Eighteen were beheaded ere the headsmancame to Vagn.
But Vagn threw himself suddenly at Thorkel's feet, whereupon the headsmantripped over him.
So the headsman raised his hand till the hair of his armpit showed' and was about to smite his neck,--And Shahrazad perceived the dawn of day and ceased to say her permitted say.
FN#52] A necessary precaution, for the headsman who would certainly lose his own head by overhaste.
But the audience murmured, and seemed dissatisfied; and Silvia smiled maliciously; and even the dwarf, over whom the Headsman was standing with uplifted axe, showed his teeth in an ugly grin.
For answer the Headsman tossed his terrible axe high up in the air, caught it lightly as it came down, and then, swinging it round his head, he cut off the tall feather that was fastened in the cap of the Chancellor of the Jingle.
This the Headsman placed in Yellow-cap's hand, and he hid it in his bosom.
Then the headsman tied up her eyes, and was on the point of cutting off the wealth of her hair, or as much of it as protruded from under the cloth.
Astonished and affrighted both judges and headsman stopped in their doings, and all around the spectators took firm hold of their weapons.
At last they stood upon the scaffold platform, and the headsman made ready.
Slowly and slowly three or four dark figures on the scaffold grew clearer to our eyes, till we could see the headsman and his assistants waiting patiently for their work to be brought to them.
When the noble young man was brought out to die, Mary burst into a flood of tears; and when the headsman did his work, she swooned and was borne off insensible.
But this was due to an unskilful headsman and a dull sword; and as these accidents are frequent in the execution of our criminals, it would be unjust to make it a reproach to those who caused the death of the young martyr.
Hippy's a fly Indian; there ain't goin' to be no headsman in his.
This affair need go no farther; the headsman and the other travellers may be dismissed: we commit the Italian to the irons.
My mother was the only child of the headsman of the first.
Is not the daughter of a headsman and a headsman's wife their offspring, as much as the fair maiden who sits near thee is the child of the noble at her side?
Did she say that Sigismund is the son of Balthazar, the public headsman of the canton!
It is scarcely necessary to add how much this honorable sentiment was strengthened by the unexpected declaration of the headsman concerning the birth of Sigismund.
Thou art a native and a resident of Berne; the headsman of the canton--a creditable office in itself, though the ignorance and prejudices of man are not apt so to consider it.
The family of Colis is esteemed in Vaud, and I would not have it said that the blood of the headsman of the canton hath mixed in a stream as fair as ours.
Sigismund sprang forward like a lion, at the cry, but too late to reach those who were about to cast the headsman from the gangway, he was just in time to catch the body, by its garments, when actually sailing in the air.
The headsman loveth that; he eats the beast afterwards.
Yes," said she, "the headsman scoffs at the condemned.
It was my own lass that rode and came to save me, even while the headsman was wiping the crimson from the bloody shearing knife to make it ready for me.
It is a strange feeling that comes and stays about the roots of the neck, when one first realises that the headsman may have to do therewith or many weeks pass by.
And all the time I had been speaking, I was watching the headsman wiping his broad sliding blade with a fragment of fine old linen, daintily as one may caress a sweetheart or other beloved possession.
Also I perceived the collapsed body, most like a sack that falls sideways; and the tall masked headsman holding up the poor dripping head.
The headsman leaned upon his axe, but no procession yet approached.
During this speech of the young headsman the criminal was observed to tremble convulsively, as if struggling to speak, but the assistant executioner grasped the handkerchief still tighter round his head and repeated the signals impatiently.
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.
The headsman whipped on his horse in silence; at length he said to his guest: "Here we are at last.
We have mentioned before in an early part of this story that the profession of the headsman was hereditary, that the law forced the son of an executioner to follow in the steps of his father.
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.
I have been headsman of the town these thirty years, and when I die my son will step into my shoes.
Those of Franz Wenzel were hard, rough, and hairy, with square stunted fingers; besides, the headsman wore no ring.
Perhaps he is the new headsman that they all talked about, and young Leo will not really behead his own father; but we shall see.
Room was at once made for the headsman and his companion, and Fritz's fellow students, seeing their friend arrive in a Henker's cart, pushed their way through the crowd to ask him all sorts of questions.
The young headsman was attired in a buff leather jerkin slashed with red and hose of a dark green.
The headsman is missing, and a corpse has been found dressed in his clothes.
Come on, then," and the headsmanassisted the Englishman into the cart.
But instead of the headsman taking his head off, he took him to a forest not far from the town, because he had pity on him, and there left him to take his chance, when presently up comes a big hairy bear, limping upon three legs.
But when he found out that they were not good, and thought that they were more for poisoning him, he sent immediately for the headsman to behead his youngest son, who was taken away there and then in a carriage.
The headsmanuttered a shriek, the long and terrible one which Grimaud and the innkeeper had heard.
The former headsman of Bethune," said his wife, completing the sentence.
The headsman thought that he was leaving him, and implored him to return.
The headsman of Bethune," muttered Grimaud, apparently striving to recollect something.
The headsman examined him with one of those rapid, anxious looks peculiar to dying men, and made a movement of surprise.
The headsman lives long enough to inform Grimaud of what has passed; and Grimaud, who was present at the decapitation of Lady de Winter, returns to Paris, to put Athos and his friends on their guard against the vengeance of her son.
The former headsman of Bethune, who has been set upon and sorely hurt by Spanish partisans.
So the headsman fared forth with me and when he was in the midst of the desert, he took me out of the chest (and I with both hands pinioned and both feet fettered) and was about to bandage my eyes before striking off my head.
The executioner's head was quickly stricken off, and another headsman obtained.
Take him without, and let the headsman deal with him.
I am now about to summon the headsman for the task.
Preceded by the headsman carrying his axe with its edge turned away from her, she was conducted to the bar by the Lieutenant of the Tower.
And now the halbardiers formed escort about her, the headsman in front, with the edge of his axe turned towards her in token of her conviction, and she was led away.
Now there was with them a sword, that would not cut curd;[FN#151] so the headsman smote him therewith and his head flew from his body.
So the headsman arose and dragged the spunger before the Sultan, who bade cut off his head.
Before he had gone many steps one of the crew whispered to the headsman what had happened, whereupon that worthy picked up the harpoon and drove it straight through the Maori's back, killing him on the spot.
Even after the danger of embarking had been overcome, the headsman had almost made up his mind not to risk the voyage to the brig, but to land the party at Port Underwood.
The headsman should stay in the bows from first to last; he should both dart the harpoon and the lance, and no rowing whatever should be expected of him, except under circumstances obvious to any fisherman.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "headsman" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
