The Poacher; Or, Joseph Rushbrook

Captain Marryat's The Poacher begins in the English countryside, where drink, mischief, and lawbreaking lurk beneath a comic surface. A stormy Devonshire night, a drunken schoolmaster, a crafty pedlar, and a seemingly helpless invalid quickly give way to a stealthy family outing that reveals the hidden world of poaching, secrecy, and survival just beyond respectable society. At the center stands Joseph Rushbrook, a former poacher turned soldier who returns home restless and unsettled, marries into another poaching family, and slips back into the night trade with his wife's encouragement. Their son Joey grows up as a clever, obedient schoolboy by day and a silent accomplice by night, while the village itself is quietly corrupted by Byres, a lazy pedlar who spreads political agitation, anti-church feeling, and discontent. As suspicion, tavern gossip, and covert signals sharpen the danger, the novel widens into a lively tale of comic deception, social observation, and moral tension. Joey's rescue of an injured tinker introduces a surprising bond and a practical lesson in honest labor, while a playful exchange over an exaggerated naval dispatch satirizes official language, vanity, and the stories people tell to turn small deeds into heroics. Blending rustic farce, suspense, romance, and adventure, the novel follows ambition, inheritance, and chance through a world shaped by class, character, and the uneasy line between law and survival. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.