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.His senses were sharper and more aware of things that couldnot be seen.One sign of change that he soon had noticed was that he couldsee more in the dark than any of his companions, save perhaps Gandalf.Andhe was in any case the bearer of the Ring: it hung upon its chain againsthis breast, and at whiles it seemed a heavy weight.He felt the certainty ofevil ahead and of evil following; but he said nothing.He gripped tighter onthe hilt of his sword and went on doggedly.The Company behind him spoke seldom, and then only in hurried whispers.There was no sound but the sound of their own feet; the dull stump ofGimli's dwarf-boots; the heavy tread of Boromir; the light step of Legolas;the soft, scarce-heard patter of hobbit-feet; and in the rear the slow firmfootfalls of Aragorn with his long stride.When they halted for a momentthey heard nothing at all, unless it were occasionally a faint trickle anddrip of unseen water.Yet Frodo began to hear, or to imagine that he heard,something else: like the faint fall of soft bare feet.It was never loud enough, or near enough, for him to feel certain that he heard it; but onceit had started it never stopped, while the Company was moving.But it wasnot an echo, for when they halted it pattered on for a little all by itself,and then grew still.It was after nightfall when they had entered the Mines.They had beengoing for several hours with only brief halts, when Gandalf came to hisfirst serious check.Before him stood a wide dark arch opening into threepassages: all led in the same general direction, eastwards; but theleft-hand passage plunged down, while the right-hand climbed up, and themiddle way seemed to run on, smooth and level but very narrow.'I have no memory of this place at all! ' said Gandalf, standinguncertainly under the arch.He held up his staff in the hope of finding somemarks or inscription that might help his choice; but nothing of the kind wasto be seen.`I am too weary to decide,' he said, shaking his head.`And Iexpect that you are all as weary as I am, or wearier.We had better halthere for what is left of the night.You know what I mean! In here it is everdark; but outside the late Moon is riding westward and the middle-night haspassed.'`Poor old Bill! ' said Sam.'I wonder where he is.I hope those wolveshaven't got him yet.'To the left of the great arch they found a stone door: it was halfclosed, but swung back easily to a gentle thrust.Beyond there seemed to liea wide chamber cut in the rock.`Steady! Steady! ' cried Gandalf as Merry and Pippin pushed forward,glad to find a place where they could rest with at least more feeling ofshelter than in the open passage.`Steady! You do not know what is insideyet.I will go first.'He went in cautiously, and the others filed behind.`There! ' he said,pointing with his staff to the middle of the floor.Before his feet they sawa large round hole like the mouth of a well.Broken and rusty chains lay atthe edge and trailed down into the black pit.Fragments of stone lay near.'One of you might have fallen in and still be wondering when you weregoing to strike the bottom,' said Aragorn to Merry.'Let the guide go firstwhile you have one.''This seems to have been a guardroom, made for the watching of thethree passages,' said Gimli.`That hole was plainly a well for the guards'use, covered with a stone lid.But the lid is broken, and we must all take care in the dark.'Pippin felt curiously attracted by the well.While the others wereunrolling blankets and making beds against the walls of the chamber, as faras possible from the hole in the floor, he crept to the edge and peeredover.A chill air seemed to strike his face, rising from invisible depths.Moved by a sudden impulse he groped for a loose stone, and let it drop.Hefelt his heart beat many times before there was any sound.Then far below,as if the stone had fallen into deep water in some cavernous place, therecame a plunk, very distant, but magnified and repeated in the hollow shaft.`What's that? ' cried Gandalf.He was relieved when Pippin confessedwhat he had done; but he was angry, and Pippin could see his eye glinting.'Fool of a Took! ' he growled.'This is a serious journey, not a hobbitwalking-party.Throw yourself in next time, and then you will be no furthernuisance.Now be quiet! 'Nothing more was heard for several minutes; but then there came out ofthe depths faint knocks: tom-tap, tap-tom.They stopped, and when the echoeshad died away, they were repeated: tap-tom, tom-tap, tap-tap, tom.Theysounded disquietingly like signals of some sort; but after a while theknocking died away and was not heard again.'That was the sound of a hammer, or I have never heard one,' saidGimli.`Yes,' said Gandalf, 'and I do not like it.It may have nothing to dowith Peregrin's foolish stone; but probably something has been disturbedthat would have been better left quiet.Pray, do nothing of the kind again!Let us hope we shall get some rest without further trouble.You, Pippin, cango on the first watch, as a reward,' he growled, as he rolled himself in ablanket.Pippin sat miserably by the door in the pitch dark; but he kept onturning round, fearing that some unknown thing would crawl up out of thewell.He wished he could cover the hole, if only with a blanket, but hedared not move or go near it, even though Gandalf seemed to be asleep.Actually Gandalf was awake, though lying still and silent.He was deepin thought, trying to recall every memory of his former journey in theMines, and considering anxiously the next course that he should take; afalse turn now might be disastrous.After an hour he rose up and came overto Pippin.`Get into a corner and have a sleep, my lad,' he said in a kindly tone. 'You want to sleep, I expect.I cannot get a wink, so I may as well do thewatching.''I know what is the matter with me,' he muttered, as he sat down by thedoor.'I need smoke! I have not tasted it since the morning before thesnowstorm.'The last thing that Pippin saw, as sleep took him, was a dark glimpseof the old wizard huddled on the floor, shielding a glowing chip in hisgnarled hands between his knees.The flicker for a moment showed his sharpnose.and the puff of smoke.It was Gandalf who roused them all from sleep.He had sat and watchedall alone for about six hours, and had let the others rest.`And in thewatches I have made up my mind,' he said.`I do not like the feel of themiddle way; and I do not like the smell of the left-hand way: there is foulair down there, or I am no guide.I shall take the right-hand passage.It istime we began to climb up again.'For eight dark hours, not counting two brief halts, they marched on;and they met no danger, and heard nothing, and saw nothing but the faintgleam of the wizard's light, bobbing like a will-o'-the-wisp in front ofthem.The passage they had chosen wound steadily upwards.As far as theycould judge it went in great mounting curves, and as it rose it grew loftierand wider.There were now no openings to other galleries or tunnels oneither side, and the floor was level and sound, without pits or cracks
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