pily I had
been spared _that_ punishment, however well deserved. Lily's friendship
had never failed me. She had either excused or not perceived my faults,
and we had parted on the best possible terms.

Now that I could view matters more justly, I was quite out of patience
with myself for fancying that I should be happy if I no longer saw Lily
nursing that kitten. Happy indeed! There was no chance of my being
troubled with such a sight, and I was miserable! I would have put up
with all the cats and kittens that were met coming from St. Ives; I
would have tried to settle the quarrel between the Kilkenny cats who ate
each other up, all but the tips of their tails;--any thing to see Lily
once more, even if she chose to nurse all the kittens of "Catland."

But it was too late; my regrets were all in vain; and the only course
that seemed left for me now was to give up the rest of my days to
brooding over my sorrows and my faults. But before I had quite devoted
myself to this line of life, I gave a glance at my shadow in the glass
doing the same. There I saw him moping away all his time; making no
amends for his bad conduct, no attempts at behaving better; utterly
useless, sulky, and disagreeable; in fact, more foolish than ever.

"No," thought I, as I jumped up and shook myself all over, "I will not
have this distressing experience for nothing; I will make good use of
it; I cannot recall the past, but I will act differently for the
future;" and down I lay again to make plans for the future. Coming
events cast no shadows before, either in the glass or in my dreams. I
knew nothing about what I might, could, would, or should do. The Past I
had lost, the Future was not in my power; and what remained to me?
Perhaps I might never have an opportunity of behaving well again.

I was fast relapsing into despondency, when suddenly I was aroused from
my dreams by a sound once odious to me. I raised myself upon my front
paws and listened. There was no mistake, I heard it again; a thin and
timid _mew_, dying away in the distance, and sounding as if it proceeded
from the mere shadow of a cat. But faint and shadowy as it was, I
recognised it; it recalled me to realities, and the conviction of my
right line of conduct flashed across my mind. The Present--the present
moment was mine. I could only take warning by the past, and hope for the
future, but I must act _now_. I have but to take every opportunity when
it offers itself, and there wou