like Hercules' oxen
Note by H Craik to chapter 7 of the Tale of a Tub

Cf. p. 121, 1. 29. To conceal the place where the oxen were hidden, Cacus drew them backward into his den, so that the footprints appeared as if they had issued thence. Cf. Hudibras, Part II. Cant. i. 1. 429

''Tis like that sturdy thief that stole And dragged beasts backward into his hole.'