Once again, our intrepid band of adventurers has left a place of safety and recuperation to plunge back into the uncertainty and danger of the wild. For the next several days, they travel swiftly on the wonderful ponies Beorn has loaned them. Tolkien mentions that they are able to relax, talk, and sing during the day, but at dusk, their unease returns, and they set watches and slide into troubling dreams featuring "the howl of hunting wolves and the cries of goblins." It is on the third such night that Bilbo notices "the shadowy form of a great bear prowling along in the same direction," but Gandalf tells him to "Take no notice!"

On the afternoon of their fourth day of travel, they reach the forest gate of Mirkwood, and Gandalf reminds them that they must now return the wonderful ponies to their formidable master. When the dwarves begin to grumble about this, he quickly admonishes them, "Mr. Baggins' eyes are sharper than yours, if you have not seen each night after dark a great bear going along with us . . . . Beorn may be your friend, but he loves his animals as his children. You do not guess what kindness he has shown you . . . nor what would happen to you, if you tried to take them into the forest."

The party then experiences a second blow when Gandalf informs them that he will be returning his horse personally, as he must leave the expedition of Thorin & Co. to attend to "pressing business away south." We learn later that this bit of "business" is none other than an assault by the White Council upon the Necromancer and his fortress of Dol Guldur in the south of Mirkwood. We have to wait until LOTR to discover that the Necromancer is none other than Sauron himself.

Gandalf tries to cheer the dwarves up by reminding them that, "I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that he has more about him than you guess." Indeed, Mr. Baggins has grown quite a bit since he left the comfort of his home in the Shire. He attempted to pick the pocket of a troll, was captured by goblins, and while lost in the depths of the Misty Mountains, he managed to discover a magic ring, survive his encounter with Gollum, and escape to rejoin the party all on his own. With Gandalf's departure, Bilbo is poised to assume an odd sort of leadership position with Thorin & Co., and they will indeed learn that there is much more to him than they could possibly guess!