Long Time Ago

Saddle, and as they could not imagine sharing a name without being related, they took Frodo to their hearts as a long-lost cousin.The Bree-hobbits were, in fact, friendly and inquisitive, and Frodo soon found that some explanation of what he was doing would have to be given. He gave out that he was interested in history and geography (at which there was much wagging of heads, although neither of these words were much used in the Bree-dialect). He said he was thinking of book (at which there was silent astonishment), and that he and his list of names, beginning with 'Old Barliman here', to whom he could go for further information. But after a time, as Frodo did not show any sign of book on the spot, the hobbits returned to their questions about doings in the Shire. Frodo did not prove very communicative, and he soon found himself sitting alone in a comer, listening and looking around.The Men and Dwarves were mostly talking of distant events and telling flews of a kind that was becoming only too familiar. There was trouble away in the South, and it seemed that the friends wanted to collect information about hobbits living outside the Shire, especially in the eastern lands.At this a chorus of voices broke out. If Frodo had really wanted to write a book, and had had many ears, he would have learned enough for several Chapters in a few minutes. And if that was not enough, he was given a whole