Then he lowered it slowly.
It seemed as though this nocturnal visitor were voluntarily separating himself from the land of the living, and descending into the world of the dead.

And strange indeed to him, who sees by night as by day, on the earth and beneath it, must the impassibility of this young man have seemed, who passed among the dead in search of the living, and who, in spite of darkness and solitude, did not shudder at the touch of the mortuary marbles.
He walked on, feeling his way among the tombs, until he came to the iron gate leading to the subterranean passage.

He looked for the lock.

It was only bolted.

He inserted the end of his lever between the bolt and the staple, and pushed it gently.