The Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkien Read Free Book Online Page B

were
     already small and far away. Aragorn did not look back: he was watching the trail as they sped on their way, bending low with
     his head beside the neck of Hasufel. Before long they came to the borders of the Entwash, and there they met the other trail
     of which Éomer had spoken, coming down from the East out of the Wold.
    Aragorn dismounted and surveyed the ground, then leaping back into the saddle, he rode away for some distance eastward, keeping
     to one side and taking care not to override the footprints. Then he again dismounted and examined the ground, going backwards
     and forwards on foot.
    ‘There is little to discover,’ he said when he returned. ‘The main trail is all confused with the passage of the horsemen
     as they came back; their outward course must have lain nearer the river. But this eastward trail is fresh and clear. There
     is no sign there of any feet going the other way, back towards Anduin. Now we must ride slower, and make sure that no trace
     or footstep branches off on either side. The Orcs must have been aware from this point that they were pursued; they may have
     made some attempt to get their captives away before they were overtaken.’
    As they rode forward the day was overcast. Low grey clouds came over the Wold. A mist shrouded the sun. Ever nearer the tree-clad
     slopes of Fangorn loomed, slowly darkling as the sun went west. They saw no sign of any trail to right or left, but here and
     there they passed single Orcs, fallen in their tracks as they ran, with grey-feathered arrows sticking in back or throat.
    At last as the afternoon was waning they came to the eaves of the forest, and in an open glade among the first trees they
     found the place of the great burning: the ashes were still hot and smoking. Beside it was a great pile of helms and mail,
     cloven shields, and broken swords, bows and darts and other gear of war. Upon a stake in the middle was set a great goblin
     head; upon its shattered helm the white badge could still be seen. Further away, not far from the river, where it came streaming
     out from the edge of the wood, there was a mound. It was newly raised: the raw earth was covered with fresh-cut turves: about
     it were planted fifteen spears.
    Aragorn and his companions searched far and wide about the field of battle, but the light faded, and evening soon drew down,
     dim and misty. By nightfall they had discovered no trace of Merry and Pippin.
    ‘We can do no more,’ said Gimli sadly. ‘We have been set many riddles since we came to Tol Brandir, but this is the hardest
     to unravel. I would guess that the burned bones of the hobbits are now mingled with the Orcs’. It will be hard news for Frodo,
     if he lives to hear it; and hard too for the old hobbit who waits in Rivendell. Elrond was against their coming.’
    ‘But Gandalf was not,’ said Legolas.
    ‘But Gandalf chose to come himself, and he was the first to be lost,’ answered Gimli. ‘His foresight failed him.’
    ‘The counsel of Gandalf was not founded on foreknowledge of safety, for himself or for others,’ said Aragorn. ‘There are some
     things that it is better to begin than to refuse, even though the end may be dark. But I shall not depart from this place
     yet. In any case we must here await the morning-light.’
    A little way beyond the battle-field they made their camp under a spreading tree: it looked like a chestnut, and yet it still
     bore many broad brown leaves of a former year, like dry hands with long splayed fingers; they rattled mournfully in the night-breeze.
    Gimli shivered. They had brought only one blanket apiece.
    ‘Let us light a fire,’ he said. ‘I care no longer for the danger. Let the Orcs come as thick as summer-moths round a candle!’
    ‘If those unhappy hobbits are astray in the woods, it might draw them hither,’ said Legolas.
    ‘And it might draw other things, neither Orc nor Hobbit,’ said Aragorn. ‘We are near to the mountain-marches of the traitor