The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-06-19

the animal had succeeded in taking the bit
between us teeth, and that no earthly power
could stop 1t on its mad runaway. Although
! we all followed the empress, none Of us
seemed TO gain upon her. Flying we passed
through the little town, much to the amaze
ment and terror OF the few people In the
streets A short distance beyond the town
was shipping canal, and, to our horrcr, we
saw that the draworidge spanning the canal
was open, so as TO permit the passage of
some boat. In moment we realized that
the empress was running straight into the
jaws Of certain death.
Faster and faster we went in pursuit, bat
raster and faster seemed the empress horse
to fly. Now it had reached the open
bridge. Would it stopl Before we had
time to think, we saw the animal dashap
tue incline Of the open bridge like a fash Of
lightning. For moment we could not but
close our eyes, and a shudder convulsed
every man in the cavalcade 1t was a ter
r1ble moment-a moment during which
Tear and horror alternately kept US in their
psngs. When we opened our eyes again,
still riding as fast as our horses could 20,
the fair rider and her runaway had disap-
peared.
We had no doubtthat the inevitable had
happened and that Elizabeth of Austria
was drowned In the slow and turbid waite rs
of the canal
The idea vas a terrible one. My pen is
TOO weak to describe the confusion among
US ana seemed to make each rider culver in
his saddle. Almest unconsclcusly we had
stopped our horses just before reaching the
lncllne TO the open draw. AS a matter Of
TACT our excitement was so great that we
we did not even notice that one OF our num-
Der, Count SzepGny. if l remember well.
was also missing. All our faculties natur-
ally had followed the empress only.
wa hi hnf- AknN
pie bridge like pack of towards, with no
BODY among US plucky enough to ride into
death with an empress
A few seconds later the inclines of the
bridge we're lowered again, but nobody of
| our company seemed to even attempt to
pass it.
From the pangs of fear and horror we
mad passed into those Of amazement. Sew
eral hundred yards beyond the bridge we
beheld riding toward US a lady on a foam
ing steed. 1t was the empress, and at her
side the only gallant man of the crowd,
Count Szepany Her majesty firmly sat
her horse, aud appeared as cool and coll
leeted as il nothing had happened.
Smllingly did she make fun of US and
our anxiety. Her fine raillery was just as
much Justified as it was inotfenisive when
she saw the pitiahle figure we cut in her
exalted presence.
The empress horse was very lame, and
closer examination showed that it had disl To-
Gated its right hind fetlock. In jumping the
open draw between the wings of the bridge
the hind feet OF the empress horse had
caught one of the iron rails at the edge and
torn off one Of its hind shoes. The most ex-
traordinary f AZURE of the accident was how
the horse ever could have gone down the in
cline without breaking its own and the riders
neck. The only explanation for this small
miracle, however, might be found in the
fact that the empress never lost her pres
ence of mind for minute when on horse
back. and that though the animal was I'M
controllaole, she must have set it to perfec-
tiun. With regard to Count Szepany, he
was unable to give any account Of his
escape. Moreover, he did not even remem-
Der whether his horse made the jump before
or after the empress. He simply said that
| during the jump he closed his eyes for a
| second, and that be then experienced sens
sation as though the waters were bubbling
over his head.