Властелин колец: Братство кольца
A Knife in the Dark
‘Therewasalotmore,’saidSam,‘allaboutMordor.Ididn’tlearnthatpart,itgavemetheshivers.IneverthoughtIshouldbegoingthatwaymyself!’
‘GoingtoMordor!’criedPippin.‘Ihopeitwon’tcometothat!’
‘Donotspeakthatnamesoloudly!’saidStrider.
Itwasalreadymid-daywhentheydrewnearthesouthernendofthepath,andsawbeforethem,inthepaleclearlightoftheOctobersun,agrey-greenbank,leadinguplikeabridgeontothenorthwardslopeofthehill.Theydecidedtomakeforthetopatonce,whilethedaylightwasbroad.Concealmentwasnolongerpossible,andtheycouldonlyhopethatnoenemyorspywasobservingthem.Nothingwastobeseenmovingonthehill.IfGandalfwasanywhereabout,therewasnosignofhim.
OnthewesternflankofWeathertoptheyfoundashelteredhollow,atthebottomofwhichtherewasabowl-shapeddellwithgrassysides.TheretheyleftSamandPippinwiththeponyandtheirpacksandluggage.Theotherthreewenton.Afterhalfanhour’sploddingclimbStriderreachedthecrownofthehill;FrodoandMerryfollowed,tiredandbreathless.Thelastslopehadbeensteepandrocky.
Onthetoptheyfound,asStriderhadsaid,awideringofancientstone-work,nowcrumblingorcoveredwithage-longgrass.Butinthecentreacairnofbrokenstoneshadbeenpiled.Theywereblackenedasifwithfire.
