I tried the gates.

They were locked securely.

A screen of closely woven wire rose from the pavement half way up the iron work.
Evidently it would be impossible to reach the doors without scaling this barrier, and I was not yet ready to try an expedient so desperate.
Returning to my hotel I wrote a letter to the master of the house, telling him of my long-continued quest and of my hopes regarding our possible kinship.

Day after day I anxiously awaited his reply, until a week had passed, but no word came from him.

In passing the house at different times, however, I observed some signs of life within it--a blind open that had been closed the day before--a faint glimmer of light on the trees in the rear of the grounds at night, which might have come from the back windows.