the enthusiasm still lasted 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
     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
     “Let them go and bother Smaug, and see how he welcomes
     “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