Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens Chapter 41 Page 22

‘Ah!’ said Mr. Losberne, cooling himself with his pocket-handkerchief; ‘I almost forgot that.’

‘You see,’ pursued Mr. Brownlow; ‘placing this poor girl entirely out of the question, and supposing it were possible to bring these scoundrels to justice without compromising her safety, what good should we bring about?’

‘Hanging a few of them at least, in all probability,’ suggested the doctor, ‘and transporting the rest.’

‘Very good,’ replied Mr. Brownlow, smiling; ‘but no doubt they will bring that about for themselves in the fulness of time, and if we step in to forestall them, it seems to me that we shall be performing a very Quixotic act, in direct opposition to our own interest — or at least to Oliver’s,