
He could not sleep and he held a debate with himself.
‘Well, come now, we’ve done better than you hoped,’ he said
sturdily. ‘Began well anyway. I reckon we crossed half the
distance before we stopped. One more day will do it.’ And
then he paused.
‘Don’t be a fool, Sam Gamgee,’ came an answer in his
own voice. ‘He won’t go another day like that, if he moves at
all. And you can’t go on much longer giving him all the water
and most of the food.’
‘I can go on a good way though, and I will.’
‘Where to?’
‘To the Mountain, of course.’
‘But what then, Sam Gamgee, what then? When you get
there, what are you going to do? He won’t be able to do
anything for himself.’
To his dismay Sam realized that he had not got an answer
to this. He had no clear idea at all. Frodo had not spoken
much to him of his errand, and Sam only knew vaguely that
the Ring had somehow to be put into the fire. ‘The Cracks
of Doom,’ he muttered, the old name rising to his mind.
‘Well, if Master knows how to find them, I don’t.’
‘There you are!’ came the answer. ‘It’s all quite useless. He
said so himself. You are the fool, going on hoping and toiling.
You could have lain down and gone to sleep together days
ago, if you hadn’t been so dogged. But you’ll die just the
same, or worse. You might just as well lie down now and
give it up. You’ll never get to the top anyway.’