, 1890-08-02

with furious desperation, but the poor
brutes were fast giving out.
Barely a quarter of a mile lay between
u now, and that distance was diminish
ing very rapidly. We were going down
a gentle slope, when suddenly Capt.
Karaman cried: THE bridge! Do you
see the bidgeT7
Crossing the road far ahead of us was
a cleaning bit of water SPAWNED by a
narrow wooden bridge. 1t was not the
Vistula, but a puny mountain stream
n of the tributaries of the Vistula
whose existence l had forgotten.
1t was possible, 1 thought, o overtake
the assassins before they could reach it;
n even if we failed it mattered little,
for the Vistula was still a mile or more
away. We swept over the icy ground at
a dangerous speed, and l felt like shout
ing out with triumph, for the sleigh was
running slower and slower and the capt
ure of the men seemed certain.
l called to them TO surrender, but they
made no reply, though they must have
seen how hopeless their situation was.
The bridge was very close now, and /
saw at a glance that it was giving way,
for the stream was high and swollen,
and great cakes of ice were crushing
against the wooden piles.
Look ont, they are going to fire."
cried Karaman, suddenly. And as he
spoke the smooth faced man half rose in
his seat and, turning round, pointed a
gun directly at us. l heard the report
and felt the whiz of the bullet past my
ear. Then came n puff of white smoke
and a second shot; and with a cry of
pain the Cossack behind me sprang up
from his saddle and rolled down on the
icy road, while his riderless horse reared
with fright.
''The scoundrelsl' Missed Karaman
through his set teeth. ''If we only dared
fire on themr' 81
But this was exactly what we dared
not do. They must be taken alive at all
hazards. In the excitement l had for
gotten all about the bridge, and closing
up we dashed on in rapid pursuit.
The assassins had nearly reached the
edge of the stream now. The bearded
man was plying the whip savagely, and
his companion vas standing, gun in
hand, holding his fire apparently until
we should come q little nearer.
Faster and fnster-and now the stream
was before us n raging, roaring torrent,
flashing by with terrible velocity, and
still the fugitives madly dashed their
jaded horses.
An instant more and the panic strick-
en- brutes dashed upon the swaying,
trembling structure; and then, with a
mighty crash and binding cloud of
spray and snow, bridge. sleigh and all
crumbled into the torrent; and with a
terrible effort we checked our trembling
horses on the very brink.
For a moment l could see nothing,
and then Karaman pointed out the two
assassins huddled together ON n great
cake of ice that was whirling rapidly
down the stream. The horses and sleigh
were nowhere to be seen.
A peasant was speedily found who led
us through the forest to the shores of
the Vi5tula, at n point close to the
mouth of the tributary stream.
On the other side sose tho Austrian
military station, but no trace of the as
sassins could be discovered; and, from
the swollen condition of tho river,
believed it impossible that they could
have been saved. Capt. Karaman was
of the same opinion, so we gave up the
search, and rode buck to the station. The
cossack who had been shot was not ia
tally injured, and gave promise of re-
covering in a few weeks.
| made out my report and forwarded
it to headquarters, and IA fortnight later
| was exonerated from all blame, much
to my relief, for very unjust and arbi,
trary decisions are sometimes made in