Hard-Working Constable

In the little Gironde town of Cenon, where Communists are particularly strong, Town Constable Charles Magne reported to the mayor one day: "Monsieur le Maire, I have the honor to inform you that disorderly elements have been busy last night defacing our fair city with unsightly inscriptions." Sure enough, the decent walls of Cenon were plastered with such discourteous signs as "U.S. Go Home" and "Ridgway--Assassin." Said Mayor Rene Cassagne: "I hereby order you to take a bucket of whitewash and efface these inscriptions." Constable Magne blotted out the signs--but next morning there were more of them.

The game went on, signs by night, whitewash by day, until one evening a couple of gendarmes guarding the railroad bridge challenged a shadowy figure, gave chase, and ran him down. It was Town Constable Magne. Said he with quick resourcefulness: "I have a rendezvous with a lady. As a man of honor I cannot divulge her name." But Gallic chivalry could not conceal the paintbrush and paint bucket Magne was holding. Charged with being a whitewashing police officer by day and a paint-slapping Communist by night, Constable Magne was fired last week.

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