Read "The Night Horseman" by Max Brand online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The morning of the doctor's departure witnessed quite a ceremony at the Cumberland ranch, for old Joe Cumberland insisted that he be brought down from his room to his old place in the living-room. 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.