[Untitled illustration of a spearman fighting a dragon]

[page 20] VIEW from the HILL by Tom Bombadil {Title Art: The title is handwritten and located between two line drawings of mountains. The mountain on the right has no distinguishing features other than being topped by a jagged peak. The mountain on the left is topped by a mesa. Upon the mesa is a drawing of a head with a single feather Native American headdress using his left hand to block the sun from his eyes.} Note: before plunging into the typing of this article, I feel it only fair to warn you that it is not really Tom's article at all. That is to say, is @it@ is actually only an interpretation of the editorial which was originally writted @written@ (hmm) by him. There are days when he cannot read his own writing himself and yet today he scribbled off this thingand handed it to me. Well, please be indulgent. "Iam @I am@ (that's my error there) finished. I saw a needed chage @change@ and tried to accomplish it. It seems I did accomplish something in my own inimitable style, but the results are few and undoubtedly <Handwritten.> _unnoticeable_ <End handwriting.>. I knew it was not a truely @truly@ dangerous mission-it couldn't break the fellowship as many feared- what was then left of this organization is the bare minimum of a hub and the spokes of a very very <Handwritten.> _shakey_ @shaky@ <End handwriting.> wheel that somehow keeps turning, even though most of its oil is gone. I had hoped that I might awaken a new interest-create a new age, but it seems-as is the Shire-no one wants to change or try harder. Things are good enough now. Why push things. OK. Now perhaps I have felt a fraction of what Phil Helms felt some months ago when he quit our ranks. There is a certain desperation which builds up when you realize nothing can be done. I have now accepted it. It phases me no longer. Nevertheless I cannot <Handwritten.> _cover_ up <End handwriting.> my deepest feeling. Somewhere deep within the fellowship is a kindred bond which will never fail as long as stamps carry our letters. I only sought a focal point for our actions-a beginning of organized thought _thru-out_ @throughout@ the membership, not merely between two wargamers. I tried to convey this, and, well, you know the story from there. Today, I still recognize one leader, Doug Cross. I don't need a 'King' I never really wanted one, but in Doug I saw a reaffirmation of our hope and sought to liberate them by supplying him some power. Now I can only urge thought-if you want organization, where do you turn? If you want <Handwritten.> _leadership_ <End handwriting.> where do you turn? I hail no king, but I salute a man, a leader, DOUG CROSS. (well, I'll have you know that I did my best. I don't think that Tom can use Phil Helms. He may have had the idea, same as Tom, yet how did he hope to gain it by making up a false front and using another name to soil the reputation of others? The underscoredwrite-ins are places where I couldn't guess the meanings, words which might possibly be included etc and left it blank until Tom dechiphered @deciphered@ it for me. This article was the very last to be turned in. It came in when there were only two pages to go: Tom's "View from the Hill" and the Pin-up Dragon which will not be in color this issue. (sorry) Master Doug Cross has been our sole organizer since I-don't-know-how-long, it is simply a matter of getting him to say it. well @Well@, much more can be desided @decided@ by you. Wrie, koog. awrite @Write@.) <Signature in stylized text, cursive block letters.> yrs Hildifons Took <End stylized text.>