And then , looking toward the bed , he saw that dirty lady , and held his breath with astonishment . Under the snow-white coverlet , upon the snow-white pillow , lay the most beautiful little girl that Tom had ever seen . Her cheeks were almost as white as the pillow , and her hair was like threads of gold spread all about over the bed . She might have been as old as Tom , or maybe a year or two older ; but Tom did not think of that . He thought only of her delicate skin and golden hair , and wondered whether she was a real live person , or one of the wax dolls he had seen in the shops . But when he saw her breathe , he made up his mind that she was alive , and stood staring at her , as if she had been an angel out of heaven . No . She can not be dirty . She never could have been dirty , thought Tom to himself . And then he thought , `` And are all people like that when they are washed ? '' And he looked at his own wrist , and tried to rub the soot off , and wondered whether it ever would come off . `` Certainly I should look much prettier then , if I grew at all like her . '' And looking round , he suddenly saw , standing close to him , a little ugly , black , ragged figure , with bleared eyes and grinning white teeth . He turned on it angrily . What did such a little black ape want in that sweet young lady 's room ? And behold , it was himself , reflected in a great mirror , the like of which Tom had never seen before . And Tom , for the first time in his life , found out that he was dirty ; and burst into tears with shame and anger ; and turned to sneak up the chimney again and hide ; and upset the fender and threw the fire-irons down , with a noise as of ten thousand tin kettles tied to ten thousand mad dogs ' tails . Up jumped the little white lady in her bed , and , seeing Tom , screamed as shrill as any peacock . In rushed a stout old nurse from the next room , and seeing Tom likewise , made up her mind that he had come to rob , plunder , destroy , and burn ; and dashed at him , as he lay over the fender , so fast that she caught him by the jacket . But she did not hold him .
Tom had been XXXXX a policeman 's hands many a time , and out of them too , what is more ; and he would have been ashamed to face his friends for ever if he had been stupid enough to be caught by an old woman ; so he doubled under the good lady 's arm , across the room , and out of the window in a moment .
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