On returning to his companions, Samouard distributed rings to all of them: three for Elves, seven for Dwarves, and nine for Mortal Men. The contrebandiers thus entered his service and became his most trusted servants, with Guillaume de Ferni at their head, and he made them Chevaliers de Monte Fato and Fantômes du Ring. Thereafter, Gamgès established a splendid court on the island of Monte Fato. After receiving a complete makeover that rendered him both unrecognisable and incredibly good-looking, he travelled throughout Terre-moyenne, especially le Harade, where the stars are strange and the seragli are stranger, and where he picked up such charming Sudron habits as opium and slavery. He went in many guises, and won renown under many names, as Frodia had foretold. He rode in the host of the Rohirrois, and swashbuckled Gondor by land and by sea; in the guise of Albert le Moupet, he even penetrated the forbidden city of Escargot.
Buttrebeurrousse, meanwhile, had declined since the halcyon days of Le pony prançant. He now let rooms in L'auberge abandonnée, which was located in a distinctly less fashionable part of town; and for some unknown reason (probably financial), he had married a rather sickly and avaricious lady who was even more d'un certain âge than he was, and whom he called la Carcharotte.
