The Story teller (1850)/Jack Easy

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JACK EASY.

Jack Easy came to a good fortune at the death of his father, and mounted his hobby without its ever having been properly broken in; he galloped over the plains of Fancy, went off in a full eanter to the road of Dissipation, and leaped over all the five-barred gates of Advice and Discretion. It may naturally be supposed, that before long his filly gave him a fall: poor Jack eame down sure enough; but he only shook himself, brushed off the dirt of the road, and mounted again in as high spirits as ever; excepting, that he now began to sit firmer in the saddle, and to look about him: this, however, did not hinder him from getting into a swamp, called a lawsuit, where he remained a eonsiderable time before he could get out; his fortune was now reduced from some thousands to a few hundreds; and by this time, no man better knew the way of life than my friend Jack Easy. He had been through all the dirty cross-roads of business, money-borrowing, bankruptcy, and law; and at last arrived at a jail.

My friend Jack did not despond; he consoled himself with the reflection that he was a single man; some of his misfortunes were the eonsequences of his own imprudence, others of unforeseen accidents, and most of them originated from his good nature and generosity. He, however, never excused; he lumped them all together, took them in good part, and blamed nobody but himself.

Fortune, however, at last put on her best smiles, and paid Jack a visit in the King's Beneh, in the shape of a handsome legaey. Jack smiled at the thing, and onee more mounted his nag. He now rode more cautiously, and turned into the road of Economy, which led to a comfortable inn with the sign of Competency over the door; he had borrowed a martingale from an old hostler called Experience; and for the first time in his life used a curb. He began already to find, that though he did not gallop away as formerly, yet he went on in his journey pleasantly enough. Some dashing riders passed him, laughing at his jog-trot pace; but he had no occasion to envy them long; for presently some of them got into ruts, others were stuek fast in bogs and quagmires, and the rest were thrown from their saddles to the great danger of their necks. Jack Easy, meanwhile, jogged on merrily; he now preferred getting off and opening a gate, to leaping over it; and smiled at an obstacle as at a turnpike, where he must necessarily pay toll. You might now see Jack Easy walking his hobby along the road, enjoying the seene around him, with eontentment sparkling in his eyes. If the way happened to be crowded with horsemen and carriages, you might observe him very readily taking his own side of the road, and letting them pass.

Thus my friend Jack Easy came in with a jog-trot to the end of his journey, leaving his example behind him as a kind of finger-post for the good of other travellers.