Perhaps it was the sound of those defiant shrieks that drowned the sound of bells as the second sleigh dashed up to the gate, and the men tumbled out pell-mell into the lane.
But the winter wind bore to their ears the sound of Geraldine's awful cries, and their feet seemed winged, as, headed by Hawthorne, they rushed up the lane and threw themselves altogether against the locked door.
It yielded and fell in with their united weight, tumbling all together upon the kitchen floor.
But each sprang to his feet and followed the sound of those frantic shrieks up a rickety stair-way to another locked door.
"Now all together again, lads—push!" shouted Hawthorne, and under the strong onslaught the second door yielded, the lock fell off, and they were on the scene of action.
And, oh, what a scene!
Clifford Standish and the old woman had dragged Geraldine from her chair, despite her desperate shrieks and struggles, and were holding her up between them, while the half-drunken justice mumbled over the words of the marriage service.
The conspirators, thus taken by surprise, dropped their victim and turned to fly, but the clubs of the agile policemen quickly strewed the floor with three groaning wretches.
As for Hawthorne, he thought only of Geraldine. She flew to him, and he clasped her in his arms, crying:
"Oh, my love, my love! I have come to save you!"