The revel now gradually broke up. The old farmers gathered together their families in their wagons, and were heard for some time rattling along the hollow roads and over the distant hills. Some of the damsels mounted on pillions behind their favorite swains, and their lighthearted laughter , mingling with the clatter of hoofs, echoed along the silent woodlands, sounding fainter and fainter until they gradually died away-and the late scene of noise and frolic was all silent and deserted. Ichabod only lingered behind  according to the custom of country lovers , to have a tete-a-tete with the heiress, fully convinced that he was now on the high road to success.