faced individual who had something to do with
one of the hotels, and the third was a tall man, past middle age, with a
clean shaven, hawk face, a piercing, haughty, black eye, and iron gray
hair. He was carefully and flawlessly dressed in a gray furred "plug"
hat, tailed blue coat with brass buttons, a buff waistcoat, trousers of
the same shade, and a frilled shirt front. Immaculate down to within six
inches or so of the ground, his nether garments and boots were coated
thickly with the inevitable red dust. He strode slowly down the street,
looking neither to right nor left.

Don Gaspar led the way for a short distance along the wagon road. On the
outskirts of the settlement he turned aside to a small log cabin
supplemented by a brush lean-to. A long string of bright red peppers
hung down the face of it. To our knock came a very fat, rather dirty,
but exceedingly pleasant-faced woman with glossy black hair, parted
smoothly, and soft black eyes. She opened the door only the fraction of
an inch at first, but instantly recognized Don Gaspar, and threw it
wide.

To our great relief we found Yank very much alive. He greeted us rather
feebly, but with satisfaction. We found that he had been kindly cared
for, and that the surface wounds and bruises from the horses' hoofs had
been treated with some skill.

"But I reckon I'm hurt some inside," he whispered with difficulty, "for
I can't breathe easy; and I can't eat nothin' but soup. And my leg is
hell."

The broken leg too had been bound up after a fashion, but it was badly
swollen above and below the bandages.

"He ought to have a doctor," said I positively. "There's no doubt of
that. There must be some among the miners--there generally is. I'm going
to see if I can find one."

I returned to town, and hunted up the beefy, red-faced hotel keeper, who
had impressed me as being an honest man.

"Yes, there's a doctor," said he, "a mighty good one. He went by here a
little while ago. Name's Dr. Rankin. I'll rustle him out for you. Oh,
you Pete!" he shouted into the interior of the building.

A moment's shuffling about preceded the appearance of a negro boy of
twelve or fourteen.

"Yes, sah."

"Go find Dr. Rankin and bring him here right away. Tell him a gentleman
wants him."

"You've got a mighty sudden sort of camp here," said I, as we settled
ourselves to wait. "Three months ago I went through here, and there was
practically nothing."

"Looks to be a thousand year