“Stupid nonsense!” exclaimed the lord of the estate crossly, and went into his room to change his clothes.  The next morning the fountain in the garden would not play, and it was discovered that some one had removed a pipe, apparently to look for the head of a horse’s skeleton which had the reputation of being an attested instrument against any wiles of witches or ghosts.  “H’m,” said Baron von S.; “what rogues do not steal, fools destroy.”

Three days later a frightful storm was raging.  It was midnight, but every one in the castle was out of bed.  The Baron stood at the window and looked anxiously out into the dark toward his fields.  Leaves and twigs flew against the panes; now and, then a brick fell and was dashed to pieces on the pavement of the courtyard.  “Terrible weather!” said Herr von S. His wife looked out anxiously.  “Are you sure the fire is well banked?” she asked; “Gretchen, look again; if not, put it all out with water!  Come, let us read the Gospel of St. John.”  They all knelt down and the lady of the house began:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  There was a terrible clap of thunder.  All started; then there was a terrible scream and noise up the stairs.  “For God’s sake!  Is something burning?” cried Frau von S., and sank down with her face on the chair.  The door burst open and in rushed the wife of Aaron the Jew, pale as death, with her hair wildly disheveled, dripping with rain.  She threw herself on her knees before the Baron.  “Justice!” she cried, “Justice!  My husband is murdered!” and she fell in a faint.

It was only too true, and the ensuing investigation proved that Aaron the Jew had lost his life by a single blow on the temples delivered by some blunt instrument, probably a staff.  On his left temple was the blue mark; beyond that there was no other injury.  The statement of the Jewess and her servant, Samuel, ran thus:  Three days ago Aaron had gone out in the afternoon to buy cattle and had said at the time that he would probably be gone overnight, because there were still several bad debtors in B. and S., on whom he would call for payment; in this case he would spend the night with the butcher, Solomon, in B. When he did not return home the next day his wife had become greatly worried and had finally set out at three o’clock in the afternoon with her servant and the big butcher dog.  At the house of Solomon the Jew, no one knew anything about Aaron; he had not been there at all.  Then they had gone to all the peasants with whom they knew Aaron had intended to transact some business.  Only two had seen him, and those on the very day when he had left home.  Meanwhile it had become very late.  Her great anxiety drove the woman back home, where she cherished a faint hope of finding her husband after all.  They had been overtaken by the storm in the Forest of Brede and had sought shelter under a great beech on the mountain side.  In the meantime the dog had been running about and