ay be after the third hour has rung.

'and you, my lord mithrandir, shall come too, as and when you will. none shall hinder your coming to me at any time, save only in my brief hours of sleep. let your wrath at an old man's folly run off and then return to my comfort!'

'folly?' said gandalf. 'nay, my lord, when you are a dotard you will die. you can use even your grief as a cloak. do you think that i do not understand your purpose in questioning for an hour one who knows the least, while i sit by?'

'if you understand it, then be content,' returned denethor. 'pride would be folly that disdained help and counsel at need; but you deal out such gifts according to your own designs. yet the lord of gondor is not to be made the tool of other men's purposes, however worthy. and to him there is no purpose higher in the world as it now stands than the good of gondor; and the rule of gondor, my lord, is mine and no other man's, unless the king should come again.'

'unless the king should come again?' said gandalf. 'well, my lord steward, it is your task to keep some kingdom still against that event, which few now look to see. in that task you shall have all the aid that you are pleased to ask for. but i will say this: the rule of no realm is mine, neither of gondor nor any other, great or small. but all worthy things that are in peril as the world now stands, those are my care. and for my part, i shall not wholly fail of my task, though gondor should perish, if anything passes through this night that can still grow fair or bear fruit and flower again in days to come. for i also am a steward. did you not know?' and with that he turned and strode from the hall with pippin running at his side.

gandalf did not look at pippin or speak a word to him as they went. their guide brought them from the doors of the hall, and then led them across the court of the fountain into a lane between tall buildings of stone. after several turns they came to a house close to the wall of the citadel upon the north side, not far from the shoulder that linked the hill with the mountain. within, upon the first floor above the street, up a wide carven stair, he showed them to a fair room, light and airy, with goodly hangings of dull gold sheen unfigured. it was sparely furnished, having but a small table, two chairs and a bench; but at either side there were curtained alcoves and well-clad beds within with vessels and basins for washing. there were three high narrow windows that looked northward over the great curve of anduin, still shrouded in mists, towards the emyn muil and rauros far away. pippin had to climb on the bench to look out over the deep stone sill.

'are you angry with me, gandalf?' he said, as their guide went out and closed the door. 'i did the best i could.'

'you did indeed!' said gandalf, laughing suddenly; and he came and stood beside pippin, putting his arm about the hobbit's shoulders and gazing out of the window. pippin glanced in some wonder at the face now close beside his own, for the sound of that laugh had been gay and merry. yet in the wizard's face he saw at first only lines of care and sorrow; though as he looked more intently he perceived that under all there was a great joy: a fountain of mirth enough to set a kingdom laughing, were it to gush forth.

'indeed you did your best,' said the wizard, 'and i hope that it may be long before you find yourself in such a tight corner again between two such terrible old men. still the lord of gondor learned more from you than you may have guessed, pippin. you could not hide the fact that boromir did not lead the company from moria, and that there was one among you of high honour who was coming to minas tirith; and that he had a famous sword. men think much about the stories of old days in gondor; and denethor has given long thought to the rhyme and to the words isildur's bane, since boromir went away.

'he is not as other men of this time, pippin, and whatever be his descent from father to son, by some chance the blood of westernesse runs nearly true in him; as it does in his other son, faramir, and yet did not in boromir whom he loved best. he has long sight. he can perceive, if he bends his will thither, much of what is passing in the minds of men, even of those that dwell far off. it is difficult to deceive him, and dangerous to try.

