Half mechanically I went to the doorway and peered through the early morning haze up and down Stanton Street. I could see no one--nothing suspicious--nothing suggestive at all. I was just about to return to my bedroom when I was startled by something playing about my feet. In a flash I looked down, and to my astonishment found Colonel Napier's clumber spaniel gazing at me with the most appealing eyes. "Hulloa, Fate!" I said, giving him his customary but oddly suggestive name. "Where have you sprung from? What are you doing here? Did you run after your master's carriage when the colonel came with Lord Cuthbertson and get locked in some cupboard in the office here, or did you fall asleep on a pile of papers?" The dog looked up, wagging his tail. Then all at once he gave a sharp bark, and swinging round he tore through the open door down the street as hard as he could pelt. For an instant I was quite astonished. As a rule the dog would stop and fuss with me and play several tricks. Now his manner was so curious that I decided at last he must have expected I should follow him. "But that must be a long time yet," I told myself, with a sigh. "I can never see Doris now until I have cleared up this mystery of the manuscripts for Don Jose." And, shrugging my shoulders, I made my way back to the bedroom where, feeling sleep was out of the question, and that I must try in real earnest to solve the mystery of the expedition of the Spaniard, I had a tub, and made a hurried toilet, and then set to work to get myself some breakfast. In about half-an-hour's time, however, Don Jose returned, and when he caught sight of me up and dressed he gave such a start of terror I thought that he would drop on the floor in a fit. "Well," I said lightly. "You didn't expect to see me about, did you? Fact was, I couldn't sleep, so I got up to make myself a cup of tea. Where have you been to at this ungodly hour?" "To a friend's," he stammered. "A friend's in Whitehall Court. Just a call--a friendly call. A man I know in Whitehall Court." "In Whitehall Court," I repeated, bending over some toast I was buttering. "Why, that's where Colonel Napier lives! Did you happen to see a clumber spaniel heading in that direction? He was here a few minutes ago, but suddenly he bolted for his home in great distress, and I thought that--" But I never completed the sentence. All at once I was startled by the sound of a loud fall. I looked round. To my surprise I found that Don Jose Casteno had dropped to the floor in a dead faint. CHAPTER NINE. THE HUNCHBACK TRIES A NEW RUSE.