One of them even pointed at my mill-wheel with a witty gibe--at least, perhaps, it was wit to him--about the Sawyer's misfortune; but the sun was then in his eyes, and my dress was just of the color of the timber.

So on they rode, and the pleasant turf (having lately received some rain) softly answered to the kneading of their hoofs as they galloped away to surround the house.
I was just at the very point of rising and running up into the dark of the valley, when a stroke of arithmetic stopped me.

Fourteen men and fourteen horses I had counted on the other side; on this side I could not make any more than thirteen of them.

I might have made a mistake; but still I thought I would stop just a minute to see.

And in that minute I saw the other man walking slowly on the opposite bank.