Not long afterwards , however , he went out after some deer which were to be found in a far corner of his forests . In the course of the beat his dogs disturbed a beautiful snow-white stag , and directly he saw it the king determined that he would have it at any cost . So he put the spurs to his horse , and followed it as hard as he could gallop . Of course all his attendants followed at the best speed that they could manage ; but the king was so splendidly mounted , and the stag was so swift , that , at the end of an hour , the king found that only his favourite hound and himself were in the chase ; all the rest were far , far behind and out of sight . Nothing daunted , however , he went on and on , till he perceived that he was entering a valley with great rocky mountains on all sides , and that his horse was getting very tired and trembled at every stride . Worse than all evening was already drawing on , and the sun would soon set . In vain had he sent arrow after arrow at the beautiful stag . Every shot fell short , or went wide of the mark ; and at last , just as darkness was setting in , he lost sight altogether of the beast . By this time his horse could hardly move from fatigue , his hound staggered panting along beside him , he was far away amongst mountains where he had never been before , and had quite missed his way , and not a human creature or dwelling was in sight . All this was very discouraging , but the king would not have minded if he had not lost that beautiful stag . That troubled him a good deal , but he never worried over what he could not help , so he got down from his horse , slipped his arm through the bridle , and led the animal along the rough path in hopes of discovering some shepherd 's hut , or , at least , a cave or shelter under some rock , where he might pass the night . Presently he heard the sound of rushing water , and made towards it . He toiled over a steep rocky shoulder of a hill , and there , just below him , was a stream dashing down a precipitous glen , and , almost beneath his feet , twinkling and flickering from the level of the torrent , was a dim light as of a lamp . Towards this light the king with his horse and hound made his way , sliding and stumbling down a steep , stony path . At the bottom the king found a narrow grassy ledge by the brink of the stream , across which the light from a rude lantern in the mount of a cave shed a broad beam of uncertain light . At the edge of the stream sat an old hermit with a long white beard , who neither spoke nor moved as the king approached , but sat throwing into the stream dry leaves which lay scattered about the ground near him . ` Peace be upon you , ' said the king , giving the usual country salutation . ` And upon you peace , ' answered the hermit ; but still he never looked up , nor stopped what he was doing . For a minute or two the king stood watching him . He noticed that the hermit threw two leaves in at a time , and watched them attentively .
Sometimes both were carried rapidly down XXXXX the stream ; sometimes only one leaf was carried off , and the other , after whirling slowly round and round on the edge of the current , would come circling back on an eddy to the hermit 's feet .
after behind below beneath by from if of than till