He pulled the bell in the wall, and the door was at once opened and instantly closed.
Armitage, following at twenty yards on the opposite side of the street, paused abruptly at the sudden ending of his chase.

It was not an hour for loitering, for the Genevan _gendarmerie_ have rather good eyes, but Armitage had by no means satisfied his curiosity as to the nature of Chauvenet's errand.

He walked on to make sure he was unobserved, crossed the street, and again passed the dark, silent house which Chauvenet had entered.

He noted the place carefully; it gave no outward appearance of being occupied.

He assumed, from the general plan of the neighboring buildings, that there was a courtyard at the rear of the darkened house, accessible through a narrow passageway at the side.