 have led a bad life
too; there are many of us who have kept the same courses together, and I'll not
turn upon them, who might - any of them - have turned upon me, but didn't, bad
as they are.«
    »Then,« said the gentleman, quickly, as if this had been the point he had
been aiming to attain; »put Monks into my hands, and leave him to me to deal
with.«
    »What if he turns against the others?«
    »I promise you that in that case, if the truth is forced from him, there the
matter will rest; there must be circumstances in Oliver's little history which
it would be painful to drag before the public eye, and if the truth is once
elicited, they shall go scot free.«
    »And if it is not?« suggested the girl.
    »Then,« pursued the gentleman, »this Fagin shall not be brought to justice
without your consent. In such a case I could show you reasons, I think, which
would induce you to yield it.«
    »Have I the lady's promise for that?« asked the girl.
    »You have,« replied Rose. »My true and faithful pledge.«
    »Monks would never learn how you knew what you do?« said the girl, after a
short pause.
    »Never,« replied the gentleman. »The intelligence should be so brought to
bear upon him, that he could never even guess.«
    »I have been a liar, and among liars from a little child,« said the girl
after another interval of silence, »but I will take your words.«
    After receiving an assurance from both, that she might safely do so, she
proceeded in a voice so low that it was often difficult for the listener to
discover even the purport of what she said, to describe, by name and situation,
the public-house whence she had been followed that night. From the manner in
which she occasionally paused, it appeared as if the gentleman were making some
hasty notes of the information she communicated. When she had thoroughly
explained the localities of the place, the best position from which to watch it
without exciting observation, and the night and hour on which Monks was most in
the habit of frequenting it, she seemed to consider for a few moments, for the
purpose of recalling his features and appearance more forcibly to her
recollection.
    »He is tall,« said the girl, »and a strongly made man,
