second son. Paul, the eldest, was wild and unsteady. And though
there were two other sons and a daughter, none gave such promise as
Stanislaus. So that the Lord John looked chiefly to him to carry on
the great name and make it more glorious still. No wonder he raged!

Stanislaus had figured all that out beforehand. It hurt him too,
hurt terribly. But what can one do when God calls? God had made all
the Kostkas, given them name and rank. God was the Lord of Lords. It
was heart-breaking to Stanislaus to leave his father in anger. Yet
he trusted that since that was God's will - well, God would find a
way to bring peace out of all this trouble. He put all his fears and
heartache away from him, and went out to do what God wanted.

He had always done that, even when he was a little tad in the rough
castle at Kostkov. God had taught him, God had helped him
wonderfully. But more wonderful still to our eyes is the way the boy
listened to God's teaching and obeyed it.

We think things come easy to the saints. We read or hear of wonders
in their lives, which are evidently God's doing; and we say:

"Of course the saint was good and holy. But it was all done for him.
God made everything smooth. The saint was never in my boots for a minute."

And all the time we forget the things which the saint himself did,
the superb efforts he had to make.

So Stanislaus began to pray as soon as he well began to speak. Do
you think he would not sooner have kept on with his play? Do you
think he did not naturally hate the effort just as any boy naturally