, when he knows he hasn't ever done
anything useful or kind. Why should God give such men the reward of
heaven? _Rewards_ are for people who have _worked hard_; and so is
_rest_. And then, again, when God came to earth and lived among men, He
didn't just spend His time seeking for pleasures; in fact, He seemed
never to think of Himself at all, but always of other people. That
thought held the boy Fernando more than all the others--the thought of
Christ, Who could have made Himself a King if He had liked, spending His
days for others, preaching and doing miracles, and the whole long night
out under the stars, under the whispering olive-trees talking to God.

These thoughts used to come to Fernando when he was quite a little chap,
and he had a kind of idea that when he was a man he would give himself
to God. But when he began to grow up a bit, and got about thirteen or
fourteen, he found that if he didn't look out he would get so keen on
the life of pleasure that he would become like the gay young men about
him, and quite forget all about God. He began to see that if he meant to
stick to his good ideas he must _do something_ about it before it was
too late. So, after a very hard struggle, he promised God the whole of
himself, with all his love and all the keen, strong desire within him to
do great things. He knew it would mean giving up all the pleasures that
filled his life, and all the riches and glory that would some day be
his. But somehow nothing mattered so long as he obeyed this sense that
God was calling.

Of course, his people told him he was a young fool, and did all they
could to stop him; but he stuck to his idea, and at the age of fifteen
he was admitted to a monastery of Canons, just outside the city, and
exchanged his rich clothes for the white habit.

It was a beautiful monastery, full of holy men and hundreds of wonderful
books, and in the quiet and peace young Fernando was very happy. He felt
he had really got near to God. He worked so hard at his studies that by
the time he had become a young man he was admired by all the Canons, who
thought him very clever and gifted, and told each other that some day he
would be a famous scholar and do great things. Fernando himself felt
that God had given him the gift of preaching; and that if he went out
and preached he would be able to attract great crowds to listen, and win
souls for God; so he worked and worked to learn all he could, so as to
be ready to stand