Harriman's book). I stayed on for a couple of weeks, doing research for this novel. Among other things, I discovered that Ruth Lillian and Mr. Marx were buried in the oldest of Seattle's cemeteries, one that now serves only as an out-of-the-way 'green zone' where old people and lovers occasionally stroll. An examination of the cemetery's records revealed B. J. Stone's name… but no Matthew Dubchek. I need not say how disappointed I was, for I had imagined myself standing beside his grave, silently reviewing all that had happened in Twenty-Mile so long ago.
Having decided there was no point in visiting the burying ground since Matthew wasn't there, I was sitting in my hotel room with a couple of hours before my flight back to my home in France, when a sudden impulse caused me to go down and get a cab for the cemetery after all, hoping its gates would still be open, for it was almost evening.
I walked down the central path between trees dripping with the regular, gentle rain that is Seattle, and at length I came to the Marx-Kane plot, with a wrought-iron fence enclosing sufficient space for the children and grandchildren the Marxes never had. Ruth Lillian's stone stood beside her husband's, both weighty bourgeois statements in polished black marble. In one corner of the plot I found B. J.'s monument: BENJAMIN JOSEPH STONE DIED NOVEMBER 6, 1917
A BELOVED COMPANION ON THE BRIEF JOURNEY
So Ruth Lillian had remembered the words B. J. had painfully, clumsily inscribed on Coots's wooden marker. How like her. It was comforting to know that although he lay half a continent away from his Coots, B. J. was at least with family.
But it was in the opposite corner of the plot that I found what thrilled the sentimental man in me. No wonder I hadn't found 'Matthew Dubchek' in the cemetery records!
The stone is rough-hewn Rocky Mountain granite. The epitaph Ruth Lillian had inscribed must surely arouse the curiosity of passersby, but it would have pleased Matthew greatly: 1880-1943
THE RINGO KID
Characters in INCIDENT AT TWENTY-MILE
(in order of appearance)
From the author's working biographies
Pedersen, Niels, Carpenter, later Last Citizen of Destiny and Collector of Stories. b: Destiny, Wyoming, 1888; d: Destiny, Wyoming, 1976.
Tillman, John Arthur 'B B,' Prison Guard. b: Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1875; d: Laramie, Wyoming, 1898.
Davidson, Lawrence ('The Acid-Thrower'), Chastizer of Children. b: Glens Falls, New York, 1838; d: State Penitentiary, Rawlings, Wyoming, 1909.
Childs, Elmer William ('The Politician'), b: Leeds, Yorkshire (date unknown); d: State Penitentiary, Rawlings, Wyoming, 1903.
Wheelwright, James ('The Spook'), Punisher of Prostitutes, later Producer of Slapstick Film Comedies. b: Evanston, Illinois, 1851; d: Hollywood, California, 1926.
Lieder, Hamilton Adams, Patriot. b: farm near Tie Siding, Wyoming, 1858; d: Twenty-Mile, Wyoming, 1898.
Quincy, Alphonse Xavier ('The Warrior'), Writer of fantastic hate-propaganda, Spent most of his life in institutions. b: Montreal, Canada, 1832; d: Poughkeepsie, New York, 1889.
Delanny, Henry Evans, Gambler. b: Macon, Georgia, 1856; d: Twenty-Mile, Wyoming, 1898.
Bjorkvist, Olga, Owner of an eating house. b: Töcksfors, Sweden, 1852; d: Fremont, California, 1928.
Kane, David, Merchant. b: Dortmund, Westphalia, 1841; d: Twenty-Mile, Wyoming, 1898.
Kane, Ruth Lillian (Marx), Merchant. Daughter of David and Kathleen. b: Blair, Nebraska, 1881; d. Seattle, Washington, 1963.
Stone, Benjamin Joseph, Teacher, later Livery man, later Business Manager. b: Boston, Massachusetts, 1839; d: Seattle, Washington, 1917.
