The War of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien

him: power of dominating minds and bewildering or persuading them was his chief asset all along, I fancy. But without his armies to do as he commanded, he was just a cunning old man, very slippery, but with no grit. And the old fool had sent all his armies off! ...'

    Merry's account (given to Pippin in TT) of Saruman's flight into Orthanc chased by Bregalad, the spouting of fires and gases from vents in the plain of Isengard ('as soon as Saruman got back into his control-room he got some of his machinery working'), the scorching of some of the Ents and the quelling of their fury by Treebeard, is present in the draft in all essentials, though more briefly told (and the horrible fate of the Ent Beechbone does not yet appear). The time-scheme was still at the stage described in $ II on p. 5, with the drowning of Isengard beginning later in the same night (31 January) as the Ents came there,(17) and so the story is much condensed in the draft text by comparison with that in TT. Gandalf came to Isengard
    'yesterday at 'nightfall' (i.e. 1 February, the night of the Battle of the Hornburg); and where in TT (p. 175) Pippin says that he was surprised at the meeting of Gandalf and Treebeard 'because neither of them seemed surprised at all', here Merry says:

    '... I do not know who was most surprised at their meeting, Gandalf or Treebeard. Gandalf, I think, for once. For from a look he gave us when we first met I have a fancy Treebeard had spotted Gandalf in Fangorn; but would not say anything even to comfort us. He has very much to heart the elvish saw of Gildor's: Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards; for they are subtle and quick to wrath.'(18)
    'But Gandalf knew Treebeard was on the move,' said Gimli.
    'He knew there was going to be an explosion.'
    'But not even Gandalf could guess what that was going to be like,' said [Merry >] Pippin. 'It has never happened before. And even wizards know little about Ents. But talking about surprise
    - we were the surprised ones: coming on top of the astonishing rage of the Ents, Gandalf's arrival was like a thunderclap. We had very little to do, except try and trot round after Treebeard (when he was too busy to carry us) and see the fun. We had a high time for a moment, when we got left alone, and came in front of a rush of some terrified wolves, and we had a brush with two or three stray orcs. [But when Gandalf arrived, I just stood staring with my mouth open, and then I sat down and laughed. >] But when Gandalf's horse came striding up the road, like a flash of silver in the dusk, well, I just gasped, and then I sat down and laughed, and then I wept. And did he say pleased to see you again? No, indeed. He said "Get up, you tom-fool of a Took. Where in the name of wonder in all this mess is Treebeard? Hurry, hurry, hurry, my lad! Don't let your toes grow whiskers." But later he was a bit gentler, after he had seen the old Ent: he seemed very pleased and relieved. He gave us a few minutes of concentrated news, a pat on the head, a sort of hasty blessing, and vanished away south again. We got some more news out of Treebeard after he had gone. But there must be much more to tell. We should have been far more worried and anxious about you, I expect, only it was difficult what with Treebeard and Gandalf to really believe you would come to grief.'
    'Yet we nearly did,' said Aragorn. 'Gandalf's plans are risky, and they lead often to a knife-edge. There is great wisdom, forethought and courage in them - but no certainty. You have to do your part as it comes to you; or they would not work.'
    'After that, said Merry, 'the Ents just went on and carefully and neatly finished the drowning of Isengard. I don't know what else, do you?'
    'Yes,' said Aragorn, 'some went to the Fords to bury the men of Rohan who had fallen there; and to gather all the - what did you say they were called - the Ornomi, the moving woods, to the Deeping Coomb. Aye, that was a wonder and a victory as great as the one here. No orc