torture was applied to him. For a long time he
held out; but after three applications of the
torture—after the boots had been applied to his
legs and the thumbscrews to his fingers, his
fortitude gave way, and in scarce audible accents he
confessed his guilt, and described the place
beneath the flooring of his workshop, where, in
its iron casket, the great Schweinsfleisch diamond
was to be found. The fury of Ludwig Adolf
was still further heightened, when, commanding
Jochabad Spass to be brought before him in order
that he too, as with grim facetiousness, he
expressed it, might make " a journey to Osnaburg,"
he was informed that the long journeyman had
escaped. How he managed it was never known,
but from that day Jochabad Spass was never
seen in Schweinhundhausen.

Another detachment of halberdiers, accompanied
by the high chamberlain, was despatched
with chisels and sledge-hammers to the Judengasse,
and during their absence restoratives were
forced down the throat of Abimelech Ben Azi,
who remained still bound to the arm-chair,
Ludwig Adolf glaring upon him like a boa-constrictor
upon a rabbit.

In half an hour's time the messengers
returned with an iron casket, which with their
united strength they had not been able to
break open. The deplorable Court Jew,
however, made signs that the key would be found
hung round his neck. Search being made, this
proved to be the case, and at length the long
ravished gem was placed in the hands of Ludwig
the Terrible.

I have heard that the tyrant kissed it, and
fondled it, and called it by endearing names;
then, that, taking the true diamond in one hand
and the false one in the other, he thrust each
alternately beneath the nose of his captive, crying,
"Smell it, Mr. Court Jew, smell it." I have
heard that all the tortures the wretched creature
had already undergone were repeated over and
over again in sheer wantonness; that the false
diamond was heated in a brazier, and, held
between pincers, forced into the prisoner's naked
flesh. His screams were appalling. Two of the
halberdiers fainted. Even the sworn tormentor
was heard to mutter " Es ist genug." On being
called upon for an explanation, he replied that he
did not consider the patient could endure any
more without Nature giving way.

"It is enough, then," Ludwig Adolf the
Seventy-fourth acquiesced, with a darkling scowl.
"Mr. Sworn Headsman, be good enough to fetch
your sword this way."

At the mention of the word sword, Abimelech
Ben Azi, who had been in a semi-swoon, set up a
horrifying yell. In the most piteous terms he
besought forgiveness. He essayed to drag himself
towards his persecutor, as though to embrace
his knees, when, in his frantic efforts, he lost his
balance, and the heavy chair fell over on the top
of him, as he, still bound to it, grovelled at the
feet of Ludwig the Terrible.

"Set him up again!" thundered the merciless
prince; "and, headsman, despatch. I'll teach
him to steal my diamonds!"

The last dreadful deed was soon done. The
headsman brought his long sharp sword—a
double-handed one with a hollow blade filled with
quicksilver, which, as the point was depressed,
ran downwards from the hilt, giving increased
momentum to the blow. The headsman was as
expert as those generally are who serve absolute
monarchs. Grasping the hilt of his weapon with
both hands, and inclining his body backwards
and laterally, he swept off with one semicircular
blow the head of Abimelech Ben Azi. Again the
body with its chair fell forward at the feet of the
tyrant—the head rolled many paces away, and a
cascade of blood sprinkled the faces and dresses
of the terrified beholders.

It is said that one blood drop from this shower
fell upon the great Schweinsfleisch diamond,
which the grand-duke, as though loth to part
with it, still held in his hand. With a horrid
laugh he licked the gout from the surface of
the stone, and spurning the body of the Court
Jew with his foot, stalked up-stairs to carouse
with his ruffians. When he staggered into his
bed-chamber late that night, he put his hand in
his pocket to take forth the diamond. It felt
wet and clammy, and when he brought it to the
light it was dabbled in blood.

On the twenty-fourth of August in every year
(concluded Herr Eselganz), every year that has
elapsed since that frightful scene in the Hall of
Justice at Schweinhundhausen—from sunrise
until sunset—a drop of blood stands on that
fatal diamond. It has gone through strange
vicissitudes, passed through many hands, been
an heirloom in many families; but that drop of
gore has never failed to make its appearance on
the great Schweinsfleisch diamond on the
anniversary of the murder of Abimelech Ben Azi,
the Court Jew, by Ludwig Adolf the Seventy-
fourth, of Schweinhundhausen, surnamed the
Terrible.

On Thursday, the 4th of December, will be published,
price FOURPENCE,
SOMEBODY'S LUGGAGE.
FORMING
THE EXTRA DOUBLE NUMBER
FOR CHRISTMAS.