The street was deserted, except for two men talking under the electric light at the corner, and the only sound arose from the passing of a surface car a block away.

The silence and loneliness got upon my nerves, but, without yielding, I followed the narrow cement walk around the corner of the house.

Here it was dark in the shadow of the wall, yet one window on the first floor exhibited a faint glow at the edge of a closely drawn curtain.

Encouraged slightly by this proof that the house was indeed occupied, I felt my way forward until I came to some stone steps, and a door.

I rapped on the wood three times, my nerves tingling from excitement.