Rocky Ford enterprise., 1906-11-30
[l2 lXI INIQlX

mihd presents one OF the most inter
csung cases In the history Of crime.
The fIrriess energy. the patient yisi-
lance the daring genius. and the phe-
nomenal cunning of Deneau, In com
batting with his powerful and secret
Toe. Ills analysis of the most Intricate
problems. his bold deductions and dar.
ins mahoeuSres. had surely won. had
MS object been within reach Of human
methods. His clues were a marvel Of
exneIncAs.
| victor Dcneau sat In his room Mt the
'bald Eagle" a small hotel In Pine
Bun. a thriving town located among
tho mountains Of Tennessee. He di.
rtded his time between Chattanooga
and Pine Blum. both being situated up.
on tho banks of the river. and sepa.
rated by distance Of some thirty
miles.
| On tho opposite bank Of the river
from Dead Mans Cave. and hanging
TO the side OF the great ridge. was tho
hut Of uga. the Indian.
The Bald Eagle" was . hos,ciry
which enjoyed an uncnviabic rcputn.
ton. II hnsin. been tho scene Of ma,
ntroelouS crimes and the home Of
many plots. Tho bnildin. was large
frame Struciurc. with the main en-.
tfaacc opcnin. directly upon tho
street. and over the doorway Of which
n stuffed eagle. with ou,strctchcd
wings. was pcrchcd.
Victor Dcncau knew the character Of
this house. but Il suited his purpose:
and as i's location was favorable TO
his plans. he had without asking any
questions made his temporary home
within. Dcncau was not n man to be
driven from his plans by tho knowi.
edge that he would be compelled to
come In contact with men of "noc.
turnai professions"
The table In front Of him was liter.
ally covered with documents. letters
and maps. and numerous newspaper
clippings. pasted upon sheets OF white
paper. These showed exact crcascs.
Indicating that they had been care.
fully folded together. and save for
slight discolorations. were well pre-.
served. A lamp sat In the center of
thin tnbfe. and by Its feeble light
Dcncau was carefully reading one pa.
per after another. and. ms each was I'm.
ishcd. Il was rcfoldcd and placed In
order Mt his side.
In giving description OF Dcncau.
II need only be said. that he was
compound being. made up from
French. Hebraic and Italian types of
humanity. Though he. as his name
would indicate. was Frcnchmnn. he.
nevertheless displayed Semitic and
Italian traits. which were indeed very
misleading.
'All things come to him who waits"
was one of Dencau's favorite expires.
sions. He never jumped at Ionclu-
sions. but calculated the minutest de-
tails OF his plans with striking pre-.
| cision. He was man Of extraordi.
nary daring. and his views OF life were
composite. He might be n Roman
Catholic. n Unitarian. n Swedenbor-
gian. or a NoHeliist. but was pro-
nouncedly an Anti.Credulist. His
origin could never be traced. but he
was probably the Offspring of IN un.
fortunate accident.
The first recollection he had was not
n vesy agreeable one. He found him.
self in the care OF an old hag. who.
| when he was ten years old. carried
him to n great newspaper establish.
ment, and handing him few small
coins. told him to buy a certain num-
Der Of papers. This done. she led him
back into the street, and said:
Each morning. brat, you can go and
buy more papers; now, take those
you have, and scream out until they
are sold. But, listen. boy. take care
of your money. for you will need It,"
and with this she was gone.
Fifteen years later. Paris was agog
with the excitement attending one of
the most hideous murders that had
ever been committed within the linn
Its of the city. Large rewards were
offered, but no clue to the perpetra-
tor of the deed could be found. until,
on a certain morning. when the police
had almost given up In despair, a dark
visaged young man made his appear
ance at the Chiefs office. and said he
would produce the culprit for the re-
wards.
Ihe Chief followed the young man
to an obscure quarter Of the city, and
found the murderer bound to the floor
of small room In the third story OF
dilapidated building. The prisoner
confessed his guilt in the presence of
tho officer, and Deneau received his
reward.
Soon after this. a desperate villain,
named La Hardy came upon the scene.
whose crimes were as varied as they
were atrocious, and who had for many
years perpetrated his deeds with i'm
punity. He was called by his asso-
ciates The Invulnerable," on account
Of his hair-breadth escapes. He had
broken all laws, under the very noses
of the gerdarmes and made good his.
escape.