End Portal Gateway Directed Me to the Void!

I've had a long run with a world in Hardcore mode. After I beat the Ender Dragon, I made it to an end city and got all its loot. There was an end gateway portal nearby, which I decided to use to get back to the mainland. When I threw an ender pearl into it, it beamed, but nothing happened. I threw another one, and it took me somewhere just right out of the central island! I watched hopelessly at the island as I fell into my doom... Did throwing ender pearls twice into the gateway cause me to glitch away?