He walked to the gate and looked up at the roof; walked across the street and viewed the house in perspective; but nothing useful came of it, so he crossed the street again and tried ringing the doorbell once more.

He rang it sharply and waited.

Then he knocked and waited.

He was willing to wait until the door opened, and he leaned against the porch railing and waited, ringing the doorbell insinuatingly, or commandingly, or coaxingly, from time to time.
Meanwhile, the attorney waited until the half hour he had assigned was up, and then walked toward Miss Briggs' house with briskly business-like steps.
"Now, some folks," he said to himself, as he walked, "wouldn't get any fun at all out of a case like this, but I do.

That's the way to keep young.