'remember that! for you are now sworn to his service. i do not know what put it into your head, or your heart, to do that. but it was well done. i did not hinder it, for generous deed should not be checked by cold counsel. it touched his heart, as well (may i say it) as pleasing his humour. and at least you are free now to move about as you will in minas tirith ?c when you are not on duty. for there is another side to it. you are at his command; and he will not forget. be wary still!'

he fell silent and sighed. 'well, no need to brood on what tomorrow may bring. for one thing, tomorrow will be certain to bring worse than today, for many days to come. and there is nothing more that i can do to help it. the board is set, and the pieces are moving. one piece that i greatly desire to find is faramir, now the heir of denethor. i do not think that he is in the city; but i have had no time to gather news. i must go, pippin. i must go to this lords' council and learn what i can. but the enemy has the move, and he is about to open his full game. and pawns are likely to see as much of it as any, peregrin son of paladin, soldier of gondor. sharpen your blade!'

gandalf went to the door, and there he turned. 'i am in haste pippin,' he said. 'do me a favour when you go out. even before you rest, if you are not too weary. go and find shadowfax and see how he is housed. these people are kindly to beasts, for they are a good and wise folk, but they have less skill with horses than some.'

with that gandalf went out; and as he did so, there came the note of a clear sweet bell ringing in a tower of the citadel. three strokes it rang, like silver in the air, and ceased: the third hour from the rising of the sun.

after a minute pippin went to the door and down the stair and looked about the street. the sun was now shining warm and bright, and the towers and tall houses cast long clear-cut shadows westward. high in the blue air mount mindolluin lifted its white helm and snowy cloak. armed men went to and fro in the ways of the city, as if going at the striking of the hour to changes of post and duty.

'nine o'clock we'd call it in the shire,' said pippin aloud to himself. 'just the time for a nice breakfast by the open window in spring sunshine. and how i should like breakfast! do these people ever have it, or is it over? and when do they have dinner, and where?'

presently he noticed a man, clad in black and white, coming along the narrow street from the centre of the citadel towards him. pippin felt lonely and made up his mind to speak as the man passed; but he had no need. the man came straight up to him.

'you are peregrin the halfling?' he said. 'i am told that you have been sworn to the service of the lord and of the city. welcome! he held out his hand and pippin took it.

'i am named beregond son of baranor. i have no duty this morning, and i have been sent to you to teach you the pass-words, and to tell you some of the many things that no doubt you will wish to know. and for my part, i would learn of you also. for never before have we seen a halfling in this land and though we have heard rumour of them, little is said of them in any tale that we know. moreover you are a friend of mithrandir. do you know him well?'

'well,' said pippin. 'i have known of him all my short life, as you might say; and lately i have travelled far with him. but there is much to read in that book, and i cannot claim to have seen more than a page or two. yet perhaps i know him as well as any but a few. aragorn was the only one of our company, i think, who really knew him.'

'aragorn?' said beregond. 'who is he?'

'oh,' stammered pippin, 'he was a man who went about with us. i think he is in rohan now.'

'you have been in rohan, i hear. there is much that i would ask you of that land also; for we put much of what little hope we have in its people. but i am forgetting my errand, which was first to answer what you would ask. what would you know, master peregrin?'

'er well,' said pippin, 'if i may venture to say so, rather a burning question in my mind at present is, well, what about breakfast and all that? i mean, what are the meal-times, if you understand me, and where is the dining-room, if there is one? and the inns? i looked, but never a one could i see as we rode up, though i had been borne up by the hope of a draught of ale as soon as we came to the homes of wise and courtly men.'

beregond looked at him gravely. 'an old campaigner, i see,' he said. 'they say that men who go warring afield look ever to the next hope of food and of drink; though i am not a travelled man myself. then you have not yet eaten today?'

'well, yes, to speak in courtesy, yes,' said pippin. 'but no more than a cup of wine and a white cake or two by the kindness of your lord; but he racked me for it with an hour of questions, and that is hungry work.'

beregond laughed. 'at the table small men may do the greater deeds, we say. but you have broken your fast as well as any man in the citadel, and with greater honour. this is a fortress and a tower of guard and is now in posture of war. we rise ere the sun, and take a morsel in the grey light, and go to our duties at the opening hour. but do not despair!' he laughed again, seeing the dismay in pippin's face. 'those who have had heavy duty take somewhat to refresh their strength in the mid-morning. then there is the nuncheon, at noon or after as duties allow; and men gather for the daymeal, and such mirth as there still may be, about the hour of sunset.

