So here was Jack--raised up in a moment--far above the dull level of debt, and duns, and despair; raised to an upper and, I trust, a better world, where swarms of duns can never arise, and bailiffs never come; raised, my boy, to a region of serene delight, where, like the gods of Epicurus, he might survey from his cloudless calm the darkness and the gloom of the lower world. A fortune, by Jove! Seven thousand pounds sterling a year! Hard cash! Why, the thing fairly took my breath away. I sat down to grapple with the stupendous thought. Aha! where would the duns be now? What would those miserable devils say now, that had been badgering him with lawyers' letters? Wouldn't they all haul off? Methought they would. Methought! why, meknew they would--mefancied how they would fawn, and cringe, and apologize, and explain, and lick the dust, and offer to polish his noble boots, and present themselves for the honor of being kicked by him. Nothing is more degrading to our common humanity than the attitude of a creditor toward a poor debtor --except the attitude of that same creditor, when he learns that his debtor has suddenly become rich. Having finally succeeded in mastering this great idea, I hurried off to Jack to congratulate him. I found him in his room. He was lying down, looking very blue, very dismal, and utterly used up. At first, I did not notice this, but burst forth in a torrent of congratulations, shaking his hand most violently. He raised himself slightly from the sofa on which he was reclining, and his languid hand did not return my warm grasp, nor did his face exhibit the slightest interest in what I said. Seeing this, I stopped short suddenly. "Hallo, old boy!" I cried. "What's the matter? Any thing happened? Isn't it true, then?" "Oh, yes," said Jack, dolefully, leaning forward, with his elbows on his knees, and looking at the floor. "Well, you don't seem very jubilant about it. Any thing the matter? Why, man, if you were dying, I would think you'd rise up at the idea of seven thousand a year." Jack said nothing.