They spoke to Thorleif, and he laughed, and then turned their horses loose and leaped to their places in the ranks.
Thorleif dismounted also, and paced to and fro, as a waiting seaman will, with his arms behind him.
And then came a rush of horsemen, and my cousin gripped my arm, and cried out in a choked voice: "Mercy!" he gasped, "is the man mad ?" The new horsemen were men of our own from Dorchester.

I saw one or two of Elfric's housecarls among them, and the rest were the sheriff's own men, with a few franklins who had joined him on the road.
At the head of the group rode Beaduheard himself, red and hot with his ride, and plainly in a rage.

His rough brown beard bristled fiercely, and his hand griped the bridle so that the knuckles were white.

He had armed himself, and his men were armed also, but their gear showed poorly beside the Danish harness.

He had hardly more than twenty men after him, and I thought he had outridden his followers who were on foot.
"O fool!" groaned Elfric.