Book I Chapter 10: Strider

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadow shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

~ Gandalf's verse describing Aragorn, Book I Chapter 10: Strider

Upon entering The Prancing Pony, the hobbits nearly ran into the house's worthy (if forgetful) landlord, Barliman Butterbur. The innkeeper was "bustling out of one door and in through another". [1]

Butterbur, being very busy with his patrons -- including a party from south down the Greenway [2] and a company of dwarves travelling west -- led the hobbits "a short way down a passage" to a "nice little parlour". It was a

small and cosy room. There was a bit of bright fire burning on the hearth, and in front of it were some low and comfortable chairs.

While waiting for their supper to be brought in, Butterbur's hobbit servant, Nob, showed the companions to their bedrooms to wash up. These accommodations were in fact prepared especially for hobbit guests, being on the ground floor near the back of the building, and with low, round windows facing north (and presumably with hobbit-scaled furniture). [3]

Having washed up, the hobbits returned to the parlour and were served their supper. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin then decided to join the company in the common-room, while Merry instead went outside for some fresh air.

The large common-room was dimly-lit by a "blazing log-fire" and "three lamps hanging from the beams". There were benches, upon which sat the large, mixed company made up of "men of Bree, a collection of local hobbtits (sitting chattering together), a few... dwarves, and other vague figures difficult to make out away in the shadows and corners."

The locals were rather interested by the appearance of the Shire-hobbits, but Frodo, giving the alias of Mr. Underhill, proved not very communicative and was shortly left to listen quietly to the conversation. It was then that he noticed a weatherbeaten stranger paying close attention to the hobbit-talk. Butterbur identified him as Strider, a Ranger. [4]

An impromptu song landed Frodo in jeopardy and risked revealing the Ring, but the hobbits were able to defuse the situation before returning to the parlour, only to find Strider there. The hobbits were trying to ascertain whether Strider was to be trusted when a letter to Frodo from Gandalf -- delivered via Butterbur -- revealed the Ranger's identity as Aragorn son of Arathorn, a friend of the wizard's.

At length, Aragorn was accepted as trustworthy, and Merry returned from a terrifying encounter with Black Riders. Alterted to the presence of the Riders, the hobbits did not retire to their quarters, but instead spent the night in the parlour with Aragorn. That night, the Black Riders attacked both the house at Crickhollow and the hobbits' rooms at The Prancing Pony, but in both instances were foiled.

Notes

1. Presumably out of the kitchen and into the common-room. Indeed, this is where frequent visitors to the inn are accustomed to seeing Butterbur! In LOTRO, the "door" to the common-room is rather the space created by the entry vestibule before the inkeeper's station.
2. Well-travelled explorers will know that the lands south down the Greenway are held by servants of Saruman. Undoubtedly these southerners, or at least several of their number, were spies of the Enemy.
3. The Pony's hobbit-room in LOTRO has four small beds, similar to the room as depicted in other adaptations, including the 1978 and 2001 screen adaptations. However, in the text, Nob shows the hobbits to their rooms, implying that there were at least two bedchambers and possibly as many as four, one for each hobbit.
4. Earlier that day (September 29th) Aragorn had set out from The Pony to look for Frodo and his companions, but before leaving, had enlisted the aid of another traveller to assist Constable Underhill in the village of Combe in uncovering the plans of the local Blackwold brigands (LOTRO Volume I Book 1 epic storyline).