Here in Germany the son of a headsman is bound by law to
adopt the profession of his father, and should the executioner have a
daughter instead of a son, in that case, the man who marries his
daughter is bound to be headsman. Then the Scharfrichter is obliged to
build his house a mile away from other men, for he is a being hated and
shunned by everyone." "This then is the reason of your solitude?" "It is; and so far is this superstitious fear of contamination carried
in this country, that your citizen considers himself defiled if by
chance he has eaten out of the same plate that a headsman has once used. Accordingly all vendors of crockery have orders to knock a chip out of
every earthen vessel that they sell to the headsman." "Dear me!" exclaimed my ancestor, "what a peculiar custom! I never heard
that before. I certainly did remark that your crockery was in a most
dilapidated state, but I didn't consider the remark worth making,
although more than once in the course of the evening I felt inclined to
ask you how on earth you contrived to knock out chips of such a peculiar
shape by mere accident." "Ah!" sighed the headsman, "what between the crockery-seller and----"

Here he put his finger to his lip and looked round the room
suspiciously. "What is the matter?" asked the student. "Hush!" said the headsman, "it isn't always safe to talk of mischievous
people--they are apt to appear. You know the saying, 'Talk of the
devil.'" "Well," said my ancestor, "but what has that to do with your broken
crockery?" "Hush!" answered his host, looking round him half-timidly; then
whispered, "I have a certain mischievous lodger that does my crockery
more harm than either the crockery-seller or my boy upstairs when he's
fractious." "Ah!" exclaimed the traveller in surprise, "you have a lodger in your
house?" "Ay!--a lodger who never pays his rent, and who drives me to my wit's
end by shying my crockery at my head. Look here, what a cut he gave my
wrist once in one of his pranks. I shall bear this mark to my grave." So
saying, he bared his wrist and displayed a deep, livid wound, long since
healed, but which left behind a scar which nothing could efface. "An ugly cut, to be sure," remarked the Englishman. "But why on earth do
you not get rid of so playful a lodger?" "Get rid of him! I only wish the devil I could. He comes here uninvited
and---- But let us not talk of him, or he may pay us another of his
pleasant visits, when you will be able to make his acquaintance. He
never stands upon ceremony, but comes just whenever he likes. He may be
in the room now, for what I know. I shall be off to bed." My ancestor gazed round the room, vainly endeavouring to discover in
some hidden nook the object of his host's terror, when, marvellous to
relate! a dish on the top shelf was pitched, as if by some invisible
hand, from its post, and shattered into pieces against the opposite
wall, nearly hitting him on the head as it passed. The traveller stared first at the shelf, then at his host, and turned
pale. "Good Heavens!" he cried. "What was that?" "What was it? Ay! You may well ask what it is," answered his host,
peevishly. "What in the devil's name should it be but that pest of a
'Poltergeist' again. I told you you would make his acquaintance ere
long." "A what?--a '_Poltergeist_'?" "Ay, Poltergeist--a malignant spirit, whose chief delight seems to be to
strike terror into the house of a poor honest headsman, and smash all
his crockery that he has to pay for out of his hard-earned wages." "Holy Virgin!" ejaculated my ancestor, crossing himself (for he was a
good Catholic). "A malignant spirit! Saints protect us!" But the words were hardly out of his mouth when crash! went another
plate upon the floor, just grazing his host's auburn head as it passed. "Oh! come now, my fine fellow," said our host, in a tone of mild
remonstrance; "a little of that goes a long way." Then turning to his guest, he remarked:

"I wonder why he honours me especially with his visits, and not other
people. I shouldn't wonder if he is someone that I have had the honour
of decapitating, and he comes to pay me an occasional visit in order to
impress upon me that he hasn't forgotten the little service I did him." A large pointed knife that lay peacefully on the table was then suddenly
and powerfully thrown from the traveller's side, and remained with the
point sticking in the panel of the door opposite. "Ho! ho!" cried the headsman; "this is getting warm work. Now, my
good friend, do let me entreat you to be more moderate in your
manifestations, and if you are quiet, to-morrow I will send you a
companion." This promise, so far from quieting our spiritual guest, seemed to
infuriate him more than ever, for the bottle of schnaps, more than half
full, was now raised in the air and dashed to pieces on the table, the
candle being overturned at the same time, and falling flame downwards on
to the spirit spilt on the table, it ignited, and in a moment everything
was in a blaze. "Fire! Fire!" cried the headsman, in a voice that roused up his wife and
child, who came tumbling downstairs in no time, to learn what was the
matter. There is no knowing what mischief might not have taken place had not my
ancestor, with great presence of mind, snatched up his damp clothes from
before the fire, and succeeded in extinguishing the flame. "What _is_ the matter, Franz?" exclaimed our host's better half,
appearing at the door just as matters were being set to rights again. "Oh, nothing," said her fond spouse, "only that d----d Poltergeist
again, who seems bent upon burning us all in our beds before he has done
with us." "Hush!" said his wife, "don't swear, or he may do as you say in real
earnest. Come to bed now, or to-morrow you won't be able to get up in
time. Remember----"

"Ah, true; I must have my night's rest, as it would not do for my hand
to tremble to-morrow when I mount the scaffold. _Gute nacht, mein
Herr._"

And our worthy host followed his partner out of the room, leaving my
ancestor to his reflections. "Well," soliloquised my relative, "of all the strange adventures that
ever occurred to me, this beats all. Oh! there is not the slightest
doubt that what I have just witnessed is the work of the infernal
powers--some diabolical agency.