il his father was ready to start. The wife put out
the lights, softly opened the cottage-door, looked well round, and then
returned to her husband, who, giving a low whistle, as a summons to Joey
and the dog, walked out of the door. Not a word was spoken; the door
was softly shut to; and the trio crept stealthily away.

CHAPTER TWO.

IN WHICH THE HERO OF THE TALE IS FORMALLY INTRODUCED.

Before we proceed with our narrative, perhaps it will be better to
explain what may appear very strange to the reader. Joseph Rushbrook,
who has just left the cottage with his son and his dog, was born in the
village in which he was then residing. During his younger days, some
forty years previous to his present introduction to the reader, the law
was not so severe, or the measures taken against poachers so strong as
they were at the period of which we write. In his youth he had been
very fond of carrying a gun--as his father had been before him--but he
never was discovered; and after having poached for many years, and
gained a perfect knowledge of the country for miles round, he was
persuaded, in a fit of semi-intoxication, at a neighbouring fair, to
enlist in a marching regiment. He had not been more than three months
at the depot when he was ordered out to India, where he remained eleven
years before he was recalled. He had scarcely been six months in
England, when the exigency of the war demanded the services of the
regiment in the Mediterranean, where he remained for twelve years, and
having received a severe wound in the head, he was then pensioned off
and discharged. He resolved to return to his native village, and settle
down quietly, hoping by moderate labour and his pension, to gain a
comfortable living. On his return he was hardly known; many had
emigrated to a foreign clime; many had been transported for offences
against the laws, particularly for the offence of poaching: and as most
of his former allies had been so employed, he found himself almost a
stranger where he expected to meet with friends. The property also
about the village had changed hands. People recollected Squire
So-and-So, and the Baronet, but now their lands were held by wealthy
manufacturers or retired merchants. All was new to Joe Rushbrook, and
he felt himself anywhere but at home. Jane Ashley, a very beautiful
young woman, who was in service at the Hall, the mansion appertaining to
the adjacent property, and the daughter of one of his