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Once upon a time there lived, in a thoroughly disreputable street, a thoroughly disreputable man; that is to say, he lived there when he was not in goal---where he went very often and deserved to go very much oftener. In prison he was supported by the tax-payers' money, and out of prison he supported himself by annexing other people's property; in fact he stole so much and so often that, if he had not wasted the proceeds in drink, he ought to have quite well off.

It happened one day, as he was returning home from a neighbouring public; that he leaned against a lamp-post till the street grew a little more steady; and, as he stood embracing the stem of the lamp-post, he heard a plaintive noise at his feet. It was the cry for help of a kitten, strayed and hungry; a small, shabby kitten, very young and inexperienced--otherwise it would hardly have appealed for help to anyone so unprepossessing as the drunken, disreputable thief. The drunken thief was in the foolishly cheerful stage of intoxication--so the kitten's plaintive crying amused him.

"'ullo," he said, "and what 'ave you got to grouse abaht? Got a thirst on her, eh?--and the pubs all shut? Or perraps they've turned yer out of yer pub, same as they turned me last night." The idea amused him so much that he picked up the kitten and stuffed it in his dirty pocket; and, on the way home, seeing a milk-can standing outside a neighbour's door, he picked that up too--and carried it off to his lodging. " 'Ere you are," he said to the kitten. "Try a drop o' that to stop yer 'owling--the kids next door are standing treat." Then he sat on his bed and laughed in a silly drunken fashion while the kitten lapped and lapped at the milk as if it would never leave off. And in the eyes of the kitten, the dirty drunken man with his silly drunken chuckle was a messenger of infinite mercy.

As it happened, however, the children whose milk had been taken had been watching from their window when the thief lurched off with their can; and before the kitten had finished its meal, there arrived a policeman with the children's father at his heels. So, as a result of treating the kitten to a drink the disreputable thief appeared once more in the police court; and, as his previous convictions were many and he was wanted on one or two other accounts, he again retired into gaol, at the taxpayers' expense!...And, being in gaol, he thought bitterly of the cause of his latest misfortune.

"'Ere I am," he said, "'ere I am in this blanketty cell, and all through that blanketty kitten! I'll teach it to come yowlin' to me for drinks--if it's 'angin' abaht when I come out o' this, I'll send it for a swim with a stone round its little neck." But when he came out he saw no kitten--because, though he did not know it, the kitten had long been dead. When its messenger of mercy went away with a policeman it waited and hoped for his return; and when he did not come back and there was no more milk, it went out into the street to look for him. And while it ran about calling for the messenger of mercy, a motor-van came round the corner very quickly....And that was the end of the shabby little kitten--except that a street-cleaner swept up its body. It died, unregretted by a living creature; and the drunken thief soon forgot that it had ever existed.

The time came, however, when there was also an end to the drunken thief. He died, like the kitten, very suddenly--as the result of a pothouse quarrel; and, also like the kitten, unregretted by a living creature....And his ugly black soul, having left its body, made its way to the gate that leads to Paradise and stood before Peter--in whose hand is the key of the gate.

Now some of us think that it is hard to enter Heaven; but that is very far from the truth. On the contrary, it is a very hard thing to keep out of Heaven; for the Apostle Peter, in whose hand is the key, remembers that, on earth, he was a liar and a coward who denied his Master in His need. Therefore, he is merciful, even to the greatest of sinners; because he himself has needed great mercy and obtained it. Also, at the right hand of Peter, stands the Holiest of all the Holy Angels; whose eyes are so pure that they cannot see evil and sin.

There is only one reason for which the soul of a sinner is turned away from Paradise--and the reason, is that no one in Paradise has need of him. It is the right of the blessed to have fullness of joy--and how shall the blessed have fullness of joy when those whom they love are in torment?...So it happens that very few souls are shut out of Heaven; when the blackest of sinners is kneeling before Peter, there will come a cry of welcome from beyond the gate--and Peter will turn his great key.

Like every other soul, the soul of the drunken thief came to kneel at the judgment seat of Peter. And when Peter saw its blackness he raised his hand for silence in Heaven; for he knew that so foul and begrimed a sinner could enter only if another soul loved and had need of him. Then the Hosts of Heaven stilled their praises and were silent--listening for the call that did not come.

And, as it did not come, the Holiest of all the Angels veiled his face for pity; and Peter, when he had waited in vain said: "You cannot enter--since no one in Heaven has need of you."

But, even as he said it, the Holiest of all the Angels raised his head and called, "Listen!" and when Peter listened, lo, he heard a very tiny little cry! Then, as the Black Soul looked up from its uttermost despair, the key was turned and the gate was opened--and there stood on the threshold a kitten...For to the kitten, the Black Soul, befouled with many sins, was more glorious than the Shining Ones who looked upon the Face of their Father. It loved the little Angels, its playfellows in Paradise, but the Black Soul had saved it in the night of its hunger and despair. So, when it heard the little Angels talking of the Infinite Mercy of God, its eyes would grow very round and wise, as it thought "I know all about that"; and it pictured the Lord of Infinite Mercy in the likeness of a drunken thief.

But the Black Soul shrank from the open gateway and covered his face with shame: remembering how, when he sat in his cell, he had planned to drown the kitten with a stone round its little neck. So he cried, "No, no--I am not worthy!" and turned towards the place of Outer Darkness.

Then the Holiest of all the Angels, whose eyes are so pure that they cannot see sin, barred the way to Outer Darkness with his wings; and he spoke the will of Infinite Mercy to the soul that knew itself unworthy.

"Until you came, Heaven was not Heaven to a child of God. Without you, it cannot know the fullness of joy; the Lord has need of you, to make glad the heart of His kitten."

Then the kitten rejoiced and was exceeding glad; and it marched in front of Peter and purred, with its tail straight up. And it called to the Angels "See who comes here, see who comes here!" very proudly; while the Angels bent low to the kitten as it passed, because it had saved a soul alive. But the kitten thought that they bowed in reverence to the man who was like unto God....And the Black Soul followed through the gate of Heaven on his knees.