conflicting return values of generic find function in class (C++), what to return?

I have a method in my class which called "find()" that returns a pointer to the data stored in the class (the class is hash table to be precise). I find this a bad idea to return a pointer to my class' data, and i haven't found anything better. any suggestions about how to find the data without being afraid that the user may delete (modify) my object ? this is the find method: (the class is hash-table, it works completely find)I have a method in my class which called "find(