dapt himself to the characters
of those with whom he associated. In some things he did not like
Lawson, who, at times, manifested such an entire want of principle,
that he felt shocked. On parting with Lawson at the boat, as we have
seen, he walked thoughtfully away. His mind was far from approving
what he had heard, and the more he reflected upon it, the less
satisfied did he feel. He knew enough of the character of Lawson to
be well satisfied that his marriage with Caroline, who was an
overgrown, weak-minded school girl, would prove the wreck of her
future happiness, and the thought of becoming a party to such a
transaction troubled him. On returning to his office, he found his
sister waiting for him, and, as his eyes rested upon her innocent
young countenance, the idea of her being made the victim of so base
a marriage, flashed with a pang amid his thoughts.

"I will have no part nor lot in this matter," he said, mentally. And
he was in earnest in this resolution. But not long did his mind rest
easy under his assumed passive relation to a contemplated social
wrong, that one word from him might prevent. From the thought of
betraying Lawson's confidence, his mind shrunk with a certain
instinct of honor; while, at the same time, pressed upon him the
irresistible conviction that a deeper dishonor would attach to him
if he permitted the marriage to take place.

The day passed with him uncomfortably enough. The more he thought
about the matter, the more he felt troubled. In the evening, he met
his sister again, and the sight of her made him more deeply
conscious of the responsibility resting upon him. His oft repeated
mental excuse--"It's none of my business," or, "I can't meddle in
other men's affairs," did not satisfy certain convictions of right
and duty that presented themselves with, to him, a strange
distinctness. The thought of his own sister was instantly associated
with the scheme of some false-hearted wretch, involving her
happiness in the way that the happiness of Caroline Everett was to
be involved; and he felt that the man who knew that another was
plotting against her, and did not apprize him of the fact, was
little less than a villain at heart.

On the next day Williams learned that there was a writ out against
the person of Charles Lawson on a charge of swindling, he having
obtained a sum of money from a broker under circumstances construed
by the laws into crime. This fact determined him to go at once