themselves 44.the.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

As the story goes, some girls tending sheep one afternoon in an area in the south of France came upon a strange-looking 13-year-old boy. "His hair was tawny red and thickly matted, falling over his shoulders and completely covering his narrow brow. His small pale grey eyes twinkled with an expression of horrible ferocity and cunning, from deep sunken hollows." He also had strong white teeth that looked like fangs, dark skin, and large hands with pointed black nails. His clothing was in tatters. To the girls, Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire appeared to be starving.

As they gathered around him, he asked them to select among themselves who was the prettiest; he meant to take her as his bride. Introducing himself as the son of a priest, he also told them that he sometimes wore a wolf-skin cape that changed him into a wolf for an hour at dusk three times a week, whereupon he romped over the countryside with a gang of nine others. His preferred meal, he stated, was little girls like themselves. This confession caused the girls to run away.

His name was Jean and he'd tell girls he met that he'd sold himself to the devil. He often described the victims he'd already attacked and eaten. Since several girls from the village had indeed disappeared, their families began to wonder if these fanciful stories were true. Their concerns urged the authorities to investigate.