St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-10-25

Crossing tho road far ahead Of % va
. cleaning bit Of water. spanned by q
narrow wooden bridge. It WAS not the
Vistula. but puny mountain stream
one Of the tributaries of the Vistula.
whose existence I had forgotten.
1t was possible. I thought to overtake
the assassins before they could reach it;
and even IL VIC failed It mattered little,
for the Vistuls was still mile or moro
away. We swept over the icy ground At
dangerous speed. and I felt like
shouting out with triumph, for the
sleigh was running slower and slower.
and the capture Of the men seemed cor
tain.
1called them to surrender, but they
made NO reply. though they must have
seen how hopeless their situation was.
Tho bridge was now very close, and
saw at glance 1t was giving way, for
the stream was high and swollen, and
great cakes Of ice were crashing against
the wooden piles.
Look out they are going to nre."
cries Karaman. suddenly. And - he
spoke tho smooth-faced man half rose in
his seat and turning round pointed the
gun directly at us. heard tho report
and felt the whiz Of the bullet past my
ear. Then came . uuh Of white smoke
and second shot; and with q CRY of
pain the Cossack behind me spran9 up
from his saddle and rolled down ON tho
icy road. while his riderless horse
reared with fright.
j. The scoundrels!" Kissed Karaman
through his teeth. III we only dared
fire on them!''
But this was exactly what We dared
not do. They must be taken alive at
all hazards. In the excitement had
forgotten all about tho bridge. and clos.
ing up We dashed on in rapid pursuit
The assassins had nearly reached the |
edge of tho stream now. The bearded |
man was plying the whip savagely, and |
his companion was standing, gun in
hand. holding his fire apparently until
We should como little nearer.
Faster and faster-and now the stream
was before us raging, roaring torrent,
flashing by with terrible velocity, and
still the fugitivcs madly dashed their
jaded horses ......
An instant more and the panic
brutes dashed upon the sway.
ing. trembling structure; and then, with
mighty crash and binding cloud Of
spray and snow, bridge, sleigh and all
into the torrent and with .
errible effort We checked our trembling
horses on the very brink.
For . moment could see nothing,
md then Karaman pointed out the two
huddled together on . great
AXE Of loo that was whirlin4 rapidly
lown the stream. The horses and sleigh
vere nowhere to Be seen.
A peasant was speedily found who led
IS through the forest to the shore. OF
he Vistula, at point close to tho !
Mouth OF the tributary stream.
On the other sidc rose the Austrian
Military station, but no trace Of the
ssassins could be discoveries; and from
he swollen condition of the river be-
loved 1t impossible that they could
ave been saved. Captain Karaman !
rs OF the same opinion, 80 we gave ur
be search and rode back to the station.
he Cossack who had been shot was :
OF fatally injured. and gave promise Of
in few weeks.
made out my report and forwarded II .
} headquarters. and . fortnight later
as exonerated from all blame. much .
} my relief, for very unjust and arbi.
airy decisions are sometimes made in q
lch cases. a
What their fato was never certainly
new. Long afterward. an Austrian, y
aveling to St Petersburg, informed =
o that Shamerin and KahrkoH had
zen seen in Vienna. and were supposed p
} be editing . revolutionist journal, u
1t have grave doubts Of the Aus N
ian's veracity. and in my opinion. the n
20 assassins persisted In the icy waters u
the vistula. Constitution. lc