He raised his eyes to see that the other
end of the bridge was clear, and at that moment he was conscious of an
unsteady motion of the bridge, of a wavering of the roof, and then,
before he had time to do aught, he saw the roof and the sides and the
floor of the bridge collapse and sink slowly down.
With a cry, he sprang from the carriage to retrace his way; but he only
climbed up a ladder that grew every instant steeper; and all at once he
was plunged downwards after his horse and carriage into the stream. He
could swim, and as he swept down this thought came to him--that he might
be able to get the shore, as he heard the cries of people on the bank.
It was a hope that died at the moment of its birth, however, for he was
struck by a falling timber on the head.
When, an hour later, he was found in an eddy of the river by the shore,
he was dead, and his finders could only compose his limbs decently. But
in the afternoon, the papers of Montreal had the following head-lines;
DEFEAT AND DEATH OF BARODE BAROUCHE THE END OF A LONG AND GREAT CAREER
As soon as Carnac Grier heard the news, he sent a note to his mother
telling her all he knew. When she read the letter, she sank to the
floor, overcome. Her son had triumphed indeed.
CHAPTER XXVIII
A WOMAN WRITES A LETTER
The whole country rang with the defeat and death of Barode Barouche,
and the triumph of the disinherited son of John Grier.
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