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At the Mountain-king s return!
So they sang, or very like that, only there was a great deal more of it, and there was much
shouting as well as the music of harps and of fiddles mixed up with it. Indeed such excitement
had not been known in the town in the memory of the oldest grandfather. The Wood-elves
themselves began to wonder greatly and even to be afraid. They did not know of course how
Thorin had escaped, and they began to think their king might have made a serious mistake.
As for the Master he saw there was nothing else for it but to obey the general clamour, for the
moment at any rate, and to pretend to believe that Thorin was what he said. So he gave up to
him his own great chair and set Fili and Kili beside him in places of honour. Even Bilbo was
given a seat at the high table, and no explanation of where he came in no songs had al-
luded to him even in the obscurest way was asked for in the general bustle.
Soon afterwards the other dwarves were brought into the town amid scenes of astonishing
enthusiasm. They were all doctored and fed and housed and pampered in the most delightful
and satisfactory fashion. A large house was given up to Thorin and his company; boats and
rowers were put at their service; and crowds sat outside and sang songs all day, or cheered if
any dwarf showed so much as his nose.
Some of the songs were old ones; but some of them were quite new and spoke confid-
ently of the sudden death of the dragon and of cargoes of rich presents coming down the river
to Lake-town. These were inspired largely by the Master and they did not particularly please
the dwarves, but in the meantime they were well contented and they quickly grew fat and
strong again. Indeed within a week they were quite recovered, fitted out in fine cloth of their
proper colours, with beards combed and trimmed, and proud steps. Thorin looked and walked
as if his kingdom was already regained and Smaug chopped up into little pieces.
Then, as he had said, the dwarves good feeling towards the little hobbit grew stronger
every day. There were no more groans or grumbles. They drank his health, and they patted
him on the back, and they made a great fuss of him; which was just as well, for he was not
feeling particularly cheerful. He had not forgotten the look of the Mountain, nor the thought of
the dragon, and he had besides a shocking cold. For three days he sneezed and coughed,
and he could not go out, and even after that his speeches at banquets were limited to Thag
you very buch.
In the meanwhile the Wood-elves had gone back up the Forest River with their cargoes,
and there was great excitement in the king s palace. I have never heard what happened to the
chief of the guards and the butler. Nothing of course was ever said about keys or barrels
while the dwarves stayed in Lake-town, and Bilbo was careful never to become invisible. Still,
I daresay, more was guessed than was known, though doubtless Mr. Baggins remained a bit
of a mystery. In any case the king knew now the dwarves errand, or thought he did, and he
said to himself:
Very well! We ll see! No treasure will come back through Mirkwood without my having
something to say in the matter. But I expect they will all come to a bad end, and serve them
right! He at any rate did not believe in dwarves fighting and killing dragons like Smaug, and
he strongly suspected attempted burglary or something like it which shows he was a wise elf
and wiser than the men of the town, though not quite right, as we shall see in the end. He
sent out his spies about the shores of the lake and as far northward towards the Mountain as
they would go, and waited.
At the end of a fortnight Thorin began to think of departure. While the enthusiasm still las-
ted in the town was the time to get help. It would not do to let everything cool down with delay.
So he spoke to the Master and his councillors and said that soon he and his company must
go on towards the Mountain.
Then for the first time the Master was surprised and a little frightened; and he wondered if
Thorin was after all really a descendant of the old kings. He had never thought that the
dwarves would actually dare to approach Smaug, but believed they were frauds who would
sooner or later be discovered and be turned out. He was wrong. Thorin, of course, was really
the grandson of the King under the Mountain, and there is no knowing what a dwarf will not
dare and do for revenge or the recovery of his own.
But the Master was not sorry at all to let them go. They were expensive to keep, and their
arrival had turned things into a long holiday in which business was at a standstill. Let them go
and bother Smaug, and see how he welcomes them! he thought. Certainly, O Thorin
Thrain s son Thror s son! was what he said. You must claim your own. The hour is at hand,
spoken of old. What help we can offer shall be yours, and we trust to your gratitude when
your kingdom is regained.
So one day, although autumn was now getting far on, and winds were cold, and leaves
were falling fast, three large boats left Lake-town, laden with rowers, dwarves, Mr. Baggins,
and many provisions. Horses and ponies had been sent round by circuitous paths to meet
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