[HerenIstarion]

scene 1:

Blibo, being stopped on the road by hooded and cloaked persons: These funny folk think I carry my gold on me, hehe, when I invested it into real estate ages ago.

scene 2:

After the feast (more or less) came the Speech. Most of the company were, however, now in a tolerant mood, at that delightful stage which they called ‘filling up the corners’. They were sipping their favourite drinks, and nibbling at their favourite dainties, and their fears were forgotten. They were prepared to listen to anything, and to cheer at every full stop.

'My dear People', began Bilbo, rising in his place. 'You all see my hands are empty, don't you? Look now how I'll make the cake vanish magically'. Bilbo put up his hands and began to murmur mysteriously abracadabra...ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke...hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo...ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik...

'Hear! Hear! Hear!’ they shouted, and kept on repeating it in chorus, seeming reluctant to follow their own advice. Cries of Yes (and No) were heard, noises of trumpets and horns, pipes and flutes, and other musical instruments. There were, as has been said, many young hobbits present, and all would be delighted to see some magic performed by notorious Mad Baggins.

But old Rory Brandybuck was not so sure. Neither age nor an enormous dinner had clouded his wits, and he said to his daughter-in-law, Esmeralda: ‘There’s something fishy in this, my dear! I believe that mad Baggins is trying to swindle us.