The day after I went to stay with Uncle Stephen, some little time before sunset I saw a horseman approaching the house from the eastward.  He was a middle-aged man, dressed in a suit of dark grey, with his legs encased in strong leather gaiters, and a broad-brimmed hat on his head; a pair of huge saddle-bags, too, were thrown across the hardy-looking mustang he bestrode.  He had neither gun over his shoulder nor sword by his side; but he carried a thick staff of considerable length in his hand.