It is uncertain when we shall return to the inn, but get
something savoury for us against we come back," and he waved his hand
towards his host, who doffed his cap and walked towards his inn, while
our two friends set off together in the direction of the Henker's house,
which they reached in about an hour. "Yes," said Fritz, "this is the place. I remember it well. What did our
host tell us? That the murder took place only a few paces from the
headsman's door. Let us look well round the spot. How solitary it is! Just the place where a murder would be committed. What do you say to yon
hollow flanked with brushwood, Ludwig? Is it not a likely place for a
murderer to await his victim?" "You are right, Fritz, let us make a strict search, but if the head has
been carried far distant----"

"Let us, nevertheless, search well here first," said my ancestor, and
the two friends set to work at once, lifting up every bush and bramble,
following every track, until finally they came upon some blood stains. An old dried well they discovered not far from this spot. Common sense
would have suggested this as a likely place for the concealment of the
missing head, and there is no doubt that the same idea struck the
inhabitants of ----dorf, for there was evident traces of a great number
of feet in the sand round about it; besides which there was a chip
recently made in the brickwork, which appeared caused by the letting
down of a rope or chain. This seemed evidence enough for our two friends that the well had
already been searched, and without effect. Further search in that
direction appeared to them to be useless, especially as no bloodstains
were to be found near. They then proceeded to examine more closely than ever the bushes around,
stamping on the ground to ascertain if a hole had recently been made,
but the ground was firm, and there was nothing to attract suspicion save
a few bloodstains, which, instead of leading up to the well as one would
have imagined, led up to the foot of an old chestnut-tree, and there
seemed to end. On examining the bark of the tree attentively they observed blood also
on the trunk, but this might have been occasioned by the splashing of
the blood from the neck after the decapitation of the head. There was no
hollow visible in the tree where suspicion would lead one to suppose
that the head could be concealed; nevertheless, when men make up their
minds to make a rigid search, they often pry into the most unlikely and
impossible places, so our friends determined to ascend the tree to
ascertain if by any chance the head could have lodged between its leafy
branches. Previous to mounting, Ludwig, who, together with his friend, had
provided himself with a long branch wherewith to beat down the bushes,
struck the chestnut-tree a blow on the trunk with the branch he carried,
when a hollow sound proceeded from the tree, and instantly a large owl
fluttered out from the foliage before their faces with its beak and
plumage stained with blood. Blinded with the sunlight, it hovered
distractedly hither and thither for a time, and then vanished with a
screech. "Did you notice the beak and feathers of the bird, Ludwig?" asked Fritz. "I did," said Ludwig, "and what is more, I am convinced that the whole
of this seemingly robust chestnut-tree is hollow, and I have not a doubt
that the murderer, aware of the fact, has hidden the head of his victim
at the bottom, and that this fell bird has been gorging itself and its
young upon it ever since." "That is just my opinion," said Fritz. "Let us climb the tree and look
within." My ancestor was the first to mount, and having arrived at the point
where the trunk divides itself into branches, he discovered a large hole
thickly covered over with leaves. Sitting upon the edge, with his legs
dangling within the hollow trunk, he proceeded to strike a light, and
having ignited a taper, he commenced carefully to descend into the
hollow of the tree. In his descent, however, his foot slipped, his taper
extinguished itself, and he came down rather suddenly upon his feet. He
soon became aware from a feeble smothered shriek that he was treading
upon a nest of young owlets. He began to dread lest he might encounter some venemous reptile in this
unexplored region, but taking courage he struck another light and
searched about. He had not looked long when he discovered what appeared
to be a human scalp. He grasped it firmly by the hair, and by the light
of his taper soon knew it to be in reality the head of a man, one half
of which had been already eaten away to the bone. "Eureka!" exclaimed Fritz, "I have it." His friend uttered an exclamation of delight, while my relative
clambered up again, and the two friends examined the disgusting treasure
under the fair light of day. "You see the hair is black," said Fritz. "I hope you are satisfied now
that this is not the head of the Scharfrichter." "There is no doubt about that now, I think," said Ludwig. "And do you
know, Fritz, now that I scan these features, they seem familiar to me as
my own in the looking-glass. Himmel! Can it be possible!" "What?" demanded my ancestor, anxiously. "Why, I'll swear that this is no other than my old friend and
fellow-student, the Count of Waffenburg!" exclaimed Engstein. "What! Graf von Waffenburg! Is it really so? I knew him well. Let me
examine the features," said Fritz. "Yes, it is he beyond a doubt," said Ludwig. "We had a quarrel once, and
I wounded him in the cheek. Here is the wound I myself inflicted; but
afterwards we became staunch friends." "True," said Fritz. "I remember the duel well, being present myself on
the occasion. What a curious coincidence! It is certainly he, and no
other. The more I look at the features the more satisfied I am. Let us
hasten with this proof of the identity of the murdered man to the
township and spread abroad the news of the murder of the count. His
relations will then come to claim his body." The two friends then made a covering of chestnut leaves for the head,
and tying it up in a handkerchief, retraced their steps towards the
township, discoursing on the cunning of the murderer, who appeared to
them to be no other than the Scharfrichter himself. "For when a body is found minus the head," argued Ludwig, "and dressed
in the clothes of another man, and that other man is nowhere to be
found, it follows as a matter of course that the man missing must be the
murderer." "Yes," said the Englishman, "unless the murdered man had previously
stolen the clothes of another, and then afterwards been murdered by some
unknown assassin." "But when the deceased has been proved beyond a doubt to be the Graf von
Waffenburg, a man whose name is above so ridiculous a suspicion," said
Engstein. "Oh, of course the blackest suspicion attaches itself to Wenzel," said
Fritz; "yet, in the case of a mysterious murder, evidence, occasionally
of so startling and unexpected a nature, turns up as to completely alter
the state of the case.