The Poacher; Or, Joseph RushbrookMarryat, Frederick
General
The Poacher; Or, Joseph Rushbrook
Marryat, Frederick
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Fathers and sons -- Fiction; Murder -- Fiction; Poachers -- Fiction
Joey felt in his pocket until he had selected a sixpence, and pulling it
out, desired the old woman to give him cakes for it, and, taking the
pile in his hand, he set off as fast as he could. As soon as he was out
of sight, he again made his way into the fields, and breakfasted upon
half his store. He then continued his journey until nearly one o'clock,
when, tired out with his exertions, as soon as he had finished the
remainder of his cakes, he laid down under a rick of corn, and fell fast
asleep, having made twenty miles since he started. In his hurry to
escape pursuit, and the many thoughts which occupied his brain, Joey had
made no observation on the weather; if he had, he probably would have
looked after some more secure shelter than the lee-side of a haystack.
He slept soundly, and he had not been asleep more than an hour, when the
wind changed, and the snow fell fast; nevertheless, Joey slept on, and
probably never would have awakened more, had it not been that a shepherd
and his dog were returning home in the evening, and happened to pass
close to the haystack. By this time Joey had been covered with a layer
of snow, half an inch deep, and had it not been for the dog, who went up
to where he laid, and commenced pawing the snow off of him, he would
have been passed by undiscovered by the shepherd, who, after some
trouble, succeeded in rousing our hero from his torpor, and half
dragging, half lifting him, contrived to lead him across one or two
fields, until they arrived at a blacksmith's shop, in a small village,
before Joey could have been said to have recovered his scattered senses.
Two hours' more sleep and there would have been no further history to
give of our little hero.
He was dragged to the forge, the fire of which glowed under the force of
the bellows, and by degrees, as the warmth reached him, he was restored
to self-possession. To the inquiries made as to who he was, and from
where he came, he now answered as he had before arranged in his mind.
His father and mother were a long way before him; he was going to
London, but having been tired, he had fallen asleep under the haystack,
and he was afraid that if he went not on to London directly, he never
might find his father and mother again.
"Oh, then," replied the shepherd, "they have gone on before, have they?
Well, you'll catch them, no doubt."
The blacksmith's wife, who had been a party to what was going on, now
brought up a little warm ale, which quite re-established Joey; and at
the same time a waggon drove up to the door, and stopped at the
blacksmith's shop.
"I must have a shoe tacked on the old mare, my friend," said the driver.
"You won't be long?"
"Not five minutes," replied the smith. "You're going to London?"
"Yes, sure."
"Here's a poor boy that has been left behind by his father and mother
somehow--you wouldn't mind giving him a lift?"
"Well, I don't know; I suppose I must be paid for it in the world to
come."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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