The next moment her senses gave way before the shock.
She reeled blindly forward and fell like a log at the dastard's feet.
This was what Jem Rhodes had hoped and expected.
With a laugh of demoniac satisfaction he lifted Geraldine in his arms, and bore her to a second-class coach, having bought tickets for this with a distinct purpose.
To his joy he found that he and Geraldine would be the only passengers on this coach.
"The foul fiend helps me! I'll have a fair field for my love-making," he thought, exultantly, as the train steamed out from the station.
Presently Geraldine, whom he had lain back on her seat, stirred and opened her eyes with a dazed look.
"Oh, what does this mean? Where am I?" she gasped.
Standish bent over her, and said, soothingly:
"Don't you remember, Miss Harding? I brought you here to see Hawthorne. He will be here in a moment."