Coots, Aaron, Soldier, Gunfighter, Livery man. b: Cateechee, South Carolina, 1841; d: Twenty-Mile, Wyoming, 1898.
Dubchek, Matthew, Odd-Job Man, briefly Marshal. b: Tarkio, Missouri, 1880; d: Seattle, Washington, 1943.
Chumms, Anthony Bradford, Pseudonym of Lewis W. Milford, Social Critic and clandestine Writer of pulp Westerns. b: Ramsden Heath, Essex, 1858; d: Binder, Somerset, 1951.
Murphy, Francis ('Professor'), Barber. b: Worcester, Massachusetts, 1858; date and place of death unknown.
Calder, Jefferson M., Soldier, Bartender, Odd-Job Man. b: Cairo, Illinois, 1839; date and place of death unknown.
Bjorkvist, Sven, Husband of Olga. b: Töcksfors, Sweden, 1849; d: Fremont, California, 1922.
Bjorkvist, Kersti ('Goldy'), Daughter of Olga and Sven, later Prostitute. b: Töcksfors, Sweden, 1876; date and place of death unknown.
Bjorkvist, Oskar, Son of Olga and Sven. b: What Cheer, Iowa, 1882; date and place of death unknown.
Callahan, Bridget Mary ('Queeny'), Entertainer, later Prostitute. b: Trenton, New Jersey, 1837; date and place of death unknown.
Courbin, Marie-ThГ©rГЁse ('Frenchy'), Prostitute, later Entremetteuse. b: Goudeau, Louisiana, 1859; date and place of death unknown.
Tchang, (first name unregistered) ('Chinky'), Prostitute. b: Zhe-jiang Province, 1878; date and place of death unknown.
Kane, Samuel, Father of David, Tailor, later Small Entrepreneur. b: Dortmund, Westphalia, 1810; d: New York, New York, 1854.
Kane, Sarah, Wife of Samuel, Mother of David. b: Dortmund, Westphalia, 1814; d: New York, New York, 1854.
Pike, Barnaby, Yankee Drummer, early Mentor of David Kane. Date and place of birth unknown; d: South Dayton, New York.
Hibbard, Leroy, Preacher, later Apocalyptic Prophet. b: Ellsworth, Maine, 1858; d: Richmond, California, 1919.
Tillman, Mary Elizabeth, Widow of John, later Christian Missionary. b: West Florence, Ohio, 1881; d: Gansu Province, China, 1939.
Milford, Stanley ('Tiny'), Date and place of birth unknown; d: Twenty-Mile, Wyoming, 1898.
Mabois, Robert ('Bobby-My-Boy'), Date and place of birth unknown; d: Twenty-Mile, Wyoming, 1898.
Kerry, Gerald ('Doc'), Mining Technician. b: Latham, Tennessee, 1849; d: Dawson, Yukon Territory, 1903.
White, Roger ('Razz'), Miner; Clown of the mine crew. Date and place of birth and death unknown.
Benson, Luke and Bradford, School Bullies. b: Bushnell, Nebraska. Dates and places of birth and death unknown.
Pickering, Mary Ellis (Montgomery), Schoolmistress, later Wife of L. Montgomery. Date and place of birth and death unknown.
Montgomery, Lawrence, Examiner of Schools, adept at handling boys. Date and place of birth and death unknown.
Bowles, T. W., Farmer; neighbor who discovered Mr. and Mrs. Dubchek and gave vivid report to the Nebraska Plainsman. Date and place of birth and death unknown.
Ballard, Edgar Mather, Schoolmaster. b: New Haven, Connecticut, 1831; d: Tie Siding, Wyoming, 1898.
Sklodowska, Angelica, Casual Victim. b: Tie Siding, Wyoming, 1859; d: Tie Siding, Wyoming, 1898.
Kane, Kathleen (nГ©e Evans), Wife of David, Mother of Ruth Lillian. b: Troy, New York, 1859; date and place of death unknown.
Bradford, Chester, briefly Marshal of Twenty-Mile, briefly Lover of Kathleen Kane. Date and place of birth and
