Quite certain that the dwelling had no present tenant, the corporal nevertheless was taking no chances. Slinging his carbine at his back, he drew his heavy service pistol. Then, without further ado, he stepped forward to investigate.
The cabin was constructed of freshly peeled logs, saddle-notched, and in size and method of building, it was a practical duplication of the other mysterious habitation which he had stumbled upon last night in this same lonesome valley. He recalled the story told him by Mudgett—of a so-called settler and trapper named Stark who had put up a shack somewhere in this direction. Possibly this was the cabin mentioned.
The latchstring dangled invitingly on the outside, and, without pausing to reconnoiter, the corporal pulled up the fastening bar and shoved the door open. He crossed the threshold, and found himself in a large, square room, dimly revealed in the failing daylight. In the gloom he made out a stone fireplace, and a pole bunk built against the opposite wall.
As he stood blinking, trying to accustom his vision to the semi-darkness, he heard a quick rustling sound, and was suddenly aware of a white face and a pair of gleaming eyes staring at him from the bunk.
"Hello!" he ejaculated, taken aback for an instant by the unexpected apparition. "If I'd imagined any one was here I'd have knocked."
He crossed the floor and saw a man's blanketed shape, propped half erect in the bunk. A glance told the corporal that the other was a stranger. He was a smooth-faced youth, nineteen or twenty years old probably, with drawn, haggard features, dank, uncut hair, and wide-spaced, staring eyes that glowed with feverish brightness in the gathering dusk. His weight was rigidly supported on one elbow, and a look of seeming consternation flitted across his face as he caught sight of the police uniform.
"What—what do you want here?" he faltered in a straining undertone.
Dexter did not answer. "Who are you?" he countered. "What's your name?"
"Why, it's—Smith," said the boy with a noticeable stumbling. "Tom Smith."
The corporal's mouth twisted skeptically. "Seems to me I've heard that name somewhere else. Smith, eh? Well, Smith, what's the matter with you? Sick?"