Note 13 — Studying The Short-Story

Author’s Note.—Corporals were formerly the chief officers of the Corsican communes after they had rebelled against their feudal lords. To-day they still occasionally give the name to a man who—because of his property, his relationships, and his business—commands a certain influence, and a sort of effective magistracy over a parish or a canton. The Corsicans divide themselves, after ancient custom, into five castes: gentlemen (of whom some, magnifiques, are of higher estate, and some of lower, signori), corporals, citizens, plebeians, and foreigners.