THE IMMENSELY POPULAR "Lord of the Rings" movies follow Frodo Baggins on a journey to rid Middle-earth of a ring that is compelling, powerful, and evil. The ring has destroyed countless lives, but each person who possesses it in turn believes himself immune to its malevolent force and is irresistibly tempted to use it for his own ends.

The congressmen who took term-limit pledges must feel some sympathy for Frodo's plight. About a dozen Republican members of the class of '94 pledged to leave Congress after six to ten years because they believe in reducing the size and scope of government and increasing turnover in Washington. Ask those former congressmen today if they're glad they timed themselves out and they'll say all the right things--but they're oddly wistful when they say them.

Washington, they say, is a "fever swamp" one should be "immunized against." It is "corrupting," "debasing," it "causes amnesia about the really important things." Without exception, those who left say they have "no regrets." But once you have been there, a few admit, "there will always be this pull to go back."

Of the 73 freshmen who came in with the Gingrich revolution, half had never previously served in public office. They were a quirky bunch. Mark Sanford refused to take PAC money and slept on a futon in his office. Helen Chenoweth-Hage raised money for her campaign with an endangered-salmon bake. Those who took a term-limit pledge ran as outsiders--some went to such lengths to develop immunity to "Potomac fever" that they became a thorn in the side of Republican leadership.

A few seem to have come out largely unscathed. "Being a member of Congress is a wonderful opportunity. Giving up a job like that, you give up a lot. But now, I get to see my children just about every day" and "lead a quiet and scholarly life," says former congressman Charles Canady. After a stint as general counsel to Governor Jeb Bush, Canady was rewarded with a seat on a state appeals court in Florida. Calling himself "politically neutered," he won't say much about what is happening in the capital these days. Safe in the judiciary, he has "escaped politics," he says, but he "can't escape public life."

For others, however, the lure of Washington proved too strong. Matt Salmon of Arizona says he is "95 percent" sure that he will run when his replacement Jeff Flake's term expires. Salmon says he won't term-limit himself this time around. The rationale behind term limits is flawed, he says, unless they are imposed across the board. He cites the problem of unilateral disarmament: "Guys like me consistently vote to cut spending, and then Ted Kennedy and Senator Byrd stay on and on." Asked about regrets, Salmon is quick to say that "when it came to getting committee assignments it harmed me. When I say harmed me, I mean it harmed my district."

Helen Chenoweth-Hage of Idaho doesn't identify quite so closely with her district. In fact, she doesn't live there anymore. She's busy, "cooking for ranch hands and working with cattle" on the Nevada ranch owned by Wayne Hage, whom she married during her last year in Congress. "Real life," she calls it. But in the midst of an impassioned monologue about the importance of citizen legislators and how glad she is that she term-limited herself, she breaks off to warmly recall the "friendships you form--almost like you were in a battle." She "certainly wouldn't go back" to Washington, though.