Fiddletown is a small settlement in California, near the coast and principally engaged in supplying the needs of the mining community. The story is about a woman who has lived in the town for some while and who is considered (by the gentlemen at least) to be a great beauty. She appears to be having some kind of liaison with a certain Colonel Starbottle and the description of a clandestine meeting is given near the beginning of the novel.