"Who's your new friend?" the officer inquired.
Mudgett started to speak, but at that instant he happened to meet the beady glance of the shackled man across the room; and he received a look of baleful warning that made his teeth click over the half uttered word. He rubbed his nose nervously to hide his confusion. "Never saw him before," he stammered. "Just came here a little while ago for shelter. Didn't tell me his name."
Dexter himself had felt the threat pass, like an electric discharge, and he knew that he could get nothing out of Mudgett while he remained under the malevolent eye of the murderer. He did not attempt to pursue the subject. "Whose cabin is this?" he asked after an interval. "It's new."
"I built it this fall," said Mudgett uneasily. "Figured to trap marten and lynx over the winter."
"All alone?" asked Dexter, who knew that mountain trappers usually worked in pairs.
"No," said Mudgett after a moment's hesitation.
"Is this man here your partner?"
Mudgett shot a furtive glance at the other prisoner, and shook his head. "No," he replied, "I'm working with another man."
"Who?" asked Dexter, eyeing him sharply.
"A fellow named Stark."