'come! we will walk a little and then go find us some refreshment, and eat and drink on the battlement, and survey the fair morning.'

'one moment!' said pippin blushing. 'greed, or hunger by your courtesy, put it out of my mind. but gandalf, mithrandir as you call him, asked me to see to his horse ?c shadowfax, a great steed of rohan, and the apple of the king's eye, i am told, though he has given him to mithrandir for his services. i think his new master loves the beast better than he loves many men, and if his good will is of any value to this city, you will treat shadowfax with all honour: with greater kindness than you have treated this hobbit, if it is possible.'

'hobbit?' said beregond.

'that is what we call ourselves,' said pippin.

'i am glad to learn it,' said beregond, 'for now i may say that strange accents do not mar fair speech, and hobbits are a fair-spoken folk. but come! you shall make me acquainted with this good horse. i love beasts, and we see them seldom in this stony city; for my people came from the mountain-vales, and before that from ithilien. but fear not! the visit shall be short, a mere call of courtesy, and we will go thence to the butteries.'

pippin found that shadowfax had been well housed and tended. for in the sixth circle, outside the walls of the citadel, there were some fair stables where a few swift horses were kept, hard by the lodgings of the errand-riders of the lord: messengers always ready to go at the urgent command of denethor or his chief captains. but now all the horses and the riders were out and away.

shadowfax whinnied as pippin entered the stable and turned his head. 'good morning!' said pippin. 'gandalf will come as soon as he may. he is busy, but he sends greetings, and i am to see that all is well with you; and you resting, i hope, after your long labours.'

shadowfax tossed his head and stamped. but he allowed beregond to handle his head gently and stroke his great flanks.

'he looks as if he were spoiling for a race, and not newly come from a great journey,' said beregond. 'how strong and proud he is! where is his harness? it should be rich and fair.'

'none is rich and fair enough for him,' said pippin. 'he will have none. if he will consent to bear you, bear you he does; and if not, well, no bit, bridle, whip, or thong will tame him. farewell, shadowfax! have patience. battle is coming.'

shadowfax lifted up his head and neighed, so that the stable shook, and they covered their ears. then they took their leave, seeing that the manger was well filled.

'and now for our manger,' said beregond, and he led pippin back to the citadel, and so to a door in the north side of the great tower. there they went down a long cool stair into a wide alley lit with lamps. there were hatches in the walls at the side, and one of these was open.

'this is the storehouse and buttery of my company of the guard.' said beregond. 'greetings, targon!' he called through the hatch. 'it is early yet, but here is a newcomer that the lord has taken into his service. he has ridden long and far with a tight belt, and has had sore labour this morning, and he is hungry. give us what you have!'

they got there bread, and butter, and cheese and apples: the last of the winter store, wrinkled but sound and sweet; and a leather flagon of new-drawn ale, and wooden platters and cups. they put all into a wicker basket and climbed back into the sun; and beregond brought pippin to a place at the east end of the great out-thrust battlement where there was an embrasure in the walls with a stone seat beneath the sill. from there they could look out on the morning over the world.

they ate and drank; and they talked now of gondor and its ways and customs, now of the shire and the strange countries that pippin had seen. and ever as they talked beregond was more amazed, and looked with greater wonder at the hobbit, swinging his short legs as he sat on the seat, or standing tiptoe upon it to peer over the sill at the lands below.

'i will not hide from you, master peregrin,' said beregond, 'that to us you look almost as one of our children, a lad of nine summers or so; and yet you have endured perils and seen marvels that few of our greybeards could boast of. i thought it was the whim of our lord to take him a noble page, after the manner of the kings of old, they say. but i see that it is not so, and you must pardon my foolishness.'

