Page 129 - The Hobbit

"That was too much for them, and they calmed down. In the end, of course,

they had to do just what Bilbo suggested, because it was obviously impossible for
them to try and find their way into the upper halls, or to fight their way out of
gates that closed by magic; and it was no good grumbling in the passages until

they were caught again. So following the hobbit, down into the lowest cellars they
crept. They passed a door through which the chief guard and the butler could be
seen still happily snoring with smiles upon their faces. The wine of Dorwinion
brings deep and pleasant dreams. There would be a different expression on the

face of the chief guard next day, even though Bilbo, before they went on, stole in
and kindheartedly put the keys back on his belt.
"That will save him some of the trouble he is in for," said Mr. Baggins to

himself. "He wasn't a bad fellow, and quite decent to the prisoners. It will puzzle
them all too. They will think we had a very strong magic to pass through all those
locked doors and disappear. Disappear! We have got to get busy very quick, if that
is to happen!"

Balin was told off to watch the guard and the butler and give warning if they
stirred. The rest went into the adjoining cellar with the trapdoors. There was little

time to lose. Before long, as Bilbo knew, some elves were under orders to come
down and help the butler get the empty barrels through the doors into the stream.
These were in fact already standing in rows in the middle of the floor waiting to be
pushed off. Some of them were wine-barrels, and these were not much use, as they

could not easily be opened at the end without a deal of noise, nor could they easily
be secured again. But among them were several others which had been used for
bringing other stuffs, butter, apples, and all sorts of things, to the king's palace.
They soon found thirteen with room enough for a dwarf in each. In fact some

were too roomy, and as they climbed in the dwarves thought anxiously of the
shaking and the bumping they would get inside, though Bilbo did his best to find
straw and other stuff to pack them in as cosily as could be managed in a short
time. At last twelve dwarves were stowed. Thorin had given a lot of trouble, and

turned and twisted in his tub and grumbled like a large dog in a small kennel;
while Balin, who came last, made a great fuss about his air-holes and said he was
stifling, even before his lid was on. Bilbo had done what he could to close holes in

the sides of the barrels, and to fix on all the lids as safely as could be managed,
and now he was left alone again, running round putting the finishing touches-to
the packing, and hoping against hope that his plan would come off.