But I know one man who would not ; and he was an officer with a pair of gray moustaches as long as your arm , who said once in company that two of the most heart-rending sights in the world , which moved him most to tears , which he would do anything to prevent or remedy , were a child over a broken toy and a child stealing sweets . The company did not laugh at him ; his moustaches were too long and too gray for that : but , after he was gone , they called him sentimental and so forth , all but one dear little old Quaker lady with a soul as white as her cap , who was not , of course , generally partial to soldiers ; and she said very quietly , like a Quaker : `` Friends , it is borne upon my mind that that is a truly brave man . '' Now you may fancy that Tom was quite good , when he had everything that he could want or wish : but you would be very much mistaken . Being quite comfortable is a very good thing ; but it does not make people good . Indeed , it sometimes makes them naughty , as it has made the people in America ; and as it made the people in the Bible , who waxed fat and kicked , like horses overfed and underworked . And I am very sorry to say that this happened to little Tom . For he grew so fond of the sea-bullseyes and sea-lollipops that his foolish little head could think of nothing else : and he was always longing for more , and wondering when the strange lady would come again and give him some , and what she would give him , and how much , and whether she would give him more than the others . And he thought of nothing but lollipops by day , and dreamt of nothing else by night -- and what happened then ? That he began to watch the lady to see where she kept the sweet things : and began hiding , and sneaking , and following her about , and pretending to be looking the other way , or going after something else , till he found out that she kept them in a beautiful mother-of-pearl cabinet away in a deep crack of the rocks . And he longed to go to the cabinet , and yet he was afraid ; and then he longed again , and was less afraid ; and at last , by continual thinking about it , he longed so violently that he was not afraid at all . And one night , when all the other children were asleep , and he could not sleep for thinking of lollipops , he crept away among the rocks , and got to the cabinet , and behold ! it was open . But , when he saw all the nice things inside , instead of being delighted , he was quite frightened , and wished he had never come there . And then he would only touch them , and he did ; and then he would only taste one , and he did ; and then he would only eat one , and he did ; and then he would only eat two , and then three , and so on ; and then he was terrified lest she should come and catch him , and began gobbling them down so fast that he did not taste them , or have any pleasure in them ; and then he felt sick , and would have only one more ; and then only one more again ; and so on till he had eaten them all up . And all the while , close behind him , stood Mrs. Bedonebyasyoudid . Some people may say , But why did she not keep her cupboard locked ? Well , I know . -- It may seem a very strange thing , but she never does keep her cupboard locked ; every one may go and taste for themselves , and fare accordingly . It is very odd , but so it is ; and I am quite sure that she knows best . Perhaps she wishes people to keep their fingers out of the fire , by having them burned .
She took off her spectacles , because she did not like to see too much ; and in her pity she arched up her eyebrows into her very hair , and her eyes grew so wide that they would have taken in all the sorrows of the world , and filled XXXXX great big tears , as they too often do .
That behind by for in of so to upon with