Chp. 12, Inside Information

I've been watching you!

The dark passage is right in front of their eyes, and what do they do? They ''nominate'' Bilbo to go down it. of course. Bilbo enters, puts on his invisibility ring, and tip-toes into Smaug’s lair. Smaug is red and gold, and a hide as strong as a diamond. Bilbo is terrified, but takes a single golden cup from one of the piles. He then runs back to the dwarves, who are happy to see he took the cup.Bilbo’s theft does not go unseen by Smaug, who counts his unused treasure. When he awakens, he is angry to discover that the cup is missing. Meanwhile, the dwarves and Bilbo huddle inside the secret passage, terrified. After a while, Smaug returns to his den and falls asleep. The hobbit returns to the dragon’s lair to spy, only to find the dragon is being watchful and Smaug is waiting for Bilbo. Although he cannot see Bilbo because of the ring, Smaug smells Bilbo and greets him. Bilbo is smart, though, and answers Smaug only in riddles. Sneakily, the hobbit flatters Smaug into displaying his thick-skinned underbelly, revealing an open patch in Smaug’s armor above his left breast.Bilbo rushes back up the passage, just outrunning the dragon’s flames. The hobbit tells the dwarves all that he has learned while a thrush sits nearby and seems to listen. They then hear the roar of the dragon once more and shut the door to the passage just before an avalanche comes down upon it. They are trapped inside the mountain...