Roman Bandits — The Count of Monte Cristo

Franz wakes first and rings for Signor Pastrini. The landlord arrives grinning. He has found a carriage for Carnival, but he warns the young men not to drive outside Rome's walls at night. The famous bandit Luigi Vampa controls the roads near the Colosseum. Albert laughs and talks about capturing Vampa for glory. Franz listens more carefully.

After dinner Pastrini sits down to tell them who Vampa really is. The bandit chief was once a shepherd boy named Luigi who taught himself to read and shoot. He loved a girl named Teresa. Pastrini also tells darker stories about older outlaws like Cucumetto. When Cucumetto seized a girl named Rita, her lover Carlini begged for mercy, then killed Rita himself rather than let the band share her. The bandits respected that terrible act.

Luigi and Teresa grew up tending flocks together. When soldiers hunted Cucumetto, Luigi hid him in a cave and refused reward money. At the Count of San-Felice's masked ball Teresa danced with noblemen and wished for a rich girl's dress. Jealous Luigi led her away. That night he set fire to the villa, stole jewels and clothes, and shot Cucumetto when the bandit tried to carry Teresa off. Dressed in stolen finery, Luigi walked into the mountains and asked the bandits to make him their new chief.

In Pastrini's tale, a lost traveller once paid Luigi with two gold coins and called himself Sinbad the Sailor. Franz startles at the name of his island host. Pastrini says Vampa still rules the countryside and names his ransom prices in cold detail. When the coach is ready, Albert still wants romance and danger. Franz orders the driver to take the city streets instead of the risky outer road. They roll toward the Colosseum with the bandit's story ringing in Franz's ears.

Pastrini does not rush the warning. He sits after dinner and builds Vampa from a shepherd boy who taught himself to read and to shoot, and who loved Teresa while they watched the same flocks. The older tales come first, so the young men will not mistake the roads for a romance. Cucumetto's band once seized a girl named Rita. Her lover Carlini begged, then killed her himself rather than let the band share her. The outlaws called that courage. Franz hears the moral before he hears the hero.

Luigi's own rise is a masked ball and a fire. Teresa dances with noblemen at the Count of San-Felice's house and wants a rich girl's dress. Jealous Luigi leads her away. That night the villa burns, jewels and clothes leave with the lovers, and Cucumetto dies when he tries to carry Teresa off. Dressed in stolen finery, Luigi walks into the mountains and asks the band to make him chief. The shepherd who hid Cucumetto from soldiers, and who refused the reward, now wears the dead man's authority.

The name that makes Franz startle is small inside the tale. A lost traveller once paid Luigi two gold coins and called himself Sinbad the Sailor. Pastrini tells it as gossip. Franz hears it as the island. Vampa still prices ransoms in cold numbers, and the carriage is ready while Albert still wants glory. Franz orders the driver onto the city streets. They roll toward the Colosseum with a bandit's biography in their ears and a host Franz has already met under another name.

Albert still hears a story he can join. Capture the famous chief, win a name, treat the Campagna as a stage. Franz hears a price list. Vampa does not haunt the roads as a legend Pastrini invented to keep rich boys indoors. He learned letters, he learned a gun, he took a woman out of a burning villa, and he shot the man who had ruled the band before him. The two gold coins from Sinbad sit inside that career like a receipt. Franz has already sat at that man's table under a blindfold. Refusing the outer road is the first decision in Rome that belongs to fear rather than to fun, and Albert does not thank him for it.

Pastrini grins because he has done his job. A carriage exists. A warning exists. The rest is the guests' pride. He names the countryside as Vampa's estate and the walls of Rome as the only honest border after dark. Franz believes him because the island already taught him that a charming host can be a chief. Albert believes the part he can boast about later. The chapter leaves them rolling toward ruins with two different books in their heads: one a romance of capture, the other a memory of blindfolds, gold coins, and a sailor's name spoken in an innkeeper's tale. Franz has already decided he will not feed Albert's glory by driving into Vampa's country after dark.