The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-30
CLASSIC
 A Esxai5

ie.s fovina. At last her fanoios vRers couarmcd by ugly fact. she found . letter to Hereward from A1ftFszda; and it told her that Hereward was denAs ing secretly with her. and had oon- sented to leave his wife and swear &i- iegfance to william, in rsturn for which he was to get lands and the hand of Aintruda as soon as hfe mar rfage to Torfrida could be annulieds Like a beast stricken mortaIiy. Tors frida turned and ran into the wood.
 faithful manservant followed her.
 ITO crowlandi To Crowiandr' said
 he. That is the only way for pcor
 wretches in world like thisr'
 And he led Torfrida through the forest to Crowiand. where she fell at
 the feet of the Lady Godiva and told
 her all The broken mother and tho
 broken wife wept together. Then Tor frida cut on her hair. already streak
 cd with white. put on nun's dress and became a nun thenceforth.
 The last of Hereward's mon sat fham
 down in the greenwood and cried when
 they heard the news. His best knights
 tore on their armor and weapons, cry-
 ing: "Oh, Hereward! Herewardi Oh.
 ltnightiy honori There is naught left
 save to flee from a world where all
 men are liarsf
 Hereward rode in to the King and
 
 king of all England. I am the last
 man to say so. and now am thy man."
 But for. all his truculent words and for all his doughty bearing, he knew that he was not the Aereward he had been. When William rested q hand on his shoulder and walked with him. to the envy of all of the Norman nobiee
 Hereward thought to himself, Can I be the same mani"
 He was not the same man. He was besotted upon Aiftruda and he humhle5 himself accordingly. against his will. They married him to Alftruda, for William managed to have his marriage to Torfrida annulled despite the furi- ous objections of the English bishops
 and monks. The condueror swore with horrible oaths that they were the finest
 pair he had ever seen. Then Hereward sat him down at
 home in Bourne, Lord of Bourne and many manors. with beautiful wife and
 all her possessions to boot. He tried to persuade himself that he
 had done the right thing. He tried Co
 persuade himself that he was not shaken. But he could not deceive him. self long. His old bad habits began to return to him. Every time he thought of his mother and Torfrida in Crowland
 minister he felt hot shame that made him writhe. He could forget only when he was drunk. Drunk he was accord 1 ingly, more and more. He told Alfruda once that he loved Torfrida still. Then there was no peace | left in the house.
 With his drinking, his love of boast I ing returned. He could do no more great deeds. having not the spirit to do them. He fell back on babbling of those he had done. That made his Norman neighbors love him even a lit- l tle less than before.
 l It was all very pitiabie; but who
 shall judge him7 Life is very hard l work.
 | AeN last one day his Norman neigh !
 bors put him beyond all bis troubles. i. Two Tallebois, and Sir Raoul dc Dol. I and Hugh of Evermuye and Sir Asce- 1 lin, his old rival, fell on him. In that | last hour he became the old Hereward | once more. The first man 10 reach him fell dead. cleft through shield. hauberk and body. Then he ran a& the press of knights and .hewed silently with grinding teeth. Twelve good mon perished before they could beat the Berserker to his knees Then four | lances went into his back. Hereward
 raised himself once more and hurled his shield at a knight with one loud, | last cry: "Torfridai"
 So perished the last of the old Eng
 fish.
 he ssThe Pilgrims PrOgress," by JchB Bunyan.