Second round of notes on FoTR: A Conspircacy Unmasked - incomplete
The first timid bit of Sam point of view: 'Sam was the only member of the party who had not been over the river before. He had a strange feeling as the slow gurgling stream slipped by: his old life lay behind in the mists, dark adventure lay in front. He scratched his head, and for a moment had a passing wish that Mr. Frodo could have gone on living quietly at Bag End.' It's quite generic, as if JRR didn't know Sam very well yet from inside, only from Frodo's watching him.
He has quite a feel for Merry, though: First he gives a thorough, accurate answer to Frodo's question and then wants to know "But what have horses to do with it?" Partly because he likes to know things and be able to explain them, he is the one who tells Frodo what they know about his errand.
The house at Cickhollow 'stood back from the lane in the middle of a wide circle of lawn surrounded by a belt of low trees inside the outer hedge'. The outer hedge is either of higher trees or of thick bushes that make it impossible to get to and pass between the low trees. It depends whether the barrier is meant to be primarily visual.
'we are going to do our best to help you against the Enemy' - with no word to nor apparent thought of the frantic parents they would leave behind. Merry might left a written explanation, and of course Fatty was there to explain (probably very vaguely: 'Frodo is in terrible trouble and they went with him to help him'). One might think that their behavior during the preceding weeks would have let their families know something was afoot, the way Frodo's was perfectly clear to them, but it is very unlikely that the families ever thought they meant to disappear out of the Shire. Even for a young male Took, that was unusual behavior, and for anyone else quite likely unimaginable. It is also possible that, despite their being 'horribly afraid', they expected in some vague way to return and so were able to avoid unduly sentimental farewells to their loved ones.
He has quite a feel for Merry, though: First he gives a thorough, accurate answer to Frodo's question and then wants to know "But what have horses to do with it?" Partly because he likes to know things and be able to explain them, he is the one who tells Frodo what they know about his errand.
The house at Cickhollow 'stood back from the lane in the middle of a wide circle of lawn surrounded by a belt of low trees inside the outer hedge'. The outer hedge is either of higher trees or of thick bushes that make it impossible to get to and pass between the low trees. It depends whether the barrier is meant to be primarily visual.
'we are going to do our best to help you against the Enemy' - with no word to nor apparent thought of the frantic parents they would leave behind. Merry might left a written explanation, and of course Fatty was there to explain (probably very vaguely: 'Frodo is in terrible trouble and they went with him to help him'). One might think that their behavior during the preceding weeks would have let their families know something was afoot, the way Frodo's was perfectly clear to them, but it is very unlikely that the families ever thought they meant to disappear out of the Shire. Even for a young male Took, that was unusual behavior, and for anyone else quite likely unimaginable. It is also possible that, despite their being 'horribly afraid', they expected in some vague way to return and so were able to avoid unduly sentimental farewells to their loved ones.