Billy Byrne was a mucker, "... ready to insult the first woman who passed, or pick a quarrel with any stranger ...", a product of the streets of Chicago. In San Francisco, hiding from the law, he is shanghaied. In his adventures, Billy finds a nobility of character that marks Burroughs' heros.

"The Mucker" as published in hardback (Chicago; A.C. McClurg & Co., October 31, 1921) is a combination of two stories: "The Mucker"; All-Story Cavalier Weekly; October 24, 31, November 7, 14, 21, 1914 and "The Return of the Mucker"; All-Story Weekly; June 17, 24, July 1, 8, 15, 1916.

The original edition is identified by the A.C. McClurg name on the spine and title page. It was bound in a pale green cloth with red lettering on the spine and front. The dust jacket (in color), a frontpiece, and four illustrations were done by J. Allen St. John.

The text of this edition is from the 1921 A.C. McClurg edition. The front cover picture of this edition is a restored copy of the front of the original dust jacket. All the original interior illustrations are reproduced in this edition.