'i do,' said pippin. 'though you are not far wrong. i am still little more than a boy in the reckoning of my own people, and it will be four years yet before i "come of age", as we say in the shire: but do not bother about me. come and look and tell me what i can see.'

the sun was now climbing, and the mists in the vale below had been drawn up. the last of them were floating away, just overhead, as wisps of white cloud borne on the stiffening breeze from the east, that was now flapping and tugging the flags and white standards of the citadel. away down in the valley-bottom, five leagues or so as the eye leaps, the great river could now be seen grey and glittering, coming out of the north-west, and bending in a mighty sweep south and west again, till it was lost to view in a haze and shimmer, far beyond which lay the sea fifty leagues away.

pippin could see all the pelennor laid out before him, dotted into the distance with farmsteads and little walls, barns and byres, but nowhere could he see any kine or other beasts. many roads and tracks crossed the green fields, and there was much coming and going: wains moving in lines towards the great gate, and others passing out. now and again a horseman would ride up, and leap from the saddle and hasten into the city. but most of the traffic went out along the chief highway, and that turned south, and then bending swifter than the river skirted the hills and passed soon from sight. it was wide and well-paved, and along its eastern edge ran a broad green riding-track, and beyond that a wall. on the ride horsemen galloped to and fro, but all the street seemed to be choked with great covered wains going south. but soon pippin saw that all was in fact well-ordered: the wains were moving in three lines, one swifter drawn by horses; another slower, great waggons with fair housings of many colours, drawn by oxen; and along the west rim of the road many smaller carts hauled by trudging men.

'that is the road to the vales of tumladen and lossarnach, and the mountain-villages, and then on to lebennin,' said beregond. 'there go the last of the wains that bear away to refuge the aged, the children, and the women that must go with them. they must all be gone from the gate and the road clear for a league before noon: that was the order. it is a sad necessity.' he sighed. 'few, maybe, of those now sundered will meet again. and there were always too few children in this city; but now there are none - save some young lads that will not depart, and may find some task to do: my own son is one of them.'

they fell silent for a while. pippin gazed anxiously eastward, as if at any moment he might see thousands of orcs pouring over the fields. 'what can i see there?' he asked, pointing down to the middle of the great curve of the anduin. 'is that another city, or what is it?'

'it was a city,' said beregond, 'the chief city of gondor, of which this was only a fortress. for that is the ruin of osgiliath on either side of anduin, which our enemies took and burned long ago. yet we won it back in the days of the youth of denethor: not to dwell in, but to hold as an outpost, and to rebuild the bridge for the passage of our arms. and then came the fell riders out of minas morgul.'

'the black riders?' said pippin, opening his eyes, and they were wide and dark with an old fear re-awakened.

'yes, they were black,' said beregond, 'and i see that you know something of them, though you have not spoken of them in any of your tales.'

'i know of them,' said pippin softly, 'but i will not speak of them now, so near, so near -' he broke off and lifted his eyes above the river, and it seemed to him that all he could see was a vast and threatening shadow. perhaps it was mountains looming on the verge of sight, their jagged edges softened by wellnigh twenty leagues of misty air; perhaps it was but a cloud-wall, and beyond that again a yet deeper gloom. but even as he looked it seemed to his eyes that the gloom was growing and gathering, very slowly, slowly rising to smother the regions of the sun.

'so near to mordor?' said beregond quietly. 'yes, there it lies. we seldom name it; but we have dwelt ever in sight of that shadow: sometimes it seems fainter and more distant; sometimes nearer and darker. it is growing and darkening now; and therefore our fear and disquiet grow too. and the fell riders, less than a year ago they won back the crossings, and many of our best men were slain. boromir it was that drove the enemy at last back from this western shore, and we hold still the near half of osgiliath. for a little while. but we await now a new onslaught there. maybe the chief onslaught of the war that comes.'

'when?' said pippin. 'have you a guess? for i saw the beacons last night and the errand-riders; and gandalf said that it was a sign that war had begun. he seemed in a desperate hurry. but now everything seems to have slowed up again.'

'only because everything is now ready,' said beregond. 'it is but the deep breath before the plunge.'

'but why were the beacons lit last night?'

