'It's coming out
in a minute,' whispered Pippin to Merry.
Merry nodded.
'Well!' said Frodo at last, sitting
up and straightening his back, as if he had made a decision. 'I can't keep it
dark any longer. I have got something to tell you all. But I don't know quite
how to begin.'
'I think I could help you,' said Merry quietly, 'by telling you some of it myself.'
'What do you mean?' said Frodo, looking
at him anxiously.
'Just this, my dear old Frodo: you are miserable, because you don't know how
to say good-bye. You meant to leave the Shire,
of course. But danger has come on you sooner than you expected, and now you
are making up your mind to go at once. And you don't want to. We are very sorry
for you.'
Frodo opened his mouth and shut it again.
His look of surprise was so comical that they laughed. 'Dear old Frodo!' said
Pippin. 'Did you really think you had
thrown dust in all our eyes? You have not been nearly careful or clever enough
for that! You have obviously been planning to go and saying farewell to all
your haunts all this year since April. We have constantly heard you muttering:
"Shall I ever look down into that valley again, I wonder", and things
like that. And pretending that you had come to the end of your money, and actually
selling your beloved Bag End to those Sackville-Bagginses!
And all those close talks with Gandalf!'
'Good heavens!' said Frodo. 'I thought I had been both careful and clever. I
don't know what Gandalf would say. Is all the Shire
discussing my departure, then?'