er snow had completely
iced over. Now, much as I thought I was watching out, we were suddenly
and quite unexpectedly right on the downward slope before I even
realized that we were near it.

As I said, on this slope the trail described a double curve, and it hit
the bridge at an angle from the west. The first turn and the behaviour
of the horses were what convinced me that I had inadvertently gone too
far. If I had stopped the horses at the point where the slope began and
then started them downward at a slow walk, we should still have reached
the bridge at too great a speed; for the slope had offered the last big
wind from the north a sheer brow, and it was swept clean of new snow,
thus exposing the smooth ice underneath; the snow that had drifted from
the south, on the other hand, had been thrown beyond the river, on
to the lower northern bank; the horses skidded, and the weight of the
cutter would have pushed them forward. As it was, they realized the
danger themselves; for when we turned the second curve, both of them
stiffened their legs and spread their feet in order to break the
momentum of the cutter; but in spite of the heavy calks under their
shoes they slipped on all fours, hardly able to make the bend on to the
bridge.

They had to turn nearly at right angles to their last direction, and
the bridge seemed to be one smooth sheet of ice. The moon shone brightly
just then; so I saw exactly what happened. As soon as the runners
hit the iced-over planks, the cutter swung out sideways; the horses,
however, slipping and recovering, managed to make the turn. It was a
worth-while sight to see them strike their calks into the ice and brace
themselves against the shock which they clearly expected when the cutter
started to skid. The latter swung clear of the bridge--you will remember
that the railing on the east-side was broken away--out into space, and
came down with a fearful crash, but right side up, on the steep north
bank of the river--just at the very moment when the horses reached the
deep, loose snow beyond which at least gave them a secure footing. They
had gone along the diagonal of the bridge, from the southwest corner,
barely clearing the rail, to the northwest corner where the snow had
piled in to a depth of from two to five feet on the sloping bank. If
the ground where I hit the bank had been bare, the cutter would have
splintered to pieces; as it was, the shock of it seemed to jar every
bone in my body.