Meaning of もひとり at the start of a sentence


Two kids enter a classroom and see a stranger sat at the desk of one of them.
The one whose desk it is starts crying:

> そしてその机といったらまったくこの泣いた子の自分の机だったのです。 **もひとりの子ももう半分泣きかけていました** が、...  
>  For that desk was indeed this crying child's own desk. ??? child was
> already halfway to starting to cry.

I'm confused by もひとり which I can't find in a dictionary. I had two thoughts:

1) Maybe もひとりの子 means 'the other child' but I can't find もひとり in a dictionary.

2) Maybe も is just a conjunction with the previous sentence. Earlier on I saw
が at the start of a sentence, so it wouldn't surprise me. But if it is just
も、ひとりの子 then I would read it as "Also, one child was about to cry", but that's
a weird thing to say. We already know that one child is crying, so it surely
isn't referring to that child. In English you would say "the other child" (of
the original two kids) or "one of the other children" (of the original two
plus the stranger). Maybe the Japanese don't make this distinction because
they think it's obvious.

Is either of my guesses correct?




もひとり is a colloquial, contracted pronunciation of もう[一人]{ひとり}. You're right
that もひとりの子 means 'the other child'.

Similar examples:

もう[一]{ひと}つ → もひとつ  
もう[一回]{いっかい} → もっかい  
もう[少]{すこ}し → もすこし




もひとり is a colloquial, contracted pronunciation of もう[一人]{ひとり}. You're right
that もひとりの子 means 'the other child'.

Similar examples:

もう[一]{ひと}つ → もひとつ  
もう[一回]{いっかい} → もっかい  
もう[少]{すこ}し → もすこし

