Again Caviglioli

Tourists in Corsica this summer have wanted to see the birthplaces of those two native sons, Napoleon Bonaparte and Paris' Chief of Police Jean Chiappe; they have wanted to see the mountains and the peasant dances and a flock of wild mouflon* and then they have wanted to see a real Corsican bandit.

Hotel proprietors smiled patronizingly, assured their guests that there were no more bandits in Corsica, "not since the great Romanetti was shot." Porters and humble shopkeepers were not so sure. "There is always Caviglioli," they muttered. Nobody had seen Caviglioli, nobody would say what he looked like. As the season progressed French thrill-seekers from the mainland/- decided that Caviglioli the Bandit was a myth. Last week Caviglioli the Bandit appeared where the tourists were thickest, at the new Corsican resort of Guagno les Bains. Caviglioli turned out to be a squat, middle-aged fellow with a weather-beaten face, two pistols in his belt and two nephews, similarly armed, at his elbows. They appeared first at the Grand Hotel. The proprietor made no resistance but sent a frightened chambermaid scurrying from room to room to warn the guests to lock their doors and window shutters, stay inside.

Curiosity was too much for one guest, a wealthy garage keeper from Ajaccio. Like a cuckoo in a clock he flung wide his shutters, popped out his head, shrilly screamed for help. One pistol cracked. Ajaccio's cuckoo dropped with a bullet through the heart.

All in all it was a successful day for les Caviglioli. From the Grand Hotel they went on to the Continental, where they collected $200. They then called at the Hotel Costa (stopping en route to pluck $120 from the owner of a seaside villa) and demanded $160. The Costa's proprietor did not have that much in his till, but he helped the Cavigliolis collect it from the guests. By now it was getting late. Caviglioli & nephews retreated to the mountains but their luck still held. On the way back they met a party of motorists enjoying a basket picnic. The Cavigliolis collected watches, jewelry, money and the picnic basket.

*Big-horned, red-brown mountain sheep indigenous to Corsica and Sardinia.

/-Though most of the inhabitants speak bastard Italian, Corsica is not a colony or a dependence but a full Department of France. It sends Senators and Deputies to Paris.

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