'it is over-late to send for aid when you are already besieged,' answered beregond. 'but i do not know the counsel of the lord and his captains. they have many ways of gathering news. and the lord denethor is unlike other men: he sees far. some say that as he sits alone in his high chamber in the tower at night, and bends his thought this way and that, he can read somewhat of the future; and that he will at times search even the mind of the enemy, wrestling with him. and so it is that he is old, worn before his time. but however that may be, my lord faramir is abroad, beyond the river on some perilous errand, and he may have sent tidings.

'but if you would know what i think set the beacons ablaze, it was the news that came yestereve out of lebennin. there is a great fleet drawing near to the mouths of anduin, manned by the corsairs of umbar in the south. they have long ceased to fear the might of gondor, and they have allied them with the enemy, and now make a heavy stroke in his cause. for this attack will draw off much of the help that we looked to have from lebennin and belfalas, where folk are hardy and numerous. all the more do our thoughts go north to rohan; and the more glad are we for these tidings of victory that you bring.

'and yet' ?c he paused and stood up, and looked round, north, east, and south ?c 'the doings at isengard should warn us that we are caught now in a great net and strategy. this is no longer a bickering at the fords, raiding from ithilien and from anorien, ambushing and pillaging. this is a great war long-planned, and we are but one piece in it, whatever pride may say. things move in the far east beyond the inland sea, it is reported; and north in mirkwood and beyond; and south in harad. and now all realms shall be put to the test, to stand, or fall ?c under the shadow.

'yet, master peregrin, we have this honour: ever we bear the brunt of the chief hatred of the dark lord, for that hatred comes down out of the depths of time and over the deeps of the sea. here will the hammer-stroke fall hardest. and for that reason mithrandir came hither in such haste. for if we fall, who shall stand? and, master peregrin, do you see any hope that we shall stand?'

pippin did not answer. he looked at the great walls, and the towers and brave banners, and the sun in the high sky, and then at the gathering gloom in the east; and he thought of the long fingers of that shadow: of the orcs in the woods and the mountains, the treason of isengard, the birds of evil eye, and the black riders even in the lanes of the shire ?c and of the winged terror, the nazgûl. he shuddered, and hope seemed to wither. and even at that moment the sun for a second faltered and was obscured, as though a dark wing had passed across it. almost beyond hearing he thought he caught, high and far up in the heavens, a cry: faint, but heart-quelling, cruel and cold. he blanched and cowered against the wall.

'what was that?' asked beregond. 'you also felt something?'

'yes,' muttered pippin. 'it is the sign of our fall, and the shadow of doom, a fell rider of the air.'

'yes, the shadow of doom,' said beregond. 'i fear that minas tirith shall fall. night comes. the very warmth of my blood seems stolen away.'

for a time they sat together with bowed heads and did not speak. then suddenly pippin looked up and saw that the sun was still shining and the banners still streaming in the breeze. he shook himself. 'it is passed,' he said. 'no, my heart will not yet despair. gandalf fell and has returned and is with us. we may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees.'

'rightly said!' cried beregond, rising and striding to and fro. 'nay, though all things must come utterly to an end in time, gondor shall not perish yet. not though the walls be taken by a reckless foe that will build a hill of carrion before them. there are still other fastnesses, and secret ways of escape into the mountains. hope and memory shall live still in some hidden valley where the grass is green.'

'all the same, i wish it was over for good or ill,' said pippin. 'i am no warrior at all and dislike any thought of battle; but waiting on the edge of one that i can't escape is worst of all. what a long day it seems already! i should be happier, if we were not obliged to stand and watch, making no move, striking nowhere first. no stroke would have been struck in rohan, i think, but for gandalf.'

