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.He followedthe two elves, until they entered a small cellar and sat down at a table onwhich two large flagons were set.Soon they began to drink and laughmerrily.Luck of an unusual kind was with Bilbo then.It must be potent wineto make a wood-elf drowsy; but this wine, it would seem, was the headyvintage of the great gardens of Dorwinion, not meant for his soldiers or hisservants, but for the king's feasts only, and for smaller bowls, not for thebutler's great flagons.Very soon the chief guard nodded his head, then he laid it on the tableand fell fast asleep.The butler went on talking and laughing to himself fora while without seeming to notice, but soon his head too nodded to thetable, and he fell asleep and snored beside his friend.Then in crept thehobbit.Very soon the chief guard had no keys, but Bilbo was trotting asfast as he could along the passage towards the cells.The great bunch seemedvery heavy to his arms, and his heart was often in his mouth, in spite ofhis ring, for he could not prevent the keys from making every now and then aloud clink and clank, which put him all in a tremble.First he unlocked Balin's door, and locked it again carefully as soonas the dwarf was outside.Balin was most surprised, as you can imagine; butglad as he was to get out of his wearisome little stone room, he wanted tostop and ask questions, and know what Bilbo was going to do, and all aboutit."No time now!" said the hobbit."You must follow me! We must all keeptogether and not risk getting separated.All of us must escape or none, andthis is our last chance.If this is found out, goodness knows where the kingwill put you next, with chains on your hands and feet too, I expect.Don'targue, there's a good fellow!"Then off he went from door to door, until his following had grown totwelve-none of them any too nimble, what with the dark, and what with theirlong imprisonment.Bilbo's heart thumped every time one of them bumped intoanother, or grunted or whispered in the dark."Drat this dwarvish racket!"he said to himself.But all went well, and they met no guards.As a matterof fact there was a great autumn feast in the woods that night, and in thehalls above.Nearly all the king's folks were merrymaking.At last aftermuch blundering they came to Thorin's dungeon, far down in a deep place andfortunately not far from the cellars."Upon my word!" said Thorin, when Bilbo whispered to him to come outand join his friends, "Gandalf spoke true, as usual.A pretty fine burglaryou make, it seems, when the time comes.I am sure we are all for ever atyour service, whatever happens after this.But what comes next?"Bilbo saw that the time had come to explain his idea, as far as hecould; but he did not feel at all sure bow the dwarves would take it.Hisfears were quite justified, for they did not like it a bit, and startedgrumbling loudly in spite of their danger."We shall be bruised and battered to pieces, and drowned too, forcertain!" they muttered."We thought you had got some sensible notion, whenyou managed to get hold of the keys.This is a mad idea!""Very well!" said Bilbo very downcast, and also rather annoyed."Comealong back to your nice cells, and I will lock you all in again, and you cansit there comfortably and think of a better plan-but I don't suppose I shallever get hold of the keys again, even if I feel inclined to try.""That was too much for them, and they calmed down.In the end, ofcourse, they had to do just what Bilbo suggested, because it was obviouslyimpossible for them to try and find their way into the upper halls, or tofight their way out of gates that closed by magic; and it was no goodgrumbling in the passages until they were caught again.So following thehobbit, down into the lowest cellars they crept.They passed a door throughwhich the chief guard and the butler could be seen still happily snoringwith smiles upon their faces.The wine of Dorwinion brings deep and pleasantdreams.There would be a different expression on the face of the chief guardnext day, even though Bilbo, before they went on, stole in and kindheartedlyput the keys back on his belt."That will save him some of the trouble he is in for," said Mr.Bagginsto himself."He wasn't a bad fellow, and quite decent to the prisoners.Itwill puzzle them all too.They will think we had a very strong magic to passthrough all those locked doors and disappear.Disappear! We have got to getbusy very quick, if that is to happen!"Balin was told off to watch the guard and the butler and give warningif 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 wereunder orders to come down and help the butler get the empty barrels throughthe doors into the stream.These were in fact already standing in rows inthe middle of the floor waiting to be pushed off.Some of them werewine-barrels, and these were not much use, as they could not easily beopened at the end without a deal of noise, nor could they easily be securedagain.But among them were several others which had been used for bringingother 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 factsome were too roomy, and as they climbed in the dwarves thought anxiously ofthe shaking and the bumping they would get inside, though Bilbo did his bestto find straw and other stuff to pack them in as cosily as could be managedin a short time.At last twelve dwarves were stowed.Thorin had given a lotof trouble, and turned and twisted in his tub and grumbled like a large dogin a small kennel; while Balin, who came last, made a great fuss about hisair-holes and said he was stifling, even before his lid was on.Bilbo haddone what he could to close holes in the sides of the barrels, and to fix onall 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 hopingagainst hope that his plan would come off.It had not been a-bit too soon.Only a minute or two after Balin's lidhad been fitted on there came the sound of voices and the flicker of lights.A number of elves came laughing and talking into the cellars and singingsnatches of song.They had left a merry feast in one of the halls and werebent on returning as soon as they could."Where's old Galion, the butler?"said one."I haven't seen him at the tables tonight.He ought to be here nowto show us what is to be done.""I shall be angry if the old slowcoach is late," said another."I haveno wish to waste time down here while the song is up!""Ha, ha!" came a cry."Here's the old villain with his head on a jug!He's been having a little feast all to himself and his friend the captain.""Shake him! Wake him!" shouted the others impatiently.Gallon was notat all pleased at being shaken or wakened, and still less at being laughedat."You're all late," he grumbled."Here am I waiting and waiting downhere, while you fellows drink and make merry and forget your tasks
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