“Now stop it!” said Tom and Bert together. “The dawn comes early!”

“At dawn you will turn into stone!” said a voice that sounded like William’s. But it wasn’t. Just at that moment the light came over the hill. William never spoke because he stood turned to stone; and Bert and Tom also turned into stones as they looked at him. And there they stand to this day; for trolls, as you probably know, must be underground before dawn, or they turn into stone and never move again. That is what had happened to Bert and Tom and William. “Excellent!” said Gandalf, as he stepped from behind a tree, and helped Bilbo up.

Then they untied the sacks and let out the dwarves.

“Don’t waste our time now. The trolls must have a cave or a hole somewhere nearby. We must look into it!”

They searched about, and soon found the marks of trolls’ stony boots going away through the trees. They followed the tracks up the hill, until they came on a big door of stone leading to a cave. But they could not open it, not though they all pushed while Gandalf tried various spells.

When they were getting tired and angry, Bilbo asked, “Will this key help? I found it on the ground where the trolls had their fight.” He showed a large key. Perhaps it had fallen out of William’s pocket, very luckily, before he turned into stone.

Gandalf grabbed the key and put it into the key-hole. Then the stone door opened, and they all went inside. There were bones on the floor and a horrible smell was in the air; but there was a lot of food on shelves and on the ground, and in the corner there were many pots full of gold coins. On the walls there were several swords of various shapes and sizes. Two of them were really beautiful. Gandalf and Thorin each took one of these; and Bilbo took a knife in a leather sheath.

“Let’s get out of this horrible smell!” said Fili. So they carried out the pots of coins and the food, also one barrel of ale which was still full. Now they had bread and cheese, and plenty of ale, and bacon to toast. After that they slept, and they did nothing more till the afternoon. Then they brought up their ponies, and carried away the pots of gold, and buried them very secretly not far from the track by the river, putting very many spells over them, just in case they had the chance to come back and pick them up. When that was done, they all went on towards the East.

One morning they crossed a river at a wide shallow place. The far bank was steep and slippery. When they got to the top of it, leading their ponies, they saw the great mountains very near. It seemed only a day’s easy journey from the feet of the nearest.

“Is that The Mountain?” asked Bilbo. He had never seen a thing that looked so big before.

“Of course not!” said Balin. “That is only the beginning of the Misty Mountains. And it is a long way from them to the Lonely Mountain in the East where Smaug lies on our treasure.”

Now Gandalf led the way. “We must not miss the road,” he said. “We need food and rest. Also it is very necessary to go through the Misty Mountains by the proper path, or else you will get lost in them, and have to come back and start at the beginning again (if you ever get back at all).”

And then he said, “You have come to the very edge of the Wild. Not far away there is a valley where Elrond lives in the Last Homely House. I sent a message, and we are expected.”

Morning passed, afternoon came; but there was no sign of any house. They went on and on. Suddenly Gandalf’s horse stopped. “Here it is at last!” he called, and the others gathered round him and looked over the edge. They saw a valley far below. They could hear the water running at the bottom; and there was a light on the valley-side across the water. The air grew warmer as they got lower. Their spirits rose as they went down and down. Finally they came to an open glade not far above the banks of the stream.