'ah, there you lay your finger on the sore that many feel!' said beregond. 'but things may change when faramir returns. he is bold, more bold than many deem; for in these days men are slow to believe that a captain can be wise and learned in the scrolls of lore and song, as he is, and yet a man of hardihood and swift judgement in the field. but such is faramir. less reckless and eager than boromir, but not less resolute. yet what indeed can he do? we cannot assault the mountains of ?c of yonder realm. our reach is shortened, and we cannot strike till some foe comes within it. then our hand must be heavy!' he smote the hilt of his sword.

pippin looked at him: tall and proud and noble, as all the men that he had yet seen in that land; and with a glitter in his eye as he thought of the battle. 'alas! my own hand feels as light as a feather,' he thought, but he said nothing. 'a pawn did gandalf say? perhaps but on the wrong chessboard.'

so they talked until the sun reached its height, and suddenly the noon-bells were rung, and there was a stir in the citadel; for all save the watchmen were going to their meal.

'will you come with me?' said beregond. 'you may join my mess for this day. i do not know to what company you will be assigned; or the lord may hold you at his own command. but you will be welcome. and it will be well to meet as many men as you may, while there is yet time.'

'i shall be glad to come,' said pippin. 'i am lonely, to tell you the truth. i left my best friend behind in rohan, and i have had no one to talk to or jest with. perhaps i could really join your company? are you the captain? if so, you could take me on, or speak for me?'

'nay, nay,' beregond laughed, 'i am no captain. neither office nor rank nor lordship have i, being but a plain man of arms of the third company of the citadel. yet, master peregrin, to be only a man of arms of the guard of the tower of gondor is held worthy in the city, and such men have honour in the land.'

'then it is far beyond me,' said pippin. 'take me back to our room, and if gandalf is not there, i will go where you like ?c as your guest.'

gandalf was not in the lodging and had sent no message; so pippin went with beregond and was made known to the men of the third company. and it seemed that beregond got as much honour from it as his guest, for pippin was very welcome. there had already been much talk in the citadel about mithrandir's companion and his long closeting with the lord; and rumour declared that a prince of the halflings had come out of the north to offer allegiance to gondor and five thousand swords. and some said that when the riders came from rohan each would bring behind him a halfling warrior, small maybe, but doughty.

though pippin had regretfully to destroy this hopeful tale, he could not be rid of his new rank, only fitting, men thought, to one befriended by boromir and honoured by the lord denethor; and they thanked him for coming among them, and hung on his words and stories of the outlands, and gave him as much food and ale as he could wish. indeed his only trouble was to be 'wary' according to the counsel of gandalf, and not to let his tongue wag freely after the manner of a hobbit among friends.

at length beregond rose. 'farewell for this time!' he said. 'i have duty now till sundown, as have all the others here, i think. but if you are lonely, as you say, maybe you would like a merry guide about the city. my son would go with you gladly. a good lad, i may say. if that pleases you, go down to the lowest circle and ask for the old guesthouse in the rath celerdain, the lampwrights' street. you will find him there with other lads that are remaining in the city. there may be things worth seeing down at the great gate ere the closing.'

he went out, and soon after all the others followed. the day was still fine, though it was growing hazy, and it was hot for march, even so far southwards. pippin felt sleepy, but the lodging seemed cheerless, and he decided to go down and explore the city. he took a few morsels that he had saved to shadowfax, and they were graciously accepted, though the horse seemed to have no lack. then he walked on down many winding ways.

people stared much as he passed. to his face men were gravely courteous, saluting him after the manner of gondor with bowed head and hands upon the breast; but behind him he heard many calls, as those out of doors cried to others within to come and see the prince of the halflings, the companion of mithrandir. many used some other tongue than the common speech, but it was not long before he learned at least what was meant by ernil i pheriannath and knew that his title had gone down before him into the city.

he came at last by arched streets and many fair alleys and pavements to the lowest and widest circle, and there he was directed to the lampwrights' street, a broad way running towards the great gate. in it he found the old guesthouse, a large building of grey weathered stone with two wings running back from the street, and between them a narrow greensward, behind which was the many-windowed house, fronted along its whole width by a pillared porch and a flight of steps down on to the grass. boys were playing among the pillars, the only children that pippin had seen in minas tirith, and he stopped to look at them. presently one of them caught sight of him, and with a shout he sprang across the grass and came into the street, followed by several others. there he st-->>

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