Toppy was notoriously careless in his personal grooming, but the little half-breed had evidently inspired a coat of whitewash for the cabin, that endured longer than the sentiment with which its owner had inspired that swarthy little traitress. Possibly that gleaming white cabin was her monument--who knows? The river ran dangerously and temptingly near, considering how short a time it takes to fall a few hundred feet down a steep and rocky hillside, and rumor whispered that Pepita--well, no one knew where she was, and women were not so plentiful in the Tuolumne valley that hiding was easy. But the Tuolumne kept its secret well, if secret there was. Its quick-sands told no tales. They could hide the precious gold of the river bottom; why not a mouldering skeleton? On entering Toppy’s cabin, completely winded after my climb up the hill that constituted his front yard, I found my new patient lying on a cot in the middle of the room. He turned inquiringly toward the door as his host and I entered, and what was my amazement to see reflected in the dim light of the candle with which the cabin was illuminated, the features of the handsome unknown of the San Francisco gambling-house, whose adventure with the unfortunate young southerner I have already related. The recognition was evidently mutual, but I fancied that my patient looked at me with an expression slightly suggestive of annoyance. Toppy’s introduction was laconic, and as characteristic as was he himself: “Doc, this is Jim--Jim, this yer’s Doc Weymouth, an’ he’s all right, y’u bet, ’specially on bullets an’ sich things.” I was used to California customs, hence the cognomen, “Jim” was sufficiently comprehensive and perfectly satisfactory to me, and after the brief introduction that my miner friend gave me, I proceeded to investigate the case. As Toppy had already informed me of the circumstances that led to the reception of my patient’s wound, I made no inquiry in that direction. I found also, that Toppy was correct as to the location of the injury--as he had said, the ball had entered his friend’s thigh. The wound had been inflicted several days before I saw my patient, and would probably have healed promptly enough if it had not been for the weary ride he had taken immediately after the shooting---he had come to Jacksonville on horse back. The result of the necessary movement in the saddle, together with the hot sun and dust of the roads, had been to produce considerable inflammation of the injured part. I presume that nowadays the surgeon would seek for no other cause than germ infection for such a condition as followed the wound which my patient had received--but at that time things were different; the various sources of irritation to which he had been exposed were a reasonable explanation of the state in which I found his wound.