When he
attempted to rise from his bed, however, he found that he could not
stand; and big Buck Daniels lifted the old man like a child and carried
him down the stairs. Once ensconced on the sofa in the living-room Joe
Cumberland beckoned his daughter close to him, and whispered with a
smile as she leaned over: "Here's what comes of pretendin', Kate. I been
pretending to be too sick to walk, and now I _can't_ walk; and if I'd
pretended to be well, I'd be ridin' Satan right now!"
He looked about him.
"Where's Dan?" he asked.
"Upstairs getting ready for the trip."
"Trip?"
"He's riding with Doctor Byrne to town and he'll bring back Doctor
Byrne's horse."
The old man grew instantly anxious.
"They's a lot of things can happen on a long trip like that, Kate."
She nodded gravely.
"But we have to try him," she said. "We can't keep him here at the ranch
all the time. And if he really cares, Dad, he'll come back."
"And you let him go of your own free will?" asked Joe Cumberland,
wonderingly.
"I asked him to go," she answered quietly, but some of the colour left
her face.
"Of course it's going to come out all right," nodded her father.
"I asked him when he'd be back, and he said he would be here by dark
to-night."
The old man sighed with relief.
"He don't never slip up on promises," he said. "But oh, lass, I'll be
glad when he's back again! Buck, how'd you and Dan come along together?"
"We don't come," answered Buck gloomily.
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