The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-03-17

his baggage proving All nghG and ms
| passport not objecfionsble, Scipion was
after some delay permitted to start for
Paris, but still under the suspicion of the
authoritaes that he was not Desxueales, but
Qnentineau. At Rouen, in the railroad
restaurant, he changed Napoleon to buy
a bottle of wine and half chicken As
soon as he reached Paris he took fiacre
and drove to numero 70 Rue de Seine His
modest sign was no longer there, but in
stead of it one of:
"Lamballe, hairdresser and perfumern
| Astounded, he rushed into the little shop.
"Mme. Desruelles," he said, where is
shes'
! The attendant answered, "In America.
| It is four months since she went; at the
| summons of her husbandY'
"At the summons of me-" cried Scipion,
| sitting down abruptly. This Is all q
| dreamr'
| Before he could say another word ser
| geant de vile entered the shop and laid
hands upon him. "You are wanted. Quen-
| tineau."
81 am not Quentineau-I am Desruellesw
shouted the unhappy man, but the officer
Of the law was incredulous, and bore Scip-
ion off to prison.
He was examined on q charge of coming
and Of passing counterfeit Napoleons upon
the cashier of the railroad restaurant at
Rouen, and fully committed for trial as
Quentineau, alias Desruelles, faussaire.
Desruelles employed an able advocate
and laid all the facts before him. 1T is a
mere question Of mistaken identity" said
the lawyer, "and of course there will be no
difficulty in proving who You really area
! boutiQuier of the Rue de Seine, Of twenty
years. standing"
But tho advocate reckoned rather too
hastily. One of the most interesting trials
that ever came of In Paris now ens1ed
The advocate employed by Desruelles was
thoroughly persuaded Of his clients inno-
cence and good character. But the Pro
cureur Imperial was of different opinion.
The case wassent before the court d'assises,
and was tried by the president. A great
number OF Witnesses wsre called, and the
whole question turned upon the identity
OF the prisoner by tho mu6uM agreement
Of parties, for the reason that if the ac-
cslSed were Desrue1les his account of how
he received the gold Nspoaeons admitted
TO be counteskeit) was probable; but if he
were Q0entine&u no defense was possible
Qnensineau was established to be des-
peFate character, who had been several
times convicted Of minor ofenses, such as
smuggling, and was more than suspected
Of being criminal Of much deeper dye-a
connterfeiter and q foreer
The testimony of the customs officers at
HavTe and of the dame du compton at
Roaen was. first taken, and then mass Of
police testimony TO prove that Desrueiles
was unquestionably Quentineau- This
was chiefly from the provinces, Quentineau
having apparently operated very little in
the capital. At the outset the defense ex-
perienced an unexpected difficulty. There
were some hundreds Of witnesses willing
to swear that they knew Desruelles per-
fectly well, but not nearly so many who
were satisfied that the prisoner was that
person. His hardships, his voyages, his
poverty had told upon Desruefles. He was
deeply sunburned, his hair was grizzled,
his hand was hard, his manner nervous
and excited-as little like as possible to the
placid shopkeeper of the Rue de Seine.
PROFESSIONALLY the accused resembled
Desruelles remarkably, and knew as much
about that PERSONS antecedents as if he
were really himself, but then In short,
Desruelles' neighbors were exceedingly
conscientious, and the police exceedingly
positive, and the unfortunate shopkeeper
was convicted of being not himself at all,
but Pierre Quentineau, counterfeiter.
The rebutting testimony adduced by the
advocate general not only convinced the
jury but overwhelmed Desraelles. 1t was
letter which one of his neighbors,
woman, testified she had received from
Desruelles' wife, from New York, that she
and her Scipion were happily accommo-
dated with a shop and a thriving custom
in Broadway in that great cityl Des-
ruelles admitted that the handwriting was
his wife's, but the statement impossible,
for the reason that he was in the Palais de
Justice, and consequently could not be in
New York
Pierre Quentineau, calling himself Sci
pion Ilesraelles, was sentenced to ten
years. close Imprisonment.
The unhappy convict was moved by his
sense of injustice to carry himself with un-
expected dignity. He shed no tears, but
said he felt certain that time would re-
move the evils that now bore upon him so
heavily. He was sent to Brest, and set to
learn the trade of shoemaking. He was
one of the most tractable prisoners ever
confined at the bagnes.
When Scipion mad served out three years
of his sentence an unexpected episode oc-
CURED IN his history. Visitors were an
nounced to Quentineau. He went to the
Office of the prison and found his Mar
Unique cousin, Paehe, and-his wife! He
attempted to throw himself into the arms
of the latter, but was repulsed with severe
4gnity;
1--WE know you are not Quentineau, but
Desruelles,h she said; but there are crimes
charged against Desruelles."
Scipion demanded an explain nation and
his release, but madame was inexorable.
NJ. Pache then told him 10 wait Through
influence and the facts presented by the
Martinique cousin, the court of cessation
had consented to re-examine the question
as to his identity. 'Of course you are Des-
ruelles," said Al. Pache, confidently, land
mean to prove 1T, if it costs me million" !"
After you are shown to be not Quentineau
but Desruefles. it viii be time enough to
60 into madame's grievances.
Desruelles was now brought back To
Paris, and NJ Pache set to work TO estab-
hsh his cousins identity.
The notary he employed suggested that
NJ. Jules Favre be retained as advocate
and that eminent lawyer consented 30 take
the case, but two days later sent q note de |
clinining TO serve on account Of the pressure
of uncomfortable circumstances. Il Plon- !
goalsn was consequently resained
After various delays the eose OF Des- /
ruelles or QuentiAeau wxs again called up, /
this time not before jury, but before the /
first president OF the cosrt Of cessation /
The array Of witnesses was formidable, /
and the testimony Of the raosc conflicting 1