He looked over his shoulder.

The pace had told upon three of them, but one man had actually gained on him, and could not be more than twenty strides behind.
"I shall have to settle with this fellow," he thought.

"He is going to catch me up before I reach the bank." His first wind was failing him, and his heart began to thump against his ribs.

He spied a beaten path at this point that trended across the meadow at a blunter angle than the one he was following.
Almost unconsciously he began to reason as follows: "A beaten path is usually the shortest cut: also, to follow it is usually to escape the risk of meeting unforeseen obstacles.

But if I change the angle at which I am running for one more obtuse, I give my pursuer the advantage of ten yards or so.