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"But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion

can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no

lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of

a drunkard's blow, does not beget sympathy and indignation among

the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever

so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is

but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these

lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part

with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the

deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on,

year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this

lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I

should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of

country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is

not personally threatened."

"No. If she can come to Winchester to meet us she can get away."