Wooded trails (Vintage)

"I hear a horse or a pony coming up the street behind us," Sam said. They turned, but a curve hid the rest of the path. "Maybe Gandalf is not joining us," said Frodo, but he felt he did not believe his words as he spoke them, and was seized with a sudden violent desire to escape the knight's sight. "Maybe it's not very important," he said apologetically, "but I'd rather not be seen by anyone here on the street. I'm sick of people spying, commenting and discussing my every action. And if it's Gandalf," he added after a moment. moment, "we will prepare a little surprise, to make him pay for the delay. Quick, let's hide now!"The other two ran quickly to the left, squatting in a small ditch not far from the road. Frodo hesitated for a moment: curiosity or some other feeling struggled with his desire to hide. The clatter of hooves approached. He just had time to jump. on the ground in a clump of tall grass behind a tree that lined the road, then he raised his head cautiously and looked over the thick roots. A black horse was appearing at the turn; not a little hobbit pony, but a real steed with a imposing man, who seemed curled up on the saddle, wrapped in a great black cloak with a hood, from which only the boots slipped into the shiny stirrups came out. The face, in shadow, was invisible. When he reached the height of the tree and Frodo, the horse stopped. The rider stood motionless with his head bent, as if listening. From the inside of the hood came a man's hiss. sniffing, as if to catch an elusive odor; his head turned from side to side of the street. An unreasonable dread of being discovered took hold of Frodo, and he thought of the Ring. He barely dared to breathe, yet the desire to take it out of his pocket became so strong that he slowly moved his hand. He felt that it would be enough to slip it in to be safe. Gandalf's seemed absurd; Bilbo too had used the Ring. "I'm still in the Shire," he thought. And his hand felt the chain. At that moment the rider got up on his back and shook the reins. The horse advanced, first slowly in step and then continuing with a fast trot. Frodo crawled to the edge of the road, watching the rider shrink further and further into the distance. He was not sure, but it seemed to him that suddenly, before disappearing from view, the horse had turned to the right of the road and entered the trees. 'Well, this is all very strange, and very disturbing,' said Frodo, speaking to himself, as he walked towards his companions. his mysterious behavior.